February 7, 2017 6:16 PM By Stephanie Stahl<\/p>\n
by Stephanie Stahl <\/p>\n
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) Psychedelic drugs have been illegal for decades, but now some doctors and patients are exploring psychedelics as a therapeutic agent for a range of medical conditions and psychological traumas. <\/p>\n
Scientists say psychedelics are showing great promise as a therapeutic tool. <\/p>\n
It opens you up to yourself, said Andy Gold, a cancer patient. <\/p>\n
With permission from the FDA, researchers are studying psychedelics in patients with life-threatening conditions, such as cancer. <\/p>\n
Patients with cancer, particularly advanced cancer, have significant levels of anxiety, depression, said psychiatrist Charles Grob, M.D. with the Heffter Research Institute at UCLA. <\/p>\n
Grob headed up the trial and he says, while psilocybin wears off in a few hours, the benefit lasted for up to six months. <\/p>\n
The positive effects seem to sustain, said Grob. <\/p>\n
Its not addictive, and weve never had a freak-out, said psychiatrist Phil Wolfson, M.D. <\/p>\n
Psychedelics include things like psilocybin, like so-called magic mushrooms, or LSD. <\/p>\n
Brain scans from healthy volunteers may shed some light on how they work. <\/p>\n
With LSD, scientists believe different regions of the brain communicate with each other, when they normally dont. <\/p>\n
Psychedelics may free the mind. <\/p>\n
So, I was very pleasantly surprised that all I felt wasgood! said writer Ayelet Waldman. I thought if anyone in the world is going to have a bad trip, its going to be me. I mean, I can have a bad trip in a Pilates class. <\/p>\n
Waldman has a mood disorder. She fell into terrible depression and her prescription medication stopped working. <\/p>\n
Out of desperation, for one month only, she took tiny doses of LSD. <\/p>\n
Its possible that I experienced the mother of all placebo effects, I had a very good month, Waldman said. <\/p>\n
The final FDA studies on the psychedelics will begin soon. If the drugs are approved, they could become available for in-patient therapy use as early as 2021. <\/p>\n
Stephanie Stahl, CBS 3 and The CW Philly 57s Emmy Award-winning medical specialist, is featured daily on Eyewitness News. As one of the television industrys most respected medical reporters, Stahl has been recognized by community and he...<\/p>\n
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Psychedelics Being Tested For Use In Treating Various Conditions - CBS Local<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 7, 2017 6:16 PM By Stephanie Stahl by Stephanie Stahl PHILADELPHIA (CBS) Psychedelic drugs have been illegal for decades, but now some doctors and patients are exploring psychedelics as a therapeutic agent for a range of medical conditions and psychological traumas. Scientists say psychedelics are showing great promise as a therapeutic tool Continue reading