Victorian government urged to help fund and establish psychedelic medicine centre


Australia has been ‘pretty slow’ to realise the benefits of psychedelic therapy involving magic mushrooms or MDMA, Mind Medicine Australia says. Photograph: Juris Kraulis/Alamy

Psychedelic therapy involving magic mushrooms or MDMA to treat mental illnesses could be five years away from regulator approval in Australia and the Victorian government is being urged to make the state a research leader in the field.

The US Food and Drug Administration recently designated the treatment as “breakthrough therapies” following successful medical trials. International trials are finding synthetic magic mushroom therapy is effective in treating depression, anxiety and addiction while MDMA (methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine) therapy is helping post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers. The treatment could receive US regulatory approval as early as 2021. The UK, Canada, Europe and Israel are also active research hubs.

In a submission to Victoria’s mental health royal commission, Mind Medicine Australia – which lobbies for psychedelic-assisted treatments for mental health – urges the state government to chip in funding to establish a centre for excellence in psychedelic medicine. It would conduct research and develop best practice and training for therapists.

Mind Medicine Australia executive officer Dr Paul Liknaitzky said the stigma around the therapy has been lifting globally in the past 15 years and there was an opportunity to play catch up.

“Australia has been pretty slow in the uptake,” he told Guardian Australia.

In an Australian-first, St Vincent’s hospital in Melbourne announced in January a psychedelic medicine trial will start this year. It is recruiting 30 palliative care patients to be treated with synthetic magic mushrooms aimed to ease the paralysing anxiety often associated with having a terminal illness. The trial is expected to start in six to eight weeks.

“We urgently need to explore new treatment paradigms and the promise of psychedelic medicines in terms of alleviation of suffering cannot be under-estimated,” St Vincent psychiatrist David Castle said.

This article has been taken from The Guardian. You can view the full story here.

Nice to hear this! It's about dang time the world started to wake up to the positive potential of these MEDICINES!

Thanks for posting this!

I am so glad this is starting to happen. It makes me have faith the western society truly is influenced by science and not just outdated conservative opinions. Hopefully this is the starting point to create a more beneficial world for everyone.

Good on ya Oz!


Tacky! It's called psilocybin. Call it what it is! Then people wonder why journalism is no longer taken seriously.