‘Growing evidence that drug can be revolutionary medicine for depression’
NORTH Wales police boss Arfon Jones believes “magic mushrooms” could help avert a mental health crisis.
The compound found in magic mushrooms could save lives by being used as a revolutionary new treatment for people suffering from PTSD and depression, said Mr Jones – the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner.
He has written to all the region’s MPs asking them to support a call to reclassify psilocybin as a drug, so that more research can be carried out into its potential.
It is currently categorised as a Class A compound, naturally occurring in more than 100 species of mushroom, which are illegal to take in the UK. When ingested “magic mushrooms”, which grow around areas of North Wales, can produce a hallucinogenic effect like LSD.
Mr Jones, a long-time campaigner for drug legislation reform, believes it should be reclassified under the list of less harmful drugs, which would enable companies to stage large-scale clinical trials to develop an effective and safe treatment.
The commissioner is making common cause with the libertarian think tank, the Adam
Smith Institute, and the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group chaired by former UK Government minister Crispin Blunt MP.
The group have released a new paper, written by leading researchers from King’s College
London and the University of Manchester, which argues the rescheduling of psilocybin, could avert a looming mental health crisis.
Mr Jones said: “The fact that psilocybin is classified as a Class A drug means there has been a research blackout for nearly 50 years into the beneficial effect it can have in improving the lives of people suffering from PTSD and depression.
“It’s a psychoactive compound which induces temporary changes in mood through the activation of serotonin receptors in the brain. This new research clearly shows psilocybin has been wrongly classified as being harmful when it is in fact a potentially revolutionary medicine.
“The pandemic has resulted in many people in North Wales suffering from social isolation, stressful working conditions and a lack of family contact, allied to concerns about the impact of the economic crisis on their lives.
“This is why I have written to the MPs seeking their support to overturn this erroneous classification.
“It is vital to reschedule Psilocybin from Schedule 1 to 2 so it can be easier and less expensive to research its impact on various mental illnesses including PTSD and depression.”
Dr James Rucker, an expert in mood disorders and psychopharmacology at King’s College
London, said: “About a third of people suffering with major depression don’t get better with standard drug and psychological treatments.
“Good quality, small scale clinical trials have indicated that psilocybin therapy is an effective new treatment for those people.
“We need to perform large scale trials to confirm this.
“However, psilocybin is designated a ‘Schedule 1’ drug.
“This makes large scale clinical trials very difficult and very expensive to conduct.
“Schedule 1 designation is unnecessary because psilocybin is not dangerous and not addictive when compared to other drugs.
“Therefore, we are asking the UK Government to review the Schedule of psilocybin, so we can work more efficiently to bring a potential new treatment to patients who are suffering, and dying, every day with major depression.”