Should Psychedelic Drugs be Legalized For Medical Use Across The World?
Recently, psychedelic drugs have started to make a much more public appearance. “How to Change Your Mind” is a new show on Netflix with the latest findings about psychedelics. These latest findings have encouraged discussion in legislation regarding the medical use of psilocybin. Oregon recently took the first step by legalizing medical psychedelics motivated by the ongoing studies regarding their benefits. Past and ongoing studies have been proving the positive benefits of the drugs and how they could potentially be useful if prescribed. This brings up the question of if these drugs are good for people why are they illegal? The controversy of whether psychedelic drugs should start being used to treat those with certain mental issues can be tackled by covering exactly what psychedelic drugs are, as well as talking about the current and past findings from psychedelics studies. Then we can talk about what it may take to get to a point where these drugs are used in medicine to help those in need. The knowledge one has on this topic can affect their opinion on whether they support or discourage the use of psychedelics for the greater good.
Let’s start from the top with psychedelic drugs. There are many different types of psychedelic drugs such as LSD (acid), MDMA (ecstasy), Psilocybin Mushrooms (shrooms), PCP, and Salvia. They are considered psychedelic drugs because have the ability to affect our senses. They can “…change the way people see, hear, taste, smell or feel, and affect mood and thought”, and can make the user hallucinate, see, feel, and hear things that aren’t actually there (20144 Hallucinogens). The interesting aspect of these psychedelics is that they each have their own type of “trip” or feeling associated with them. Sometimes this “trip” can be positive and other times it can be negative in the sense that they don’t enjoy it and want it to end. Because they each have a different effect on the user, they all have different mental aspects that they can help with, as found by a variety of studies. Psychedelics can be powerful to the human mind and there is a potential for that power to be harnessed for the greater good of medicine and health.
The power that psychedelics hold is considered untouchable as these drugs are illegal in the US because they are schedule 1 drugs. A schedule 1 drug lives in schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act which is reserved for drugs that are considered to be of high abuse potential and have no accepted medical use (Strassman). Even with the limited studies that have been done on psychedelics, it is evident that they can be used to treat and help others in a medical environment. With more and more proof rising to the surface of these studies that psychedelics can be beneficial, I can’t imagine not seeing these beginning to become an option for medical treatments. To overcome the view that was cast upon these types of drugs in the 20th century is going to take a lot of proof and studies to prove their use in therapeutic ways.
Of all the studies on different psychedelic drugs, 45.7% of professionally done studies have been on methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as MDMA, molly, or ecstasy (Siegel). MDMA has proven that will be the next big medical breakthrough for those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). MDMA became known for its popularity in the party scene, such as raves and festivals in the late 70s early 80s, but it can also be viewed as a way to help treat patients with PTSD (Mithoefer). MDMA can increase the activity in the three chemicals in the brain; dopamine (releases energy or happiness), Norepinephrine (increases the body’s heart rate and blood pressure), and serotonin (triggers hormones that affect sexual arousal and trust making it known as the love drug) (MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) DrugFacts). Before it became known as a “Schedule 1 controlled substance in 1985”, making it illegal, there was ongoing research claiming health benefits with the drug (Mithoefer). These research studies couldn’t be proven because of the interruption of the drug becoming illegal to use and therefore study. This was extremely frustrating for a lot of scientists and doctors who believed they were on edge of discovering new groundbreaking medicine.
Rick Doblin, the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), was the man who turned the tide. He was able to get approved for an “FDA drug development process to study the safety and efficacy of MDMA as an adjustment to psychotherapy for PTSD” (Mithoefer). This was extremely important for the current study of psychedelics that we have today because, without him, we wouldn’t be able to touch these upcoming lifesaving medicines. MAPS conducted an 18-week study with 90 participants, 44 of which were placebo and the other 46 were participants who took MDMA (A Multi-Site Phase 3 Study). From the trials, it was clear to see that those with PTSD that took the active dose of MDMA had less severe symptoms of PTSD compared to those who took the placebo. The higher scores mean that they had greater severity of PTSD and those who took the MDMA scored -24.4 while the placebo group scored -13.9 (A Multi-Site Phase 3 Study). This proves that MDMA was a successful medication in helping patients with their PTSD symptoms. To further support this from the data collected, they found that the placebo with the therapy group had 2 events of suicidal behavior from one patient and 1 event of suicidal ideation from another patient. The non-serious side effects that stand out to me are that 7 out of the 46 MDMA users reported having Mydriasis which is an eye condition and 30 out of the 46 MDMA users had muscle tightness compared to 6 out of the 44 placebo users (A Multi-Site Phase 3 Study). Overall, MDMA has an extremely promising potential in the medical system for helping cure and treat patients with PTSD. MDMA has such few side effects, and for how much it can help those with PTSD, it is hard to believe that it isn’t in the medical system already.
