UK Parliament Debates Accelerating Psychedelics Research And Psilocybin Rescheduling

The U.K. Parliament recently opened a debate about psychedelics reform. Labor MP Charlotte Nichols opened the discussion around the need for medical access to psilocybin-assisted therapy.

In a call supported by politician, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM,) the Conservative Drug Reform Group and several other organizations, Nichols stated that there is “an urgent and medically-justified need” to reschedule psilocybin under the 2001 regulations.

After a brief review of psychedelics use and history starting with its origins from 7000-9000 BC to its setbacks and criminalization following 1970’s counterculture despite their proven health benefits, Nichols said it’s been over 50 years since the world -and the U.K.- is “in a stasis” on the topic.

“There are serious and considerable barriers to legitimate research, associated with Schedule I regulations,” she said. “While current legislation does not preclude scientific research with these drugs, it does make them significantly more difficult, time-consuming and costly to study.”

She provided an example of a researcher that found he had to invest £20,000 to apply for a Home Office Schedule I license and retrofit his lab to current standards to study psilocybin therapy for Substance Use Disorders (SUDs,) while being able to work with substances like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine with no similar restrictions. 

Nichols further denounced the currently existing “huge credibility gap” between psychiatry and politics for this matter. 

“There is no other field where we would accept a 90% failure rate, and yet in mental health treatment, this is where we’re at,” referring to her own case of having been diagnosed with PTSD, which she said had almost proved fatal. 

“It feels like institutional cruelty to condemn us to our misery when there are proven safe and effective treatment options if the government would only let us access them.” 

Former Tory minister Crispin Blunt added that “the Home Office has the power to commission a review of the evidence” and that “there is precedent to commission such a review, as was the case with cannabis-based products for medicinal use.”

MP Ronnie Cowan of the Scottish National Party took the point of the proven non-addictive properties of psilocybin vs. other substances like cocaine and heroin, of calling on the British government to conduct “an urgent review” on psilocybin’s current status and “not continue to obstruct the research.” 

Conservative MP Danny Kruger pointed to the suffering of veterans. “Too many people suffer from PTSD, and this might be part of the answer."

MPs Martin Docherty-Hugues of the Scottish National Party and Karyn Smith of Labor followed suit.

Home Office minister Robert Jenrick (Conservative) stated this was the first debate he had participated in on the subject. 

Jenrick said he recognizes “this is a topic of substantial interest to members of the House” and added that the Government “agrees with the intent of much of what has been debated today” and wants to "tackle this issue across all categories of section one drugs, to reduce barriers to legitimate research rather than focus on individual drugs."

Nichols replied that both she and Blunt were disappointed by the minister's response, adding that there was "a real lack of urgency" on the issue from the government.

Watch the Parliament’s session here (starting at 13:50:46.)

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Flametric, aiyoshi597, Gisele Yashar, Bacsica and Freedomz on Shutterstock.