Some exciting news was published earlier this year in the Psychiatric Journal JAMA, about the potential mental health benefits of psychedelic drug research. It’s likely that within the next 5 years researchers will know whether the psychoactive drug commonly known as ecstasy—methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, can be used to treat psychiatric disorders. Dr. Gillinder Bedi is head of Substance Use Research at Orygen, Australia's National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, and she spoke with us about the potential clinical use of MDMA.

The U.S.-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (or MAPS) is co-ordinating this research. They’ve had positive results from two small trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Phase 3 studies are underway.

This interview was first published in our podcast stream in March 2018.