6 ms·

Health Canada authorizes psychedelic drugs for therapies

200 points by mgbmtl 5y ago

donnythecroc 5y ago
There is a large body of research around the effectiveness of psilocybin for depression. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33146667/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33146667/
mgbmtl 5y ago
I could only find a news article in French: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1854450/sante-canada-autorisation-drogues-psychedeliques-therapies-mdma-psilocybine https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1854450/sante-canada-au...
- veb 5y ago
  It's strange, I thought they had to provide both in French and English? Nevertheless I found this: https://globalnews.ca/video/8497644/psychedelics-approved-for-medical-use-in-canada/ https://globalnews.ca/video/8497644/psychedelics-approved-fo... but it's not quite the same, heh. Just used Google to translate it (had to right click, and go to Translate)
  - philistine 5y ago
    Bilingualism in Canada is not about providing both languages automatically in all contexts. Radio-Canada and the CBC are two distinct public broadcasters under a shared corporate structure. So they have two websites, two networks of stations (TV and radio), and they share buildings where it makes sense, but a news article in French Radio-Canada will not mean the English CBC will even be interested to publish anything on the subject. C'est deux solitudes.
    - 908B64B197 5y ago
      > but a news article in French Radio-Canada will not mean the English CBC will even be interested to publish anything on the subject. Or that they wouldn't give it a different spin (remember, monolinguals can't fact check easily...)
      - belval 5y ago
        You'd love federal elections in Canada, it's a pet peeve of mine to listen to both speeches of a candidate and note the differences. Trudeau did a lot of that in the last campaign where he wanted to appease both Quebec and the ROC so he added some qualifiers to his sentences in either language to create or remove ambiguity on some promises he was making.
        sigmaprimus 5y ago
        And the latest Governor General now speaks in three different languages!
        mgbmtl 5y ago
        Although she says the same thing in all 3 languages, unlike most politicians.
  - bawolff 5y ago
    There's a difference between a public broadcaster and say, tax documents when it comes to how bilingualism is applied.
woleium 5y ago
The objective of the regulatory amendments is to restore the possibility for practitioners to request access to restricted drugs through the Special Access Program. In practice, this means that practitioners will, on behalf of patients with serious or life-threatening conditions, be able to request restricted drugs through the Special Access Program in instances where other therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or are not available in Canada. These amendments would also remove cocaine from the definition of “restricted drug,” so that all cocaine products are regulated as narcotics under the Narcotic Control Regulations. Regulating all cocaine products under the Narcotic Control Regulations will remove complexity for stakeholders applying to conduct or conducting activities with cocaine.
hammock 5y ago
- anonporridge 5y ago
  What do you mean? Ivermectin is perfectly legal for medical uses. It's a miracle drug for curing parasitic worms. Edit; yes, it was fairly obvious that you were simply trying to stir up a divisive political squabble in a completely unrelated story.
gunfighthacksaw 5y ago
Good, I’m supportive. Even if you think psychs are not positive or moral, it’s pure bad faith to use that as a reason to exclude them from research. It’s mind boggling that amphetamines, benzos, etc have been common in clinical settings for years, but not organic compounds derived from various fungal species (psilocybe and ergot) both of which have lived alongside us (or vice versa) for centuries if not millennia.
- unmole 5y ago
  > organic compounds derived from various fungal species (psilocybe and ergot) both of which have lived alongside us (or vice versa) for centuries if not millennia. Why do you think that is relevant?
  - standardUser 5y ago
    There is a long history of human consumption of some substances that far surpasses that of modern pharmaceuticals.
    - unmole 5y ago
      Like lead for instance?
      - jokowueu 5y ago
        I believe what is meant here is that there is long term use of such substances so we can be sure if it's safety For example there are studies of very long term Ayahuasca use in certain south American tribes . Blood tests were taken and studied to see it's effects on them. Another one is use of iboga in other tribes in Ghana
      - lrhegeba 5y ago
        good example. due to insufficient knowledge about its effects (no theory regarding matter and its interactions) humans had to go by trial-and-error. which led to bad outcomes like consuming lead, mercury and countless others agains ailments/diseases. so, one could see it as a very long-running clinical phase II(?) trial. so thank you science for not judging morally but giving us explanations and real evidence so we can decide if and for whom it may be appropriate.
throwaway135711 5y ago
I'm pleased to see that we're starting to study these substances. It seems absurd that we wouldn't have - after all, they're a part of our common heritage. Hopefully this leads to new insights.
lee 5y ago
Magic mushrooms are now entering in the "gray zone" of legality in Canada. They are illegal, but there are online mushroom dispensaries in Canada that are blatantly selling them online as law enforcement is turning a blind eye to it. A few weeks ago I ordered an ounce of shrooms online using a crypto-currency that has a smiling Japanese dog for a mascot. A week later it arrived in my mailbox without any issues. What a time to be alive.
- FractalParadigm 5y ago
  I can anecdotally confirm; shrooms today feel about as legal as weed did ~10 years ago - nobody really cared unless you were a blatant dick about, and/or dealing it. To go the extra mile with your example, there are several (grey market) "local delivery" cannabis dispensaries around me that will deliver in two hours or less. I've been seeing more and more of these services selling shrooms of all variety; chocolates, capsules, gummies, fresh, dried, you name it. If I were to order from the right place, I could have an ounce of weed and a quarter of shrooms at my doorstep in under 45 minutes. What a time to be alive indeed!
- epgui 5y ago
  There are a bunch of brick-and-mortar stores downtown Vancouver that plainly advertise that they are selling magic mushrooms. You can see the product through the window, there are big signs, the business names are super obvious, and they're in regular, well-frequented, non-sketchy neighbourhoods.
  - belval 5y ago
    Yep, there was one near my apartment in Yaletown (Vancouver). I did quite the double take when I first noticed.
dukeofdoom 5y ago
It will help Canadians not to feel hunger pains, once the food trucks are turned back.
- sigmaprimus 5y ago
  I find this comment quite interesting as it seems that the majority of Canadians are unaware of the upcoming restrictions regarding this subject. It almost seems that there are many more Americans upset with this than Canadians, maybe this has to do with the fact many more Canadians have rolled up their sleeves IDK. I think the simple answer other than striking down the law would be to have the brokerage agents that are already located in northern US border towns to contract short haul cross border drivers that have been jabbed.
- hunterjrj 5y ago
  Canada is a net exporter of food and agriculture commodities. https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/economics/canada-food-and-agriculture-trade-are-resilient.html https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/economics/canada-food-an...
  - sigmaprimus 5y ago
    Yep, Canada will be fine as long as we don't want fresh vegetables in winter and can increase the capacity of our abattoirs. I think I could live off rolled oats and beet sugar for quite a long time in any case!

