It has been an incredibly long time since a new psychiatric medication (something that would treat the likes of depression or schizophrenia) has been discovered. Many believe that this is primarily due to the bans that the U.S. government has placed on research related to analyzing the potential beneficial effects of psychoactive drugs (one of the most common being lysergic acid diethylamide, colloquially known as "LSD"). Many point to any advances in current medicine as being at a standstill because of this. For instance, statistics show that medication to treat depression is still only as effective as the drugs that were produced for use in the 1950s. It is truly staggering to know how much our innovation has slowed down in this regard. Over 14 million Americans suffer from depression, and public policy is failing this populace if it cannot utilize the resources that are at hand.
The problem, of course, lies in the cultural connotations that many of these drugs have. Ecstasy, LSD, marijuana, psilocybin (mushrooms), etc. have all been chastised as dangerous and essentially drugs that are prone to being abused. However, all of these drugs have a history of being used as ways to medically treat issues such as depression, dating back several years. In fact, in the 1960s, many scientists were analyzing and rigorously conducting trials to obtain the benefits of these drugs for medicinal use. Unfortunately, this was all put to an end by policy and legislation imposed in the nation as well as internationally. At the head of this was "The Controlled Substances Act of 1970", which essentially stated that these sorts of drugs did not belong in medicinal care. This has led to the standstill we see to this day, because of what was mostly just a cultural notion that was extrapolated into legislation.
It should be our goal to end this type of legislation, as the benefits of various drugs can only truly be harnessed if scientists are able to conduct tests and lab investigations on them. It is truly ironic when doctors can recommend marijuana as a medical treatment, but scientific researchers cannot legally study the actual effects in a lab.
Sources:
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/08/governments-disastrous-drug-research-ban.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/31/us-drugs-science-research-idUSBRE84U0DX20120531
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/end-the-ban-on-psychoactive-drug-research/
The problem, of course, lies in the cultural connotations that many of these drugs have. Ecstasy, LSD, marijuana, psilocybin (mushrooms), etc. have all been chastised as dangerous and essentially drugs that are prone to being abused. However, all of these drugs have a history of being used as ways to medically treat issues such as depression, dating back several years. In fact, in the 1960s, many scientists were analyzing and rigorously conducting trials to obtain the benefits of these drugs for medicinal use. Unfortunately, this was all put to an end by policy and legislation imposed in the nation as well as internationally. At the head of this was "The Controlled Substances Act of 1970", which essentially stated that these sorts of drugs did not belong in medicinal care. This has led to the standstill we see to this day, because of what was mostly just a cultural notion that was extrapolated into legislation.
It should be our goal to end this type of legislation, as the benefits of various drugs can only truly be harnessed if scientists are able to conduct tests and lab investigations on them. It is truly ironic when doctors can recommend marijuana as a medical treatment, but scientific researchers cannot legally study the actual effects in a lab.
Sources:
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/08/governments-disastrous-drug-research-ban.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/31/us-drugs-science-research-idUSBRE84U0DX20120531
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/end-the-ban-on-psychoactive-drug-research/
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