by: gordon mcintyre
a vancouver psychedelics company has been granted approval from health canada to study mdma-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.
numinus
, a company that advances treatments for mental health care based on psychedelic-assisted therapies, said the feasibility of using the drug commonly known as ecstasy is being studied in collaboration with maps public benefit corporation (a subsidiary of the multidisciplinary association for psychedelic studies).
“we are thrilled that health canada has issued its ‘no objection letter’ allowing this important study to proceed and, in doing so, potentially advance canada toward a legal, regulated system for mdma-assisted therapy,” said payton nyquvest, ceo of numinus.
“at numinus, we are focused on expanding patient access to psychedelic-assisted therapies such as mdma for ptsd, and we are gratified that our study will provide safety and outcome data to regulators to support integration of this treatment into mainstream mental health care.”
the company’s aim is healing depression, anxiety, trauma, pain and substance abuse, rather than managing their symptoms, he said.
numinus will now seek about 20 volunteers to study the safety and effectiveness of mdma-assisted therapy. ecstasy is a controlled substance and is illegal to use except for approved medical and scientific studies using medical-grade mdma.