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True Earthling

(832 posts) Fri Sep 28, 2012, 03:45 PM Sep 2012

Magic mushroom extract psilocybin gets clinical trial

A groundbreaking clinical trial funded by the British government to treat people with depression using a psychedelic extract of “magic mushrooms” is gearing up to start next year. Up to 30 patients will receive the compound psilocybin, in an experiment that is likely to spark political sensitivities and which is already creating practical manufacturing and regulatory difficulties.

David Nutt, a professor at Imperial College London and former chairman of the government’s advisory council on drugs who was dismissed by ministers in 2009 in the course of a public spat about the relative dangers of ecstasy and horse-riding, said he was finalising preparations for the trial, which is set to take place in north London. Since his dismissal three years ago, Prof Nutt has continued to call for a more “evidence-based” approach to the dangers and medicinal value of banned drugs including LSD, cannabis and MDMA, although until recently he has struggled to obtain significant funding for his work.

But in a little-noted decision earlier this year, the Medical Research Council, the government’s main medical funding organisation, approved a £500,000 grant for his research over three years as part of efforts to find treatments for serious depression.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6943d66a-097a-11e2-a424-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz27nNKR2l1