Australian Science Illustrated — Issue 54 2017

The patient consumes a capsule with a carefully measured

dose of pure psilocybin. The drug is on to the small intestine,

where it passes through the intestinal wall to the

large portal vein. The vein directs the drug to the

liver, where active psilocybin (psilocin) is

broken down chemically.

From the liver, psilocin returns to the blood stream, entering

the brain, where it binds to the type 2A receptor, which is

normally used by serotonin, a neurotransmitter, to regulate

one's mood. The quantity of 2A receptors in the frontal lobe is higher

in case of anxiety and depression, but psilocin binds to the receptors,

making them disappear, so the number is reduced to a normal level.

THE LIVER ACTIVATES THE DRUG MOLECULES 'ELIMINATE' ANXIETY RECEPTORS

In the 1950s and 1960s, LSD was used in 1,000+ experiments.

In the photo, scientist Harry Williams gives LSD to his

colleague, Carl Pfeiffer from the Emory University.

LIVER

STOMACH

PSILOCIN

RECEPTOR

PSILOCIN

PSILOCYBIN

2A RECEPTOR

reduces blood flow and activity in the limbic

system, which controls emotions and memory.

Ecstasy reduces the patients’ anxiety, allowing

them to confront the traumatic events which

caused the disease.

However, the drugs do not only have

potential positive effects, they can also cause

psychoses. So, the patients’ mental strength is

tested, before the experiments begin, so

people with special risks of deve-loping

psychoses are excluded. Before the test

subjects are given the drugs, they have had

thorough introductory conversations with

doctors, who explain the effect of the

treatment on the body. Many doctors have

personally tested the drugs, so they know

exactly what the test subjects will experience

ECSTASY WILL SOON BE APPROVED

The first minor ecstasy experiments have

produced such positive results that in 2017,

the US health authorities, FDA, allowed a major

experiment with the drug for PTSD treatment.

If the experiment turns out well, ecstasy could

be approved as a drug as early as in 2021.

When Steven Ross from the New York

University began to treat depressive cancer

patients with psilocybin 10 years ago, he

feared that he would be putting his career on

the line just like the medical LSD pioneers of

the 1950s and 1960s. But he did not. Instead,

his and others’ experiments have shown that

psychedelic drugs are wonder drugs that

promise well for the millions of people with

severe anxiety, depression, and PTSD, who

need more than traditional drugs and

conversational therapy.

BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

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