MDMA, Psilocybin and MDMA on Trumps Desk
The bill, know as the “Right to Try Act,” which gives certain patients access to drugs that have not yet received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, passed the House today 250 to 169, reported Marijuana Moment. It had cleared the Senate unanimously last August.
In order to qualify under the new program, a drug must have completed a phase 1 clinical trial, be under active development, and meet certain other criteria, including a list of research, development, clinical trials, and be the subject of an active investigational processes, etc.
“Marijuana meets all of those criteria, thanks toresearch on medical cannabis use by military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder that is being funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS),” pointed out Tom Angell in the Marijuana Moment.
MDMA, commonly known as “ecstasy,” and psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, have undergone Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, with Phase 3 research on the way, according to MAPS website.
While cannabis and potentially the other substances would be eligible for limited legal use under the new law once it is enacted, only seriously ill patients would be allowed to participate.
The legislation specifies that a patient must have a life-threatening disease or condition, have exhausted all approved treatment options and be unable to participate in clinical trials.
Patients who would otherwise qualify for MMJ in their states, says Angell, would be protected from federal harassment although psilocybin and MDMA – not legal for any use in any state – may or may not be be federally shielded.
“It seems passing Right to Try would grant people facing death across the country tremendous relief by allowing access to MDMA-therapy and psilocybin-therapy,” Natalie Lyla Ginsberg, MAPS’s policy and advocacy director, told Marijuana Moment. “We are hopeful Right to Try would inspire hospice centers to start integrating psychedelic therapy into their treatment.”
President Trump called on lawmakers to pass the legislation during his State of the Union address earlier this year.
