• It's legal... but...

    In July 2023 Australia became the first country in the world to allow psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA but 6 months later less than 10 clinicians are approved to authorise the drugs for their patients.

    Is this slow pace a sign of a cautious system working as it should, or are roadblocks being put in place by a nascent regulatory system?

    And, is the high cost of the treatment going to lead to more patients seeking the drugs through underground sources?

    Read more… Cosmos, January 2024

  • Are psychedelics a treatment for long COVID? Researchers probing this mystery don't have answers yet

    It was March 2020 and Ash was the healthiest she’d been in 15 years. She had just started an exciting new job and COVID was still a nameless “novel coronavirus” mainly appearing on cruise ships. One evening, after getting home from the gym, Ash was suddenly struck with a wave of feverish delirium. She passed out and eventually came to a couple of hours later on the kitchen floor with her dog staring down at her.

    Read More… Salon, December 2023

  • Australia to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and depression in world first

    In a controversial move, Australia will become the world’s first country to allow the drugs psilocybin and MDMA to be prescribed by doctors to treat psychiatric conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But many scientists are concerned that research has not yet conclusively shown these drugs are safe or effective. And some clinicians fear the regulation that will govern access to the drugs is insufficient.

    Read more… Nature, July 2023

  • The ideological war at the heart of the psychedelic renaissance

    Most psychedelic advocates picture a future where the drug war is over and people are free to responsibly use a number of currently illicit substances for healing, personal growth, or simple recreation. But exactly how we get to that utopian future is the source of great acrimony and division in a once-unified alternative community that is increasingly moving towards the mainstream.

    Read more… New Atlas, October 2022

  • Meet two researchers bringing VR to psychedelic therapy

    A pair of unassuming Australian psychedelic researchers are proposing a radical paradigm shift to the way psychotherapy is conducted. The pair have developed a unique protocol for incorporating virtual reality into the still experimental mode of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and it promises to shatter 20th century ideas of therapy.

    Read more… New Atlas, July 2022

  • The problem at the heart of modern psychedelic clinical research

    How much of a problem is it if participants in psychedelic clinical trials can easily tell they have been given a placebo? New Zealand researcher Suresh Muthukumaraswamy suggests it is a big problem and many findings from recent psychedelic trials may be over-estimated.

    Read more… New Atlas, June 2021

  • Can a genetic test predict your response to psychedelic drugs?

    Vancouver-based company Halugen has recently launched a genetic test that purportedly screens for genetic variants influencing how a person may respond to certain psychedelic drugs. But some researchers are skeptical there is any evidence to suggest genetic screening can predict how a person will response to psychedelics.

    Read more… New Atlas, May 2021

  • Largest ever DMT survey travels to the fringes of psychedelic science

    Encounters with inter-dimensional beings, atheists discovering belief, and the bizarre world of DMT-induced entities. A trip to the fringes of psychedelic science.

    Read more… New Atlas, May 2020