A campaign targeted London, Ontario this week to recruit doctors to promote the clinical use of psilocybin.
Some hope the drug, better known by its recreational name, magic mushrooms, will soon be used in mainstream medicine to treat mental health.
“I started to research more into other forms of healing, first cannabis, then psilocybin, and realized there were other ways to heal our bodies,” Amelia Holden explained.
The social worker was taking part in a week-long series of workshops teaching health and wellness professionals about using psilocybin to treat trauma, depression, end-of-life distress and other mental illnesses.
Also attending the session was clinical psychologist Dr. Zaphia Fierro, who is interested in how psilocybin might help people who have been hurt.
“Studies have shown that people who use it for mental health treatment have improved health outcomes,” she said.
The training is being conducted by Therapsil, which describes itself as a non-profit organization promoting legal, regulated psychedelics in Canada.
Instructor and psychotherapist Rich Taiwo said psilocybin has medicinal properties that haven't been fully studied.
“A lot of research was done in the '50s and '60s, but it was all stopped because of the war on drugs,” he said. “Anyone who needs access to these drugs for medical or psychological reasons should have the right to access it.”
While proponents aim to tout what they believe to be psilocybin's psychotherapeutic effects, one prominent Canadian researcher says the potential is there, but no evidence.
“Psilocybin is a powerful drug. It may have some potential benefits for things like PTSD and depression, but a lot of it is still unproven,” Dr. Gibran Khokhar explained.
Khokhar, an associate professor in the Schulich School of Medicine, also holds the Canada Research Chair in Translational Neuropsychopharmacology.
He also advocates for further research and decriminalisation of the drug, but warns that without clinical trials and regulation, the drug could become dangerous.
“These drugs can make mental illness worse, especially if there is a family history of mental illness. Plus, in some cases, rather than helping, the drugs can worsen the conditions they are being used to treat,” he said.
