From the Gizmodo Website:
Some researchers have been studying the potential mental health benefits of psychedelic substances like psilocybin since the 1970s. But it’s only in recent years that health authorities and governments have been more permissive of this research, following decades of harsh regulations.
Large-scale research into this field is still fairly new, but health regulators have signaled their willingness to consider these and similar drugs for formal approval. In 2019, a nasal spray formulation of the sometimes club drug ketamine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That same year, the FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to a non-profit company attempting to develop psilocybin as a depression treatment, which is meant to speed up the review process. States and cities have also begun to decriminalizepsilocybin in general or for medicinal purposes.
Animal and clinical trial results of psilocybin-assisted therapy have been promising for depression and other conditions, including alcohol use disorder. But there’s still much we don’t understand about how these kinds of drugs are helping people with these ailments. This new research, published Monday in Nature Medicine, looks to add some insight.
