minimum. It’s actually a remarkably
safe drug, much safer than, for
instance, the psychiatric medications I
prescribe to people on a daily basis.W H AT S O R T O F S U C C E S S R AT E H AV E
YOU HAD WITH THE TREATMENT?
9GNN TUVN[ VJKU KU CP QRGP NCDGN RKNQV
study. There’s no control group, there’s
no placebo. So we can’t really make
inferences about treating alcoholism,
because it might not be the drug at all- it might just be the wonderful
therapist! You can’t make a formal,
UEKGPVK E UVCVGOGPV CDQWV VJCV +VoU
primarily a safety intolerability study.
We’re basically looking at whether
or not the drug is safe and can be
tolerated. And they tick all the boxes
in that way. The patients are tolerating
it completely, and there have been
no adverse reactions or physiological
problems at all. So, that’s the main
purpose of the study.
Now, of course, we can look at the
data. We have 12 people in the study
at the moment. Two have relapsed
back to the levels of drinking they
ECOG KP YKVJ XG CTG EQORNGVGN[
dry, and then there’s about another
XG YJQ JCXG JCF QPG QT VYQ FTKPMU
but not gone back to the full level of
drinking – they wouldn’t satisfy the
diagnosis of alcohol use disorder. Bythat rate, we’ve got 10 people cured
and two returned to alcohol use.
If you compare that to the current
best treatment which is rehab, detox
rehab, AA [Alcoholics Anonymous],
group therapy, individual therapy
and so on, it completely blows
that out of the water. With current
treatment, after nine months about
70 per cent of people are back to full
drinking again.
So we can’t really say anything
formally, as I said. But the people
who have been on the study have
certainly done really well compared
to people who haven’t.COULD THE SAME METHOD ALSO BE
USED TO TREAT OTHER ADDICTIONS
AND CONDITIONS?
Yes. In many ways MDMA can be
UGGP CU C PQP URGEK E CFLWPEV VQ
psychotherapy. Most addictions,
probably except nicotine, are trauma-
based. MDMA is an excellent tool to
assist trauma-focused psychotherapy.WHAT NEXT STEPS DO YOU HAVE
PLANNED FOR THE RESEARCH?
We now plan to carry out a
randomised controlled study,
using a placebo group alongside an
active MDMA group, in order to
VGUV VJG GH ECE[ QH /&/# CUUKUVGF
psychotherapy.DR BEN SESSA
Ben is an adolescent and adult addictions
psychiatrist at Imperial College London and the
University of Bristol. Interviewed by BBC Science
Focus commissioning editor Jason Goodyer.Recreational MDMA and ecstasy are illegal Class A
drugs. Possession can get you up to seven years in
prison; supplying can get you life imprisonment. For
information and support, visit bit.ly/drug_infominimum. It’s actually a remarkably
safe drug, much safer than, for
instance, the psychiatric medications I
prescribe to people on a daily basis.W H AT S O R T O F S U C C E S S R AT E H AV E
YOU HAD WITH THE TREATMENT?
9GNN TUVN[ VJKU KU CP QRGP NCDGN RKNQV
study. There’s no control group, there’s
no placebo. So we can’t really make
inferences about treating alcoholism,
because it might not be the drug at all
- it might just be the wonderful
therapist! You can’t make a formal,
UEKGPVK E UVCVGOGPV CDQWV VJCV +VoU
primarily a safety intolerability study.
We’re basically looking at whether
or not the drug is safe and can be
tolerated. And they tick all the boxes
in that way. The patients are tolerating
it completely, and there have been
no adverse reactions or physiological
problems at all. So, that’s the main
purpose of the study.
Now, of course, we can look at the
data. We have 12 people in the study
at the moment. Two have relapsed
back to the levels of drinking they
ECOG KP YKVJ XG CTG EQORNGVGN[
dry, and then there’s about another
XG YJQ JCXG JCF QPG QT VYQ FTKPMU
but not gone back to the full level of
drinking – they wouldn’t satisfy the
diagnosis of alcohol use disorder. Bythat rate, we’ve got 10 people cured
and two returned to alcohol use.
If you compare that to the current
best treatment which is rehab, detox
rehab, AA [Alcoholics Anonymous],
group therapy, individual therapy
and so on, it completely blows
that out of the water. With current
treatment, after nine months about
70 per cent of people are back to full
drinking again.
So we can’t really say anything
formally, as I said. But the people
who have been on the study have
certainly done really well compared
to people who haven’t.COULD THE SAME METHOD ALSO BE
USED TO TREAT OTHER ADDICTIONS
AND CONDITIONS?
Yes. In many ways MDMA can be
UGGP CU C PQP URGEK E CFLWPEV VQ
psychotherapy. Most addictions,
probably except nicotine, are trauma-
based. MDMA is an excellent tool to
assist trauma-focused psychotherapy.WHAT NEXT STEPS DO YOU HAVE
PLANNED FOR THE RESEARCH?
We now plan to carry out a
randomised controlled study,
using a placebo group alongside an
active MDMA group, in order to
VGUV VJG GH ECE[ QH /&/# CUUKUVGF
psychotherapy.DR BEN SESSA
Ben is an adolescent and adult addictions
psychiatrist at Imperial College London and the
University of Bristol. Interviewed by BBC Science
Focus commissioning editor Jason Goodyer.Recreational MDMA and ecstasy are illegal Class A
drugs. Possession can get you up to seven years in
prison; supplying can get you life imprisonment. For
information and support, visit bit.ly/drug_info