Psilocybin is the main active compound in Magic Mushrooms, and in South Africa, is considered illegal. It is scheduled as a Schedule 7 substance, alongside other illegal substances such as heroin.

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In order for something to be classified as schedule 7, it has to be: 1. Harmful 2. have no medical use and 3. have high risk for dependence/abuse. However, according to the growing number of international studies on psilocybin, we know the following:

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1. Psilocybin is ‘among the safest drugs we know of’ according to the former UK government drug adviser (1) and the world’s largest drug survey (2)

2. It has been proven to be highly effective in the treatment of various mental health related conditions (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). inclusive of cases of otherwise treatment resistant depression. (12, 13)

3. It is considered non-addictive (14, 15, 16, 17) and has even been termed ‘anti-addictive’(1)

 

The current scheduling of psilocybin is thus based on outdated assumptions and misinformation, and is ultimately unconstitutional. We believe the rescheduling of this substance is likely to have a large impact on the current global mental-health crisis. This is supported by the fact that the Food and Drug Administration in the US has granted psilocybin ‘breakthrough treatment’ status for depression, providing grounds for further research into psilocybin-assisted therapy to continue.

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Locally, 1 in 6 South Africans suffer from depression, anxiety or a substance abuse disorder (18). There are at least 23 suicides a day in South Africa(19). Rescheduling psilocybin would allow for important, less restrictive local research to take place in this domain, correct training and education around the substance to take place, as well opening the platform for citizens in need to gain legal access to this potentially efficacious treatment in a safer manner, without the fear of incarceration. Furthermore, we believe psilocybin has the potential to help reduce the estimated 35 billion Rand per year costed to the economy by mental health disorders. (20)

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References:

1. Nutt, David J. Drugs -Without the hot air: minimising the harms of legal and illegal drugs. Cambridge: UIT, 2012.

2. https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/themes/globaldrugsurvey/results/GDS2017_key-findings-report_final.pdf

3. www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/17/magic-mushrooms-lift-severe-depression-in-clinical-trial

4. www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/01/magic-mushroom-ingredient-psilocybin-can-lift-depression-studies-show

5. www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/magic-mushrooms-ease-anxiety-depression-cancer-patients-studies-a7449186.html

6. www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/17/magic-mushrooms-lifts-severe-depression-in-trial/

7. https://www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/pdfs/S2215036616300657.pdf

8. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-017-4771-x

9. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881120919957

10. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881114565144

11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31916890?fbclid=IwAR2dU3Z7Q7JuCFMXA0SNuwp_c7JjOSbfLGRnKnw1IdlZNea2GBHpbLOMXX4

12. https://www.livescience.com/psilocybin-depression-breakthrough-therapy.html

13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13282-7/

14. https://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/are-psilocybin-mushrooms-addictive

15. https://www.popsci.com/magic-mushrooms-safe/

16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4813425/

17. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/johns-hopkins-scientists-give-psychedelics-the-serious-treatment/

18. http://www.health.uct.ac.za/usr/health/research/groupings/mhapp/resources/SAHRC2.pdf

19. http://www.sadag.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2246:suicide-takes-its-toll&catid=92&Itemid=154

20. http://www.sadag.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2318:mental-disorders-cost-sa-economy-r35bn&catid=74&Itemid=132