Thread by @UoMPolicy

Prof Jo Neill (@b_neuro) is about to give evidence to the @CommonsHomeAffs Select Committee, on the health, economic, and research cases for rescheduling #psilocybin for #mentalhealth treatment.

Watch the session here 👇

parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b9…

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs On whether the UK's current drug regulations are fit for purpose, Prof Neill says "clearly not", as they're not based on evidence, and inhibits research & innovation by throwing up barriers to research.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs Schedule 1 is reserved for drugs with "no medicinal value and causes a great deal of harm", but the evidence is clear psilocybin *has* medicinal value, and does not cause significant harm, especially when used in clinical settings.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt agrees that the current drug regulations have inhibited medical and scientific access to #psilocybin and other potential medicines.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald asks Prof Neill how current drug scheduling laws are inhibiting research. She says in her 40 years of research, there have been few (if any) advanced in psychiatric medicine. #Psilocybin has huge potential as a mental health treatment...

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald ...but as it's a Schedule 1 drug, there are huge costs and time-consuming bureaucratic hurdles to overcome to do research with it. At the same time, Schedule 2 drugs - like heroin, cocaine, and ketamine - are relatively easy to obtain for research processes.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald Working with psilocybin needs a £3K controlled drugs license, an alarmed secure cabinet, and extra staff to supervise its disposal. Obtaining a license can take more than a year, and the application form can take days to complete.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald Prof Neill says she is lucky that all her research is carried out in the same building - but other researchers have to apply for separate licenses for every place #psilocybin is kept. One researcher spent more than £20K on licenses before he was able to start treating patients

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald These hurdles are keeping smaller universities and pharmaceutical companies from conducting research on #psilocybin, despite the huge potential benefits it shows as a treatment for severe depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald "Psilocybin has enormous therapeutic potential", and other countries and individual states in the US are already rescheduling or providing exemptions to enable research.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald @ProfDavidNutt supports the view that drug scheduling is inhibiting research, pointing out that his lab stores psilocybin in a safe - while heroin, cocaine, and other Schedule 2 drugs are kept in the pharmacy.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald Prof Nutt says #psilocybin is the "most effective" treatment we have for depression, and the UK could be a world leader in research - if not for the barriers to research thrown up by drug scheduling.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald He adds that there is no evidence for psilocybin remaining in Schedule 1, pointing out that it's not addictive - it can actually be used to treat addiction disorders, and clinical data shows great effectiveness as an anti-addictive treatment.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald Prof Neill's panel has now ended. Thanks to everybody who followed along on this thread! We will share the session recording when it becomes available.

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald Meanwhile, you can read more about the health, economic & research cases for #psilocybin rescheduling in Prof Neill's blog 👇
blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/posts/2022/02/…

@DianaJohnsonMP @carolynharris24 @simonfell @Stuart_McDonald @AdamHollowayMP @timloughton @HackneyAbbott @b_neuro @ProfDavidNutt

@b_neuro @CommonsHomeAffs @ProfDavidNutt @Stuart_McDonald @DianaJohnsonMP @carolynharris24 @simonfell @AdamHollowayMP @timloughton @HackneyAbbott You can now watch the full evidence session here!
👇
parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b9…

@CommonsHomeAffs @b_neuro