200 points by mgbmtl 5y ago

There is a large body of research around the effectiveness of psilocybin for depression. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33146667/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33146667/

mgbmtl 5y ago

I could only find a news article in French: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1854450/sante-canada-autorisation-drogues-psychedeliques-therapies-mdma-psilocybine https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1854450/sante-canada-au...

veb 5y ago
It's strange, I thought they had to provide both in French and English? Nevertheless I found this: https://globalnews.ca/video/8497644/psychedelics-approved-for-medical-use-in-canada/ https://globalnews.ca/video/8497644/psychedelics-approved-fo... but it's not quite the same, heh. Just used Google to translate it (had to right click, and go to Translate)
- philistine 5y ago
  Bilingualism in Canada is not about providing both languages automatically in all contexts. Radio-Canada and the CBC are two distinct public broadcasters under a shared corporate structure. So they have two websites, two networks of stations (TV and radio), and they share buildings where it makes sense, but a news article in French Radio-Canada will not mean the English CBC will even be interested to publish anything on the subject. C'est deux solitudes.
  - 908B64B197 5y ago
    > but a news article in French Radio-Canada will not mean the English CBC will even be interested to publish anything on the subject. Or that they wouldn't give it a different spin (remember, monolinguals can't fact check easily...)
    - belval 5y ago
      You'd love federal elections in Canada, it's a pet peeve of mine to listen to both speeches of a candidate and note the differences. Trudeau did a lot of that in the last campaign where he wanted to appease both Quebec and the ROC so he added some qualifiers to his sentences in either language to create or remove ambiguity on some promises he was making.
      - sigmaprimus 5y ago
        And the latest Governor General now speaks in three different languages!
        mgbmtl 5y ago
        Although she says the same thing in all 3 languages, unlike most politicians.
- bawolff 5y ago
  There's a difference between a public broadcaster and say, tax documents when it comes to how bilingualism is applied.

