More than two years after a landmark case, the Psilocybin Therapy Canada government still isn’t ready to make psilocybin therapy widely available. But Quebec this week took a significant step forward in the acceptance of the drug, found in “magic mushrooms,” when the province became the first to publicly fund medical psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for patients with legal access.
Four people living with incurable cancer were granted Section 56 exemptions by the federal health minister last August to receive psilocybin, and dozens more have applied since then. Those applications are made through the Special Access Program, whereby healthcare professionals can submit requests to administer drugs deemed necessary to treat their patients.
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Health Canada recently turned down a request by health-care workers to consume the drug for professional training, because it hasn’t seen proof that therapists ingesting magic mushrooms as part of their education leads to more effective treatment. The health workers’ lawyer says the government’s decision violates hundreds of patients who have waited for psilocybin-assisted therapy.
Psychedelics have a unique ability to make the brain “malleable,” and can change long-entrenched patterns of thought that may be contributing to depression, anxiety or other mental illness. In the last decade, several studies have shown that psilocybin, alongside psychological support, can alleviate symptoms in people living with life-threatening illnesses. But public health experts say the full benefit of psychedelic medicines will be realized only when they’re developed with equity in mind. The Psilocybin Therapy Canada discussion paper introduces healthcare professionals to the current psychedelics terrain, and what might be needed to bring these advances into the mainstream of clinical practice.