Studies on MDMA show that it has promise as a psychiatric drug | Letters
Rachel McNulty (Letters, April 19) is right to emphasize the need for proper funding of integrated mental health and social support, but wrong to dismiss MDMA based on a single anecdotal case. I can provide a number of counter-anecdotes that demonstrate the value of MDMA for mental health, including a friend of mine who said it took his life in his youth.
However, science-based healthcare is not about anecdotes, but about the systematic collection of evidence and controlled studies. Such studies are already underway and show promise for both MDMA and psychedelics as effective psychiatric drugs, if used properly. They are imperative to provide a clear evidence base that cuts through both the fear narratives about the “war on drugs” and the psychedelic hype.
This work is made slower and more expensive because MDMA is classified as a Class A drug. One cost-free measure a new Labor government could take is to move MDMA and psychedelics to Class B, making research cheaper, faster and easier to conduct. This would make it possible in the future to integrate MDMA and psychedelics into integrated NHS care in an evidence-based way, which is likely to improve the quality of life for many while reducing health and social care costs. Until this happens, it’s not surprising that people like Rose Cartwright (I was the poster child for OCD. That’s when I started questioning everything I was told about mental illness, April 13) find support in self-medication and underground therapists. Britain and abroad.
Chris Preist
Bristol
Dr. Rachel McNulty ignores numerous studies and research on MDMA that have been conducted around the world in recent years. These have shown encouraging results, especially for the treatment of PTSD and alcoholism.
While MDMA is unlikely to replace other forms of treatment, its potential benefits when used in combination with other mental health treatments should not be overlooked.
David Jones
Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex
There is substantial evidence to suggest that certain medications, including MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine, have enormous therapeutic potential for patients with certain conditions when administered clinically. Making blanket statements about such drugs, without any medical context, is like insisting that morphine has no viable medical use because individuals have historically abused or overdosed when self-administering the drug.
Jeff Goodrich
Edmond, Oklahoma, USA