Australia Legalizes MDMA and Psilocybin Mushrooms for Mental Health Treatment

On July 1^st, 2023, Australia made history by legalizing psilocybin (for medical purposes). Shortly after the historic event, a glut of posts commending Australia flooded social media. One from Vice was particularly apt in sharing the inspiring details of this geopolitical event.

The post from Vice shared, “Australia has become the first country to [legalize] medical psychedelics.” To set the record straight, Australia is not actually the first country to legalize psilocybin – that credit goes to Nepal, where mushrooms are classified as an “uncontrolled substance.” Despite the lack of restrictions, Nepal doesn’t boast a booming economy for all things mushrooms, rather magic mushrooms are actually elusive (i.e. they’re not sold openly in markets or bodegas). Australia is the first country to nationally legalize mushrooms with the intent to curate a medical community and economy.  
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Vice’s post continued, “On the 1st of July, MDMA and psilocybin – the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms – were added to the list of approved medicines by Australia’s version of the FDA, the Therapeutic Goods Administration. While the move has been celebrated by both campaigners and fans of psychedelics, it’s not a free-for-all: the drugs can only be prescribed by [authorized] psychiatrists, who can recommend psilocybin to treat depression that has proven resistant to other treatments, and MDMA to assist in the treatment of PTSD.

Vice further stipulated, “… the treatment isn’t cheap: the drugs will cost around 10,000 Australian dollars (roughly $6,700) per patient.” Clearly, although the Australian government took a big leap, there are leagues left to go. Especially since, in theory, the street version of this treatment would cost an intrepid adventure about 1/1,000 of the price.
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Although this isn’t perfect legislation, it’s certainly a strong move in a forward-thinking direction. Bringing everything back to home base, the post closed with sentiments on psilocybin from the states: “While there is growing cultural acceptance of psychedelics – with both Oregon and Colorado [legalizing] the adult use of psilocybin in recent years – medical experts say more research is needed on the drug’s efficacy, and The American Psychiatric Association is yet to endorse the use of psychedelics in treatment.”

To read more about the movement to legalize psychedelics in the United States, click here.

To listen to news regarding psychedelics, venture below.