BNA president calls for change in drug law

Drug laws have a negative impact on the research for clinical trials, one expert has suggested.

Professor David Nutt, president of the British Neuroscience Association(BNA) and Edmond J Safra, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, told BNA's Festival of Neuroscience that EU guidelines have stalled the trial.

Mr Nutt's research has indicated that psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms, could have the potential to reduce severe forms of depression in those who have been unable to fully respond to other treatments.

Despite his claims, psilocybin is illegal in Britain as it is deemed to have high-potential for abuse and does not have a recognised medical use, with the country determining it to be a Class-A drug.

As a result of this, a special license must be obtained in order to use magic mushrooms in the UK.

"The law for the control of drugs like psilocybin as a Schedule 1 Class-A drug makes it almost impossible to use them for research.

"The reason we haven’t started the study is because finding companies who could manufacture the drug and who are prepared to go through the regulatory hoops to get the licence, which can take up to a year and triple the price, is proving very difficult," Mr Nutt explained.

He continued by saying that Schedule 1 drugs have been made impossible to access due to an old-fashioned attitude suggesting they could never have therapeutic potential.

Mr Nutt urged for regulations to be changed, stating: " Even if I do this study and I show it’s a really useful treatment for some people with depression, there’s only four hospitals in this country that have a licence to hold this drug, so you couldn’t roll out the treatment if it worked because the regulations would make it difficult to use."

Posted by Ben Evans