Dutch gov't advised to experiment with PTSD treatment with MDMA, but not legalize it
People suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may benefit from therapy that uses MDMA, the active substance in ecstasy, the State Commission on MDMA said. It advised the Dutch government to do larger-scale research into this use use of MDMA in its report ‘Beyond Ecstasy.’ It also advised against removing the substance from the hard drugs list or legalizing it.
“Extensive research has been conducted in the U.S., and the results are promising,” Brigit Toebes, chairman of the State Commission on MDMA, said about the substance’s use in treating PTSD, NOS reports. “More than half of patients no longer had PTSD after treatment.”
It could take years for MDMA to become a registered medicine in Europe. To help patients with severe PTSD while conducting scientific research, the Commission advised making more money available for a larger study into this topic.
The Commission noted that, despite the positive results in the U.S., MDMA has not yet been introduced as a medicine there. Earlier this week, an independent committee advised the U.S. government agency FDA against using MDMA to treat PTSD patients, raising doubts about the reliability of the studies so far.
According to Toebes, this is all the more reason to conduct more extensive research in the Netherlands. “It is actually good that it is being looked at very critically because we cannot take it overnight. We need to find out more about whether it is really effective and how you can prevent abuse.”
The health consequences of using MDMA are “not serious” and appear small enough to remove the drug from the hard drugs list, the Commission said. However, it advised against making MDMA a soft drug or even legalizing it, saying that doing so could fuel crime.
Making MDMA a soft drug would reduce the penalties for trading and producing it, the Commission said. That could make the industry even more attractive to criminals. It could also result in the police and Public Prosecution Service making less money available to combat the illegal industry.
