Subhechcha Ganguly 
The psychedelic chemicals MDMA and psilocybin, also referred to as ecstasy and magic mushrooms, will soon be used in the treatment of depression and PTSD, according to an announcement made on Friday by Australia’s drug agency (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Both medications will be prescribed starting in July, according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia’s drug oversight agency, which found “adequate evidence for possible benefits in select patients” in their investigation. MDMA and psilocybin will reportedly be prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, respectively.
Beginning in July, psychiatrists will be permitted to prescribe the two drugs. Currently, the two medications are “prohibited compounds” that can only be used in rigorous clinical trials. According to the administration, they have been discovered to be “quite safe” when used in a medical environment and give patients with a “altered state of consciousness.” Mike Musker, a researcher in mental health and suicide prevention at the University of South Australia, hailed the change as “long-awaited.”
Although psychedelics have been utilised by indigenous people for thousands of years, western researchers only began to recognise their potential applications in the middle of the 20th century. The drugs were outlawed because they were seen as emblems of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Authorities in the US and Canada are among those who have approved the use of MDMA and psilocybin for medicinal purposes.
