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Australia authorises MDMA, magic mushrooms for medical treatment

In a move to address certain mental health conditions, Australia becomes one of the world’s first countries to authorize the medical use of MDMA and magic mushrooms (psilocybin).

From July 1, prescribed usage is permitted for treating post-traumatic stress disorder and some forms of depression.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Australia on Saturday became one of the first countries in the world to allow the use of MDMA and magic mushrooms for medical treatment, in a bid to tackle certain mental health conditions.

From July 1, authorised psychiatrists will be able to prescribe the drugs, also known as ecstasy and psilocybin, for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and some types of depression.

Authorities in Canada and the United States allow the medical use of one or both of the drugs, but only in clinical trials or with special permits.

In February, Australia reclassified the drug entirely, after the country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration said trials had found the substances to be “relatively safe” when used in a “medically-controlled environment”.

Supporters of the move hope the drugs can provide breakthroughs for mental health patients, when other treatments have failed.

Mike Musker, a mental health and suicide prevention researcher at the University of South Australia, told AFP that MDMA would be useful for treating post-traumatic stress, while psilocybin can help with depression.

He explained that MDMA “gives people a feeling of connectedness and it makes it easier for people to connect with a therapist and also talk about some bad personal experiences”.

Psilocybin gives patients a “psycho-spiritual effect, which you wouldn’t get on traditional drugs”, he said, adding that this “might make you feel differently about yourself, and your life… and hopefully, it will make you want to live”.

Musker doubts the drugs will be in widespread use among patients until 2024, and said the process would not be a case of “take a pill and go away”.

MDMA, for example, would probably involve three treatments over five to eight weeks, with each session lasting about eight hours.

He said therapists would stay with patients while they are receiving the drugs during sessions that could cost in the region of Aus$1,000 (US$660) each.

‘Lack of options’

Doctor David Caldicott, an emergency medicine consultant and clinical drug researcher at the Australian National University, told AFP that the changes put Australia “very much ahead of the pack” in exploring the drugs’ medicinal benefits.

But Susan Rossell, a cognitive neuropsychologist at Swinburne University said that, while the treatments “have got potential”, Australia is “moving ahead five years before it should do”.

She told AFP: “When you look at interventions… for any other kind of disease, whether it’s cardiovascular disease or cancer, you cannot get a drug to market as quickly as this has been done.

“There are no drugs on the market that don’t have phase three and phase four clinical trials — and that is what we’re doing here.”

A Health Department spokesperson told AFP that the decision to change the rules “acknowledged that evidence for the use of these substances in treating mental illnesses is not yet well established”.

“However, the benefits for some patients… will outweigh the risks, and there is currently a lack of options for patients with specific treatment-resistant mental illnesses.”

But patients are being warned not to expect a miracle cure.

“I have read about stories where people have had what you call bad trips or actually they’ve re-experienced their trauma, and so we’ve got to take great caution,” Musker said.

“I think there has to be a warning to the consumer that this is a potential side effect before they take part.”

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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