The "Renaissance of psychedelics" will continue
Experts told what awaits psychedelic therapy by 2030
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
Experts predict that in the next ten years, the "renaissance of psychedelics" will continue. Regulators will begin to approve psilocybins and ecstasy as medicines, and scientific research on the topic will expand.
After a brief heyday in the middle of the last century, research on psychedelic drugs practically stopped for many years. The reason for this was doubts about their safety and legislative prohibitions.
However, in the past decade, interest in psychedelics has revived. Experts have been actively studying their effect on the brain, as well as possible therapeutic use. Some of the psychedelics, such as psilocybin and ecstasy, have already been proposed to be legalized for the treatment of various mental disorders, including depression and PTSD.
New Atlas asked several experts to comment on the "renaissance of psychedelics" and share a forecast for the next 10 years.
Psychiatrist Ben Sessa, one of Britain's largest psychedelic researchers, expects regulators to approve the use of several types of psychedelics as medicines by the end of 2022. As a result, patients with mental disorders will have a wide choice of alternative drugs and the opportunity to build individual treatment regimens.
Sessa calls the main problem the shortage of money. 99% of psychedelic research is funded by charitable donations. Although investors are beginning to show interest in investing in the industry, this is not enough yet.
Natalie Ghukasyan, who studies psilocybins in Johns Hopkins University is also hoping for approval of psychedelics as medicines. This will make it possible to provide such drugs in specialized clinics and even ordinary hospitals. The widespread use of psychedelic therapy will help make it more effective, the researcher believes.
Brad Burge, head of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research (MAPS), predicts that by 2030 psychedelic therapy will be approved not only in the United States, but also in Europe, as well as a number of other countries. As new data becomes available, more and more patients will receive it, not just people with depression and PTSD.
For example, MAPS is currently conducting clinical trials of the psychedelic ibogaine for the treatment of opioid addiction.
Berge notes that legalizing psychedelic drugs is only half the solution. It is also necessary to provide access to them for thousands of patients and properly train doctors. Another challenge is to convince health insurance companies to start paying for psychedelic treatment.
Recently, the FDA awarded the status of breakthrough therapy to the treatment of major depressive disorder with psilocybins. This means that if the clinical trials are successful, the drug will be approved as soon as possible.
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