Did the FDA destroy the psychedelic medicine movement?
One thing has definitely changed, though: MDMA is no longer the main character of the Psychedelic Renaissance. Local decriminalization and legalization efforts march forward across the country, with a fast-growing underground market of products and services centered around psilocybin, but also featuring DMT, LSD, and a number of more obscure psychoactives.
“I’m frustrated that MDMA is this beautiful drug with incredible potential when combined with therapy,” [Rick] Doblin says, “and it’s in the hands of traditional pharma people who would rather be a drug company than a drug plus therapy company.” … to continue on the path to FDA approval, Lykos will need to raise additional tens of millions of dollars, and the study will take three years, maybe more … “It’s now clear that the path for desperately needed access to psychedelic-assisted therapies will not run through Washington, D.C,” the Healing Advocacy Fund said in a statement. “States must take the lead to bring people the care they need and deserve.” Psychedelic therapy “needs to go to the citizenry,” said Bessel van der Kolk, Dutch psychiatrist and author of the best-selling book The Body Keeps the Score. In more than a dozen jurisdictions that have decriminalized natural psychedelics, this has already happened through initiatives that allow for “growing, gifting, and gathering.” The idea is that if someone can grow mushrooms, they won’t need to rely on a regulated entity to provide them. That gets a bit trickier when it comes to synthetic compounds such as MDMA, but Doblin thinks he may have a solution. MDMA can be synthesized from an oil – safrole – distilled from plants that are legal to grow. Doblin is working on plans to grow the plants in greenhouses in the U.S.
Original Article (Doublebline):
Did the FDA destroy the psychedelic medicine movement?
Artwork Fair Use: Koenraad Fossey