Another psychedelic drug that is making its way back into studies is acid or LSD. Albert Hofmann was the first person to create lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) from a fungus in 1938 as well as the person to first find its psychedelic properties (Doblin). From the 1950s to the 1970s, LSD was studied to see how it could be used to help people. In those studies, it was found that LSD could be used to treat anxiety, depression, and addiction along with a few other diseases (Fuentes). During this time, LSD was tested to see if it could cure addictions, specifically alcoholism. Researchers in Canada during the 50s claimed to have “achieved significant rates of recovery. Psychiatrists, including Humphry Osmond who coined the term ‘psychedelic’ while working in Saskatchewan, believed that the successful treatment of alcoholism with biochemical means would scientifically prove that the condition was a disease…” (Dyck). In 1956 alcoholism was recognized as an illness and a chronic disease (When Was Alcoholism Recognized as a Disease?). This proved to the world that LSD was a successful treatment for addiction. It’s fairly common knowledge that LSD became very popular throughout the 60s and 70s among musicians, college students, and other groups until 1967 when it was prohibited by the United States. Around this time, “studies” came out saying that LSD could cause chromosomal damage which gained a lot of traction even though it was proven to be false in later studies (Aday). LSD and all the previous studies that once had promising futures were thrown down the drain because LSD could no longer be used.
Slowly, studies started up again for the same reasons as the MDMA studies, which was because of MAPS. In 2009, there was a study posted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) testing how LSD assisted psychotherapy in people with illness-related anxiety. The results from the experiment were posted in late 2021 showing that this was a relatively recent experiment. The findings of this experiment were quite fascinating. The experiment took place over 12 months, and they found that the patients “reported insightful, cathartic and interpersonal experiences” (Gasser). The anxiety levels of these patients decreased by 77.8% and their quality of life increased by 66.7% (Gasser). It is said that this experience led them to reconstruct their emotional trust and their situational understanding (Gasser). The conclusion of this study is LSD can be safe and provide lifelong benefits for patients with life-threatening diseases. They want to do further studies with LSD to learn more about its potential positive effects on anxiety and more, but so far it looks promising. When used correctly and for the right reasons, psychedelics can be medically beneficial to those in need. Just like any other medication, there are side effects and disadvantages that come with the advantages.
There are said to be a lot of negatives regarding psychedelics, but there are surprisingly very few when used therapeutically. Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) came from more recent studies which were testing LSD. It was found that “Type I HPPD involves transient flashbacks, whereas Type II is more chronic and invasive”, meaning that HPPD can be very slight with little “afterimages of color, ‘floaters’ in field of vision” (Aday). According to Aday, the odds of getting Type II HPPD are slim with 1 psychedelic user out of 50,000 developing it. Even though this risk is small, it may not be worth it for some people. The side effects of psychedelics can also be positive for the user. Users have a 40% reduced risk of abusing opioids along with lower rates of recidivism and committing sexual assault (Aday). One major concern that comes with any psychedelic is a “bad trip”. A bad trip is when you don’t enjoy the effects of the psychedelic and you want it to stop even though it is already active and will be until it wears off. This can also have a connection with Type II HPPD because those “bad” recollections of that experience can come back and affect the user in their daily lives.
Psychedelics can change the way that one thinks and that is why they can be helpful in certain instances as well as detrimental. To recall, LSD was attempted to be used to help stop addictions, meaning it was not a cure but was helpful by making them confront the neurological part of their addiction. This usually helped stop addiction and that’s even what Ibogaine (a psychedelic very similar to LSD) is used for in Mexico and New Zealand according to Michael Guisti. When the way that one thinks is needing to be changed or opened up to other ways of thinking, psychedelics can be extremely useful and beneficial. The only slight hesitation to psychedelics is the fact that they could become the next type of opioid. I mean that in the sense that opioids are legal for medical use, but they are still being abused and that has caused a big problem in our country. The use of psychedelics recreationally is what made these schedule 1 drugs as well as illegal in most of the world. For those who take psychedelics but don’t need to change the way they want to think or aren’t ready for the reflection on themselves; they could potentially have a negative experience from these drugs. There have been people that have become depressed from what they experienced to the point that they can’t live with themselves anymore. In a sense, psychedelics can have the power to ruin lives, and that is why there is a widely known negative perception of them. There is a sense of fear with them when used recreationally or just for fun, and for good reason.
As seen in the studies from before, psychedelics were all used with patients who weren’t happy with life. Whether it was PTSD, or they had terminal illnesses and were depressed, they wanted to change their mindset for the better because they didn’t have much to lose. When someone is looking to change their perspectives is when psychedelics have the most potential to be beneficial. I believe that the only time psychedelics should be used is when they are needed therapeutically under the right care so that they can be the most beneficial for the user. Keeping psychedelics illegal to the public and only allowing use through therapeutic practices, gives patients the opportunity to receive medical help that they previously couldn’t receive before. Some may argue that it will be impossible to legalize it medically without it becoming more available to the public for misuse, but I think there will be ways around that. Once we figure out how to make these drugs less likely to be abused, I believe that we can make psychedelics available to the public for therapeutic use to better the health of those in need.
The argument of whether psychedelics can be beneficial or not is always going to be present, even if they do become legal for medical use. On the other hand, I do believe that a lot more people are becoming open to the idea of them especially as we begin to understand them more and more. With more studies coming out with positive findings on how they can help those who need them, we are getting closer to legalizing psychedelics for medical use. The process of getting these drugs legalized is going to be difficult, especially finding a way to prevent repeating history and misusing these drugs. The process to make this happen is possible with today’s intelligence and MAPS’ determination to use psychedelics for therapeutic and medical use. To answer the question of, should psychedelic drugs be legalized for medical use across the world, I believe the answer is yes. Psychedelics are going to be the next medical breakthrough when found how to be used correctly and for the right reasons.
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