12.6 Evolving Psychedelics as Medicine Policies
As of July 1, 2023 there are now four countries that permit to varying degrees the use of psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat various mental health conditions, Israel, the U.S., Canada, and Australia (MAPS, February 3, 2023; Australian Government, July 3, 2023). In 2019, the Israeli Ministry of Health approved the compassionate use for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD (MAPS, February 4, 2019), with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (DEA) doing the same later that year (MAPS, January 17, 2020). In January 2022, Health Canada announced a Special Access Programme (SAP), that allows doctors to submit requests on behalf of their patients for access to drugs for psychedelic-assisted therapy (Gilman, January 4, 2022). The rules and regulations of that program, however, can make it difficult for patients to meet the bar required for access (see video below). On July 1, 2023, Australia became the first country to to “classify psychedelics as medicines at a national level” (Nunn, June 30, 2023, para. 3), permitting authorized psychiatrists to prescribe psychedelics (e.g., MDMA, psilocybin) as part of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, for the treatment of certain mental health conditions (Australian Government, July 3, 2023).
VIDEO: Terminal Cancer Patient Denied Compound in Magic Mushrooms After Rule Change.
This CBC News report shares the story of Janis Hughes, a Canadian woman with stage 4 breast cancer, and her struggle to obtain approval from Health Canada for psilocybin to help treat her anxiety around her diagnosis and impending death.
In December 2022, Quebec became the first Canadian province or territory to cover doctor’s services to administer psilocybin-based psychotherapy under its provincial health care plan (the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec — RAMQ) (Dunne, December 15, 2022). As of January 16, 2023, the province of Alberta enacted regulations that allow registered and licensed psychiatrists in the province to offer therapeutic administration of hallucinogenic substances, in a therapeutically supportive environment (Dyck, January 15, 2023). There are concerns though that the regulatory requirements of the new provincial policy will make it more difficult to offer and access such services (Kaufmann, January 9, 2023). The Alberta system parallels the new nation-wide Australian policy that came into force July 1, 2023. The Australian legislation permits authorized psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin to patients for treatment-resistant depression and MDMA for PTSD (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, March 7, 2023; Carpenter, February 6, 2022).
At the state level in the U.S., on January 1, 2023, Oregon became the first in the U.S. to legalize the opening of licensed psilocybin service centres, that provide a supervised setting in which adults at least 21 years of age can consume psilocybin (Oregon Health Authority, n.d.). Under the new legislation, the Oregon Health Authority can “license and regulate the manufacturing, transportation, delivery, sale, and purchase of psilocybin products and the provision of psilocybin services” (Oregon Health Authority, n.d., para. 1). In the November 2022 U.S. election, Colorado voters supported a ballot measure that will permit the state to follow the example of Oregon, legalizing and regulating psilocybin and psilocybin services. As with Oregon, it will take several years to put the regulatory system into place, but as of January 4, 2023, psilocybin was decriminalized in Colorado, making it no longer illegal to possess for personal use or to use natural substances (e.g., psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline), or grow psychedelic mushrooms in private residences (Gillette, March 13 2023). Legislation similar to Oregon and Colorado has been introduced in other states (eg., California, Connecticut, New Jersey) (Ducharme, February 8, 2023).
Click the links below to learn more about access to psychedelic medicine in Canada, Australia and Oregon:
Psychedelics on cannabis fast track to legalization
Adults can now use magic mushrooms with supervision in Oregon