'Magic mushroom therapy' to treat depression could happen in UK inside a year

A clinical trial of 'magic mushroom therapy' could take place in the UK within a year following two ground-breaking studies.

Doctors plan to treat depressed patients who cannot be helped by modern drugs or behaviour-based psychotherapy with the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Psilocybin infused into bloodstreams

Psilocybin would slowly be infused into their bloodstreams while they receive a carefully tailored 'talking therapy'.

The controversial trial is planned by Professor David Nutt, from Imperial College London, who three years ago was sacked as the Government’s chief drug adviser.

Prof Nutt, former chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), clashed with then Home Secretary Alan Johnson after criticising the decision to toughen the law on cannabis.

Earlier tests in the 50/60's stopped

In the 1950s and 1960s, scientists investigating drugs such as LSD and psilocybin carried out studies on around 40,000 patients and published 1,000 papers.

Such work was brought to an abrupt halt when the drugs came to be seen as social evils and were made illegal.

Read the full article on the Daily Mail