In something of a bolt from the blue, Mattha Busby of The Intercept shared the groundbreaking news from Washington D.C. on Tuesday, July 26, that the Biden Administration is preparing for the reality of FDA approval for psychedelic-assisted therapies involving MDMA and psilocybin.
From the article:
“As twin mental health and drug misuse crises kill thousands of people per week, the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies “must be explored,” urges a federal letter on behalf of the U.S. health secretary and shared with The Intercept. President Joe Biden’s administration “anticipates” that regulators will approve MDMA and psilocybin within the next two years for designated breakthrough therapies for PTSD and depression respectively. The administration is “exploring the prospect of establishing a federal task force to monitor” the emerging psychedelic treatment ecosystem, according to the letter sent by assistant secretary for mental health and substance use Miriam Delphin-Rittmon to Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa. The May correspondence, not shared publicly until now, is the clearest indication yet that top officials are preparing for the approval of psychedelic drugs — demonized for decades after former President Richard Nixon sought means to attack the anti-Vietnam War counterculture in the late 60s which was arguably unthinkable even five years.
This represents a seismic shift in policy, which Optimi Health sincerely hopes that the Canadian government will reciprocate.
It is also an immense moral victory for researchers, activists and policy reformers who have been slowly but surely championing the power of these substances through decades of prohibition that such an approval would signify.
But we aren’t there yet.
There is still work to be done, clinical trials to be completed, and a safe supply of EU-GMP psilocybin and MDMA to be shored up in order to ensure that this promise becomes a reality.
