Nearly 8 out of 10 Canadians (79.3%) believe that psilocybin assisted therapy is a “reasonable medical choice” for treating existential dread near the end one’s own life. Almost 2 in 3 people (63.3%) feel the substance should generally be legalized for medical purposes.
Notably, 84,8 percent of respondents said that the public health system in the country should cover the costs of psychedelic therapies.
The study, published in Palliative Care last month, says that despite the growing interest in psilocybin for end-of life options worldwide, there is little information about the attitudes of society towards the treatment.
The social acceptability of psilocybin assisted therapy for existential stress at the end-of-life is high in Canada, concluded the 12-author group, which included researchers from Universite laval, L’Universite du Quebec a Rimouski and McGill University, among other institutions. These findings could help to improve access to this emerging treatment in palliative care and end-of-life settings.
Researchers conducted an online survey to gauge public sentiment. They surveyed 2,800 Canadians from four provinces: Quebec (Quebec), Ontario (Ontario), Alberta (Alberta) and British Columbia. Participants completed the survey between November 2022 and December 2022.
The authors found that certain variables are more strongly associated with those who support psilocybin assisted therapy as a treatment for end-of-life, including having used psilocybin before, exposure to palliative medicine, and a progressive orientation.
The findings also showed that responses were highly context dependent. For example, far more people said they had a positive or very positive view of using psilocybin at the end of life “with an assisted psychotherapy by a certified healthcare provider” than when it was used in an unsupervised setting, like at home or outdoors.
The study found that 55.5% of respondents were in favor of using psilocybin for treating existential distress as a last resort, if it was used within regulated psychotherapy contexts. This is compared to 21.3% and 15.9% of respondents who preferred less-regulated or non-regulated settings.
Canadians are favourable towards this new intervention.
The Study found that 44,2 percent of respondents felt healthcare professionals should have the ability to administer psilocybin with out going through Health Canada.
About a fifth of respondents (19%) said that they had used psilocybin before. This ranged from 15 percent in Quebec up to 26 percent British Columbia.
Authors wrote that the findings were “largely consistent” and “consistent with those of surveys conducted by groups or organizations from Canada, England, and Australia,” although they “haven’t been published in scientific journal.” Our study is also novel because it focuses on the treatment of existential distress in late life. Treatment options for this complex condition are limited and often ineffective.
The Canadian health minister granted permission to four cancer patients to use psilocybin for end-of life care in 2020. In the same year, some healthcare professionals were also granted the right to possess and use psilocybin.
Between the two events, top officials of the national government stated that no changes to the legal system were required to allow access therapeutic psychedelics. They responded to a petition for decriminalization by saying, while the drugs are still illegal for the majority of Canadians, some people can gain exemptions in order to consume them legally.
TheraPsil is a nonprofit organization based in Victoria, B.C., that advocates for access to legal psilocybin treatment. The group has supported the use of psilocybin by patients for end-of life care and to treat certain conditions.
Two of the Palliative Care study’s authors are trainers for TheraPsil, according to the study’s conflicts-of-interest section, and one of those was also the Montreal site physician for a recent Phase III clinical trial of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD as well as an early investor in the biotech company Beckley Psytech.
The results of the Phase III trials in the United States have set MDMA up for approval by the Food and Drug Administration this year.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is currently stalling the efforts of a Washington State doctor who specializes palliative medicine to provide psilocybin to cancer patients he treats.
The DEA is calling for additional psilocybin to be produced along with DMT and marijuana in 2024 to “meet scientific and medical needs.”
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Image courtesy of Workman.
The post New Study: 8 in 10 Canadians Say Psilocybin Treatment Is A Reasonable Option For End-of-Life Care first appeared on Marijuana Minute.
