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Long Trip for Psychedelic Drugs
(Kristen Philipkoski, WiredNews, September 27, 2004)
Psychedelic drugs are inching their way slowly but surely toward prescription status in the United States, thanks to a group of persistent scientists who believe drugs like ecstasy and psilocybin can help people with terminal cancer, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, to name just a few. . . . The Heffter Research Institute, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and others have managed to persuade the Food and Drug Administration to approve a handful of clinical trials using psychedelics. The movement seems to be gaining ground in recent years. Since 2001, the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Administration have given the go-ahead to three clinical trials testing psychedelics on symptomatic patients, and several more are on deck. . . . At first blush, it seems like an uphill battle more challenging than the one medical-marijuana advocates have been facing. MDMA has been vilified by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and in news stories, making it seem unlikely that federal agencies will ever allow the legal use of psychedelics. . . . But it might actually be easier to get psychedelics through the approval process than marijuana, according to Rick Doblin, founder and president of MAPS. The roadblock with marijuana has centered on supply. A government-controlled crop in Mississippi is the only marijuana the government will allow in clinical trials. But the supply of psychedelics is decentralized, and the researchers have control of much of it. . . . Doblin's persistence and know-how -- he has a doctorate in public policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government -- led to the launch of the first FDA-approved clinical trial testing MDMA as a therapy (in this case for post-traumatic stress disorder) since the drug became illegal. . . . Studies starting as early as the '30s that showed positive results treating cluster and migraine headaches with psilocybin and LSD helped Wold decide to try a psychedelic. The studies also showed success with other disorders including depression, alcoholism and addiction to other drugs like heroin. . . . Dr. Charles Grob, head of adolescent and child psychiatry at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, tried for almost a decade to get the go-ahead to perform a study using MDMA to treat anxiety in terminal cancer patients. He got permission in the early '90s to use the drug in a safety study on healthy volunteers, the results of which were published in Behavioral Brain Research in 1996, and the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in 1999. . . . But what he really wanted was to work with a patient population. When after several years neither the FDA nor the DEA went for the idea, he changed his proposal. . . . "By the late '90s felt it felt hopeless to work with MDMA because it had gotten such a negative reputation, so we revamped the study to work with psilocybin," Grob said. "In 2003, it was accepted." . . . Dr. Francisco Moreno at the University of Arizona has administered psilocybin to eight obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. His study, which began in 2001, was the first FDA-approved clinical trial involving a psychedelic in 30 years. He presented positive results at a recent scientific meeting, and is in the process of publishing his data in a medical journal. . . . "I'm very optimistic for the future," Grob said. "I think these compounds have tremendous untapped potential to be utilized within medicine and psychology. I think they need to be demystified, and safety parameters need to be established and studied. But with good controls, I think they can be used safely and effectively."

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 6:01 PM

 

Detroiters Enter 21st Century, Vote to Allow Medical Marijuana
(Windsor Star, August 5, 2004)
Detroit citizens voted 59-41 per cent Tuesday to allow the use of medical marijuana in their city, which should send a message to Canadian municipalities to do the same, says the editor of B.C.-based Cannabis Health Journal. . . . Detroit is the first city in the American Midwest to allow medical marijuana. . . . "I'm happy that it passed," Brian Taylor said Wednesday. "I'm surprised that it's not higher than 59 per cent, given that most polls show the support for medical marijuana is around 80 per cent. . . . "But maybe some Canadian municipalities will now wake up to their responsibilities, instead of continually calling it a federal matter, and deal with the issue." . . . Detroit police officers now may not arrest anybody who uses marijuana for medical reasons and has a doctor's note on letterhead to prove it. State and federal officers, however, will still be able to lay drug charges against Detroiters even if they are using pot medicinally. . . . "We're very, very happy," said Tim Beck, chairman of the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care, which lobbied to have Proposal M for medical marijuana on the ballot. "There were a lot of people who expected this to fail. . . . "It adds a different dimension on things. Some people said this was a West Coast phenomenon. So people are ecstatic there has been a major win in the Midwest." . . . Ann Arbor votes on a similar resolution Nov. 2. If that passes, proponents say they will push for Michigan to allow medical marijuana use statewide.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 12:42 PM