woleium 5y ago

The objective of the regulatory amendments is to restore the possibility for practitioners to request access to restricted drugs through the Special Access Program. In practice, this means that practitioners will, on behalf of patients with serious or life-threatening conditions, be able to request restricted drugs through the Special Access Program in instances where other therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or are not available in Canada. These amendments would also remove cocaine from the definition of “restricted drug,” so that all cocaine products are regulated as narcotics under the Narcotic Control Regulations. Regulating all cocaine products under the Narcotic Control Regulations will remove complexity for stakeholders applying to conduct or conducting activities with cocaine.

hammock 5y ago

anonporridge 5y ago
What do you mean? Ivermectin is perfectly legal for medical uses. It's a miracle drug for curing parasitic worms. Edit; yes, it was fairly obvious that you were simply trying to stir up a divisive political squabble in a completely unrelated story.

gunfighthacksaw 5y ago

Good, I’m supportive. Even if you think psychs are not positive or moral, it’s pure bad faith to use that as a reason to exclude them from research. It’s mind boggling that amphetamines, benzos, etc have been common in clinical settings for years, but not organic compounds derived from various fungal species (psilocybe and ergot) both of which have lived alongside us (or vice versa) for centuries if not millennia.

unmole 5y ago
> organic compounds derived from various fungal species (psilocybe and ergot) both of which have lived alongside us (or vice versa) for centuries if not millennia. Why do you think that is relevant?
- standardUser 5y ago
  There is a long history of human consumption of some substances that far surpasses that of modern pharmaceuticals.
  - unmole 5y ago
    Like lead for instance?
    - jokowueu 5y ago
      I believe what is meant here is that there is long term use of such substances so we can be sure if it's safety For example there are studies of very long term Ayahuasca use in certain south American tribes . Blood tests were taken and studied to see it's effects on them. Another one is use of iboga in other tribes in Ghana
    - lrhegeba 5y ago
      good example. due to insufficient knowledge about its effects (no theory regarding matter and its interactions) humans had to go by trial-and-error. which led to bad outcomes like consuming lead, mercury and countless others agains ailments/diseases. so, one could see it as a very long-running clinical phase II(?) trial. so thank you science for not judging morally but giving us explanations and real evidence so we can decide if and for whom it may be appropriate.

throwaway135711 5y ago

I'm pleased to see that we're starting to study these substances. It seems absurd that we wouldn't have - after all, they're a part of our common heritage. Hopefully this leads to new insights.

lee 5y ago

Magic mushrooms are now entering in the "gray zone" of legality in Canada. They are illegal, but there are online mushroom dispensaries in Canada that are blatantly selling them online as law enforcement is turning a blind eye to it. A few weeks ago I ordered an ounce of shrooms online using a crypto-currency that has a smiling Japanese dog for a mascot. A week later it arrived in my mailbox without any issues. What a time to be alive.

FractalParadigm 5y ago
I can anecdotally confirm; shrooms today feel about as legal as weed did ~10 years ago - nobody really cared unless you were a blatant dick about, and/or dealing it. To go the extra mile with your example, there are several (grey market) "local delivery" cannabis dispensaries around me that will deliver in two hours or less. I've been seeing more and more of these services selling shrooms of all variety; chocolates, capsules, gummies, fresh, dried, you name it. If I were to order from the right place, I could have an ounce of weed and a quarter of shrooms at my doorstep in under 45 minutes. What a time to be alive indeed!
epgui 5y ago
There are a bunch of brick-and-mortar stores downtown Vancouver that plainly advertise that they are selling magic mushrooms. You can see the product through the window, there are big signs, the business names are super obvious, and they're in regular, well-frequented, non-sketchy neighbourhoods.
- belval 5y ago
  Yep, there was one near my apartment in Yaletown (Vancouver). I did quite the double take when I first noticed.

dukeofdoom 5y ago

It will help Canadians not to feel hunger pains, once the food trucks are turned back.

sigmaprimus 5y ago
I find this comment quite interesting as it seems that the majority of Canadians are unaware of the upcoming restrictions regarding this subject. It almost seems that there are many more Americans upset with this than Canadians, maybe this has to do with the fact many more Canadians have rolled up their sleeves IDK. I think the simple answer other than striking down the law would be to have the brokerage agents that are already located in northern US border towns to contract short haul cross border drivers that have been jabbed.
hunterjrj 5y ago
Canada is a net exporter of food and agriculture commodities. https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/economics/canada-food-and-agriculture-trade-are-resilient.html https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/knowledge/economics/canada-food-an...
- sigmaprimus 5y ago
  Yep, Canada will be fine as long as we don't want fresh vegetables in winter and can increase the capacity of our abattoirs. I think I could live off rolled oats and beet sugar for quite a long time in any case!