Australia is the first country to let patients with depression or PTSD be prescribed psychedelics

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia is now the first country to allow psychiatrists to prescribe certain psychedelic substances to patients with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Australian physicians can now prescribe doses of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for PTSD. Psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, can be given to people who have hard-to-treat depression. Medical experts in the U.S. and elsewhere have cautioned that more research is needed on the drugs’ efficacy and the extent of the risks. The drugs also will be expensive in Australia. Treatment will cost about AU$10,000 per patient.