A national poll has revealed a clear majority of people in the UK are in favour of research into the medical potential of psilocybin.
Psilocybin is a schedule one controlled substance and, while that doesn’t technically outlaw scientific research, it throws up prohibitive secondary barriers.
According to Drug Science, its legal status creates ‘excessive costs, delays, and administrative burdens associated with acquiring the multiple licences that are needed to run a single study’.
But new findings suggest the public would back a Home Office move to throw the field open.
The representative study, which was carried out by YouGov in collaboration with PsiloNautica and Drug Science, draws on responses from 1,763 adults.
Pollsters asked members of the public if they would support relaxing restrictions into medical use of magic mushroom for mental health conditions if it didn’t affect how it was classified in criminal law.
Initially, 55% were in favour – but that figure rose to 68% when the respondents were informed about policy developments elsewhere in the world.
The survey uncovered similar levels of support for the use of psilocybin in palliative care and to treat military veterans suffering from psychiatric disease.
Dr James Rucker, head of the psychedelic trials group at the King’s College London, said: “It’s interesting to see from this poll that a majority of people questioned support a revision of current legislation towards controlled medical use and research with psilocybin.
“Schedule one restrictions hinder our efforts whilst being unlikely to provide any meaningful reduction in the risk of diversion, when compared to schedule two restrictions.
“The UK has an internationally recognised reputation in developing new treatments.
“We have an opportunity to be world leaders here as well, if government acts to reclassify those treatments that are showing therapeutic promise into schedule two.”
Crispin Blunt MP, who chairs the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group, said: “In the here and now, psilocybin’s enduring placement in schedule one makes it all but impossible for our researchers to conduct the calibre of research necessary to develop treatments that would alleviate the suffering of millions.
“Demurring on rescheduling psilocybin to enable treatment research not only flies in the face of a growing body of evidence refuting any justification for its current status, but is also against the will of a British public who have now evidenced their compassionate demand.
“But rescheduling is only the start.
“The government must now actively enable safe patient access to make up for the inexcusable delay policy unsupported by evidence has inflicted on suffering patients.”
