A former government drugs advisor has said that regulations should be relaxed to enable researchers to experiment on psychedelic drugs.

Professor David Nutt says that drugs including magic mushrooms, LSD, and cannabis all have potential therapeutic applications, which are not being studied because of the restrictions placed on researching illegal drugs.

Professor Nutt made the comments following new research by his group, published in a scientific journal, which suggests that the active ingredient in magic mushrooms may potentially be used to treat depression.

Robin Carhart-Harris, a post-doctoral researcher at Imperial College, London, has worked on the research with Professor Nutt.