Canadian group is seeking approval for psychedelic therapies for terminally ill patients

October 23, 2018, Canada

The blanket legalization of cannabis in Canada has also provided a glimmer of hope for people who believe in the medical benefits of psychedelic drugs. This might be the reason why Bruch Tobin, a psychotherapist and a professor at the University of Victoria, is looking to get the administration’s approval for the use of psilocybin mushrooms to alleviate the mental health of terminally-ill patients.

Tobin has also made a support group to get the authorities’ permission. Therapeutic Psilocybin for Cannabis, the group formed by Tobin, asserts that psilocybin has shown the traits to alleviate the condition of patients going through the end stages of terminal diseases.

According to the statement present on the group website, existing clinical studies indicate that a psychotherapy assisted with the administration of psilocybin can prove to an effective and low-risk treatment to deal with end-of-life anxiety in dying patients.

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According to Tobin’s recent conversation with media, the group has already got the pro bono legal expertise from two cannabis advocacy lawyers. The legal counsel is going to argue that there is a lawful medical need for the treatment of this exceptional form of anxiety and its patient’s constitutional right to have an access to all the potentially effective treatments including psilocybin.

It is important to note that the case of medical marijuana was also fought on the same underlying principle. Therefore, the group is hopeful that it will get the required approval before too long. The ground that has been prepared by the blanket legalization of cannabis will also play a role in shortening the timeline for psilocybin legalization.

Tobin is also confident to get the government’s approval because the demand is fairly simple and narrowly focused i.e. allowing terminally-ill patients to use psilocybin to treat their anxiety. Tobin and the group are not demanding extensive legalization of the strain. For now, they are not talking about other medicinal uses of the mushroom. End-of-life anxiety is a rare mental health issue and no mainstream treatment has proven to be 100 percent effective in treating it. This reality also makes Tobin’s case strong.

Psilocybin for other conditions

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For now, Tobin and the group are only focusing on to get the approval for treating anxiety in terminally ill patients. However, they are not ruling out the possibility to demand the therapeutic use of the mushroom for other medical conditions in the future.

Tobin is aware of the fact that he is not going to get the required approval in time to treat many of his terminally-ill patients. Nevertheless, this realization hasn’t pushed him to break the law. Tobin is of the belief that working under the realm of law is imperative for what group is striving for in terms of bigger goals.

If the Canadian government allows the use of psilocybin and terminally-ill patients get the required relief from its treatment, then it will be a momentous contribution from the group. Not only will this have a positive impact for terminally ill patients in Canada, but this development will eventually transform the practices of palliative care all over the world.

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