Question: How are psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and mdma used for therapeutic treatment in the medical community, and how are national and local governments lobbying for the legalization of these drugs around the world?

 

As someone who has practiced meditation for quite some time it is no secret that the mind is a wonderful labyrinth to get lost in. Psychedelics similarly have impacted a wide range of individuals to become more peaceful within their skin. I believe it is becoming imperative to familiarize ourselves with the growing age of psychedelics that have been seen as taboo for so long in academic culture. I think this is relevant to our society because certain states and countries have already begun the shift towards utilization of psychedelics in the medical facility (and some even recreationally) rather than complete abolition of them. MDMA has been designated as a “breakthrough therapy” by the FDA which in itself should sound the awareness towards curiosity at least in regards to MDMA. Psilocybin has been legalized medically in Canada and is on the ballot for medical legalization in Oregon, which should also steer one into curiosity regarding these substances. The average rate for a therapy success rate is 50% which is merely a coin flip. Not to mention this coin flip is thousands of dollars and once a week for at least 16 weeks. On the other hand MDMA assisted psychotherapy has had a 61% success rate with just 3 clinical sessions. This is one of the reasons why a large part of the medical world is very enthusiastic about MDMA and some of that enthusiasm falls into Psilocybin as well. 

 

Modal Essay: Roseman, Leor, et al. “The Effects of Psilocybin and MDMA on between-Network Resting State Functional Connectivity in Healthy Volunteers.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 23 Mar. 2014, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00204/full.

 

Name of Publication: MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) (Due to the nature of the subject various papers deemed reputable for publication have been conducted by non-for-profit organizations such as MAPS and then self-published) 

 

This research topic has been supremely interesting to me so a great deal of the research has been sitting in a folder on my computer. A good deal of refresher is necessary as there are a great number of interesting clinical trials going on currently but most have already been bookmarked by me because I like to keep updated on the various new research. However more information gathering has to be conducted on the various legislation that is taking place around the world regarding psychedelics. This will probably be completed in the next coming days. The essay chosen was a strong backbone for a lot of the interest garnered for psychedelics. 

 

Bibliography: 

 

1. Byock, Ira. “Taking Psychedelics Seriously.” Journal of Palliative Medicine, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Apr. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5867510/.
2. “MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy.” MAPS, maps.org/research/mdma (This has a large number of various studies that the MAPS organization is conducting and has conducted; roughly 6-8 will be used in my final paper) 
3. Sessa, Ben, et al. “A Review of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-Assisted Psychotherapy.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers Media S.A., 20 Mar. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6435835/.