MDMA, magic mushrooms become legal medicine from July 1

From Saturday psychiatrists will be able to legally prescribe MDMA and magic mushrooms as medicines. But for John Lee, he already credits psychedelics with saving his life.

John Lee took his first dose of MDMA while lying on a massage table in the home of an underground therapist in the middle of the bush.

This was no party drug experience – John had found the services of an illegal psychedelic therapy provider when traditional treatments failed to help his depression and alcoholism after the suicide of his daughter.

And he’s one of a growing chorus of psychedelic supporters who are waiting for July 1, when MDMA and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) will be able to be legally prescribed by some psychologists.

However, experts warn these drugs are far from miracle cures.

John Lee accessed MDMA therapy illegally and says it saved his life. Picture: Matthew Poon

The controversial decision to legalise the use of MDMA for treatment-resistant PTSD and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression was seen by many researchers and psychologists to be far too soon, with not a single Australian trial yet to report results.

John understands people may think he’s strange – venturing into a cabin in the bush with a stranger to take an illegal psychedelic drug but he credits the “treatment” with saving his life.

His journey to that massage table started in 2019, when he got the call no parent ever wants to hear.

John Lee with his daughter Freyja.

His 21-year-old daughter Freyja, a bright young woman with a love of triathlons, had taken her own life.

“As a dad I was proud as punch of my little girl, she had her 21st and she herself was a very dynamic person,” the 65-year-old said.

“So it came out of the blue when she decided to commit suicide, it floored me and I started to spiral downhill.”

A couple of beers every now and again became getting drunk every night in front of the TV, and that became sneaking around his wife and getting drunk alone in a park.

“I felt like a part of me died,” he said.

John’s wife tried to get him help. He saw four different therapists who specialised in suicide trauma but nothing seemed to stick. He continued to spiral.

In a last-ditch effort to turn his life around, he discovered psychedelic therapy.

“I went into that session really angry, she had created such a beautiful life for herself … why did she throw her life away?” he said.

“But I was able to talk to her, to laugh with her in the session.”

Australia is the first country in the world to take this step.

John said the drug, along with a week of psychotherapy and bushwalking, helped him grieve without the anger.

In a subsequent session he was able to see for the first time the impact his alcoholism had on him and his family.

Not everyone agrees with the path he has headed down and some friends and family don’t understand why their loved one would turn to illegal drugs. But John truly believes the illegal therapy is to credit for his transformation.

Soon people like John won’t have to resort to clandestine operators and self-medicating to access these drugs as therapy, with the TGA rescheduling coming to effect July 1.

The decision makes Australia a world leader, with no other country yet to make these treatments available legally.

Experts say while research into psychedelics is yielding positive results, patients should not expect a miracle cure.

The drugs can only be taken under supervision.

Fierce debate has emerged as to the timing of the TGA decision, with no Australian trials yet to report results and concerns that prohibitive costs will turn people back to underground providers.

Professor of Psychiatry at UNSW and the Black Dog Institute Dr Colleen Loo estimated a course of treatment could cost as much as $20,000.

“People may be terribly unwell and think this will rescue them, and secondly there’s no public funding so people may put together large amount of money … my main concern is people are aware of what they are signing up for,” Dr Loo said.

“I think there’s always a possibility that as soon as someone feels desperate and thinks this will cure their problems and can’t afford it, they may think: ‘I’ll just get it somewhere else’.

“What people don’t realise is the long list of screening criteria, so people who may be at risk of harm will not be given this in the first place.”

Dr Loo urged prospective patients to ask plenty of questions when seeking out these drugs, and to only consider it after trying traditional drugs and therapy.

Dr Stephen Bright is a co-founder of Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine (PRISM), and has major concerns about how these treatments will make their way to the public.

“Long term I hope this will be seen as a positive … but I think in the next 12 months, it’s going to be like the wild west as various operators set up,” he said.

“At the moment the public’s expectations are far too high in terms of the potential for these treatments.”

Dr Bright is concerned that, as these psychedelic therapies get more exposure in the media following the decision by the TGA, some may be motivated to provide the drugs to people who don’t necessarily need them in order to gain huge profits.

“Most who have been working in this space, like myself, believe this decision was premature … given our lack of local experience,” he said.

Psychiatrists will have to apply to a human research ethics committee for approval for their course of treatment, then be approved as an authorised prescriber.

While existing clinical trials are for the most part accessing the drugs through overseas providers, there are a number of local pharmaceutical companies looking at manufacturing psilocybin and MDMA once the demand for the treatments increases.

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