Government urged to ease restrictions in magic mushroom drug psilocybin

MPs have urged Government to ease restrictions on magic mushroom drug psilocybin so it can be researched properly for its potential to treat mental health conditions, as reported on the BBC website.

In a debate in parliament, the MP for Warrington North Charlotte Nichols, who said she suffered from ‘debilitating’ PTSD, said studies had found psilocybin was an effective treatment in a range of mental health conditions including PTSD, depression, anorexia and addiction. 

She said: "It feels like institutional cruelty to condemn us to our misery when there are proven, safe, and effective treatment options if the government would only let us access them."

Psilocybin is categorised alongside MDMA (ecstasy) and LSD under Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. That means it’s illegal to possess or prescribe

and can only be used for research purposes with a specific home Office licence. 

MP for Reigate Crispin Blunt told the Commons the cost was too much for many researchers. He said it was ‘scandalous’ that the government had not prioritised reclassifying psilocybin.

Home Office Minister Robert Jenrick said the government wanted to ‘tackle this issue across all categories of section one drugs, to reduce barriers to legitimate research rather than focus on individual drugs’.

A recent study showed that psilocybin can improve the symptoms of severe depression for up to 12 weeks.

The trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tested 1mg, 10mg and 25mg doses on 233 people from 10 countries in Europe and North America. The best results came from the 25mg dose.

But experts said more studies were needed.

About 100 million people worldwide have serious clinical depression that doesn’t respond to available treatments. Almost a third attempt suicide.

Study author and consultant psychiatrist Dr James Rucker said the drug was thought to have ‘a direct action on the brain, putting it into a more flexible state and providing a window of opportunity for therapy’.

According to the NHS, misuse of psilocybin can also trigger psychotic episodes.