The former chief of the Australian defence force is campaigning to remove barriers that prevent doctors from using MDMA to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration decided against changing the classification of MDMA from a prohibited substance to a controlled substance because it would have made it harder for patients to get the drug.
Despite being told by an expert panel that the drugs may show promise, it did so.
Europe's first drug trial firm opens.
The potential benefit of using MDMA to treat post traumatic stress disorder was acknowledged by the TGA.
The scheduling of MDMA could be reconsidered in future applications.
The drugs will soon be easier to access to treat post traumatic stress disorder.
He told Guardian Australia that they were hopeful that it would happen. 1.5 million sufferers in our country are ruined by this issue. There is an offer for a cure that could change their lives.
Doctors can apply for special access to use drugs that are not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to treat their patients.
The laws of state and territory are frustrating. Even with the approval of the TGA, the laws on recreational use would still hold doctors criminally liable for trying to treat their patients with drugs.
Despite the ACT pushing to decriminalise drugs, the catch-22 continues.
If theACT is successful in decriminalising the drugs, it should also remove any barrier to using the drugs to treat patients suffering from treatment resistant depression and related post-traumatic stress disorder.
If this were to happen, it would be ridiculous if a doctor could not prescribe MDMA or psilocybin to a patient who was suffering from treatment-resistant depression.
Sufferers with treatment-resistantPTSD or treatment-resistant depression can be at serious risk because they have exhausted conventional treatments.
It is possible for a patient to receive a treatment that has been shown to be safe with high response rates with the approval of a medical doctor.
The drugs held some promise as a treatment for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, though only where they were administered in closely clinically supervised settings and with intensive professional support.
The experts found that there were statistically significant differences between inactive and active treatments for both continuous scores and dichotomous responses. It is important to note that this was in a supportive and structured environment.
Canada, Switzerland, Israel and the United States are some of the nations that allow a similar level of access to Australia.
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