The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given a Marin therapist the green light to study whether the illegal drug ecstasy, or MDMA, is effective in treating severe anxiety and depression when taken in conjunction with psychotherapy. A notorious party drug, ecstasy has previously shown promise as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We'll look at the latest MDMA studies and the increased medical interest in the drug, which was banned by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 1985.

Guests:

Don Lattin , author, freelance journalist and former religion writer for the San Francisco Chronicle

Phil Wolfson , psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and principal investigator in the new trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy

Nigel McCourry , ex-Marine who suffered from PTSD after serving in Iraq in 2004, and member of a 2012 clinical study using therapy and MDMA

Elias Dakwar , assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons