Researchers press for study on psychedelics

Canadian researchers are urging Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor to support broad research on the use of psychedelic drugs — including LSD and an active ingredient in magic mushrooms — as medical treatments for conditions including addiction and depression.

Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, is among leading experts who say psychedelics could offer a breakthrough for a range of health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid addiction — an urgent national health crisis.

Haden and other researchers are now also pressing the federal health minister to act on a Commons petition calling for Ottawa to explore multi-year funding on psychedelic research projects at hospitals and universities.