Canada to possibly legalise MDMA for PTSD

[AylaV]

While MDMA being studied for treatment of PTSD is nothing new, the fact that it will most likely finally make it to application fairly soon is certainly news.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/08/04/14923656.html

OTTAWA — Canada's military would use the illicit dance-floor drug Ecstasy to treat soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder if it's proven safe and effective, says a top DND doctor.

Lt. Col. Rakesh Jetly, a psychiatrist and senior health adviser for the Canadian Forces, said the department of national defence (DND) is committed to evidence-based care, and would embrace any treatment that has undergone rigorous scientific research to help relieve suffering of battle-scarred troops.

"If you replaced Ecstasy with substance X - whether it was an absolutely approved legal drug, a mainstream medication, my answer would be the same. The fact that it's Ecstasy means nothing to us," Jetly told QMI Agency. "If there's any substance, any drug that has the research, the randomized controlled studies, the publications to prove its efficacy, we would entertain adding it as an approved treatment."

A new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology shows a small clinical trial found 80% of chronic patients treated with psychotherapy and MDMA - called Ecstasy on the street — no longer showed signs of t-traumatic stress disorder if (PTSD) and had no serious side effects. Three patients once so debilitated by the disorder they couldn't work were able to return to their jobs after treatment.

MDMA was used by psychiatrists and psychotherapists to aide treatment before it was outlawed in the 1970s and 1980s.
...

This is a huge step in a more open-minded approach to traditionally recreational drugs Hopefully we'll see more studies and the revisiting of more drugs that have been deemed socially unacceptable over the years =)

 

[Carmella Boyle]

I like the "replace with substance X" bit. hah.

Good for progress, hope they get approval for wide-spread trials!

 

[cybervisionx]

That is great news.

 

[ABCDFG I Ate The E]

been waiting years to hear this news.. wonder what will happen about it in the next 5-10 years

 

[headdah]

wow. this is great news. Go Canada!

 

[phr]

Please don't post the full article.

 

[Roger&Me]

Great news.

But we need this in the USA as well, ASAP! We've been engaged in an unrelenting ground war for over 8 years, and the number of psychological casualties is staggering.

We need to take care of our people as they return home from war. Those boys have been fighting like werewolves in hell, and they need every resource we can give them when they come back to rejoin civilized society.

MDMA is an excellent agent to aid in the transition from warrior back to citizen; IMO, we should employ it whenever possible.

Only a truly barbaric society would disallow their returning warriors from utilizing every available resource to regain health. We should be actively promoting this form of healing therapy.

 

[Moredopamine]

Great news.

But we need this in the USA as well, ASAP! We've been engaged in an unrelenting ground war for over 8 years, and the number of psychological casualties is staggering.

We need to take care of our people as they return home from war. Those boys have been fighting like werewolves in hell, and they need every resource we can give them when they come back to rejoin civilized society.

MDMA is an excellent agent to aid in the transition from warrior back to citizen; IMO, we should employ it whenever possible.

Only a truly barbaric society would disallow their returning warriors from utilizing every available resource to regain health. We should be actively promoting this form of healing therapy.

Then just about every country is barbaric! Some more barbaric than others, of course.

 

[molly897]

very interesting .. but how is this different from a SSRI

 

[qwe]

^ SSRI's from more recent evidence *don't* seem to work by increasing serotonin in the synapse (iirc). we have no clue how they work. it could be increase of new neuron growth in hippocampus and some other area, or some other effect

they take 1-4 weeks for their effects to become apparent, have a horrid withdrawal if abruptly ceased, and are a daily medication

MDMA is taken once. is effective after one dose, is not effective (except its stimulating properties aka caffeine-like effect) if taken day after day. it's meant for a couple sessions, spaced a couple weeks or months apart, combined with therapy

rather than improve mood/anxiety, MDMA skyrockets the mood and obliterates any anxieties, allowing the person with PTSD to recall important memories for their treatment without totally breaking down, to view their life in a positive light, basically to get all the realizations that they missed out on because their brain was too busy sending negative emotion signals ever since their trauma

 

[Bardeaux]

This would be amazing if it happens to go through. I dont think this would work here in the states just yet. There's far too much stigma surrounding MDMA for people here to take it seriously imo. Which is a shame because I believe it possesses extraordinary theraputic properties.

 

[paranoid android]

Shit id be really surprised if this got off the ground given the currant political climate in canada. Fucking conservative idiots. But wonders never cease to amaze me.

 

[Jamshyd]

^ It probably won't. A typical situation in Canadian "democracy" is that a great idea comes up, but as time passes, it becomes either more eroded or more forgotten, because god forbid we Canadians rush into bringing a great idea into reality, lest we be construed as slightly centre-left 8).

That said, this is an issue I honestly don't give much of a damn about. MDMA is a very flawed drug that has been pushed into research by a handful of very enthusiastic users. I personally would probably decline MDMA as treatment if I had PTSD, knowing the nightmare I'd have to endure for the week after my session. ANYTHING that makes you feel so horribly bad shouldn't be good for you...

That said, if it DOES pass, it would be a win for our side of the drug war, so I definitely will cheer for it. I feel like Voltaire all of a sudden .

 

[Mariposa]

This would - as others have said - be an enormous step in the right direction.

 

[nibbloid]

-deleted-

 

[Moredopamine]

The point is to determine the risk-benefit ratio. Obviously if MDMA induced significant, irreversible structural damage to the brain with a single dose then MDMA wouldn't be used for PTSD despite its otherwise extraordinary efficacy. But this isn't the case.

And since this would be legally-sanctioned, the MDMA can be administered with, say, l-deprenyl or other antioxidants that can help reduce negative effects.

Would you rather endure months (years?) of PTSD related stress or a mild-to-moderate comedown from MDMA?

Besides, if this goes through, there may be future funding for investigating non-neurotoxic analogues of MDMA.


edit: l-deprenyl neuroprotection as referenced above -- http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/273/2/667.short

 

[dylan007]

awesome news wont happen though

 

[slimvictor]

Absolutely a step in the right direction.

 

[Jamshyd]

The point is to determine the risk-benefit ratio. Obviously if MDMA induced significant, irreversible structural damage to the brain with a single dose then MDMA wouldn't be used for PTSD despite its otherwise extraordinary efficacy. But this isn't the case.

And since this would be legally-sanctioned, the MDMA can be administered with, say, l-deprenyl or other antioxidants that can help reduce negative effects.

Would you rather endure months (years?) of PTSD related stress or a mild-to-moderate comedown from MDMA?

Besides, if this goes through, there may be future funding for investigating non-neurotoxic analogues of MDMA.


edit: l-deprenyl neuroprotection as referenced above -- http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/273/2/667.short

Hahaha, you got it in your head that not only will Canada legalize MDMA, but that cocktails will be used?

Just a sobering (*snicker*) reminder: Canada is the country that outlawed KAVA because of a single unsubstantiated claim of liver damage. Yet I see people from around the world taking it daily for years and their livers seem fine.

I cannot imagine MDMA being given with selegiline in a therapeutic setting in Canada.

 

[Jamshyd]

I have never ever had any sort of negative effect from a single dose of MDMA (100mg, washed/crystalised myself) unless you count tiredness. I find that the ones having such an effect used dirty pills or redosed multiple times. Either way, nothing that stresses your gray matter like MDMA could be good for you in the long run.

To be fair, my reactions are extreme to all entactogens, including even MDAI. It has little to do with purity. And I know I'm not the only one.