The Australian government will be helping fund a trial into whether psychedelics or ecstasy can help treat mental health issues.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the investigation will hopefully join growing evidence that suggests things like MDMA, ketamine or magic mushrooms can address depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Obviously they're not going to be polling people at clubs and raves, and will instead be seeing how these drugs work in a controlled environment and supported by psychiatric care.
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Scott Morrison's government is launching a $15 million competitive grant to help incentivise groups to look into these alternative remedies.
The hunt for a new approach to mental health treatment hit a roadblock last month when the Therapeutic Goods Administration published its interim decision on the matter.
The TGA suggested it would not amend its guidelines to give medical health professionals more access to use controlled drugs like morphine, methadone and oxycodone for more research.
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The decision was backed up by the Australian Medical Association and Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, who have argued more research needs to be done into the safety and efficacy of the drugs before they're opened up to medical professionals and patients.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has praised the research that has been released so far and hopes more data will be able to carve out new treatment options for sufferers.
Three months ago, Melbourne researchers were getting ready to start a world-first clinical trial looking into whether the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, can be used for people with anxiety.
Chief principal investigator of the new trials, Monash research fellow Paul Liknaitzky told the Sydney Morning Herald the trials will be a multi-pronged approach.
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"A lot of people are inclined to think about it as a drug treatment, as a chemo-therapeutic treatment, whereas it's really a combination of drug and talk therapy within a conducive setting," he said.
A second trial was also investigating how MDMA could help people with PTSD.
The active ingredient in ecstasy has been found to 'lower your anxiety levels without sedating you', meaning you're able to open up about painful experiences and explore them in a constructive way.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Australia