Aug 22, 2022 07:02 PM
(This post was last modified: Aug 22, 2022 07:04 PM by C C.)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/962501
INTRO: A new national survey reveals considerable differences between psychiatrists’ perceptions about the safety and therapeutic value of certain psychoactive drugs and how those same drugs are categorized under U.S. policy.
For example, the anxiety medication Xanax is a Schedule IV drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it is judged to have low potential for misuse and dependence and strong therapeutic value. But the surveyed psychiatrists rated the drug, known generically as alprazolam, as having the highest misuse potential among all of the drugs they were asked about – equivalent to ratings of misuse potential of methamphetamine and alcohol.
The group also rated the psychedelic compound psilocybin as having the lowest misuse potential and the second-highest therapeutic potential behind ketamine. And yet, as a Schedule I drug, psilocybin has no currently accepted medical use and is deemed to pose a high risk for abuse.
“The problem is that our drug schedules don’t match the scientific evidence of their actual harm and their actual therapeutic and abuse potential,” said senior author Alan Davis, assistant professor and director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education in The Ohio State University College of Social Work.
The authors noted how the evidence has changed since substances were scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in 1970: Studies have suggested psilocybin, MDMA (ecstasy) and cannabis, all Schedule I drugs, have therapeutic potential and relatively low risk for misuse or physical harm. Meanwhile, benzodiazepines, the family of drugs to which Xanax belongs, are the third most commonly misused substances – among both outlawed and prescription drugs – in the United States.
“The question became, are these schedules actually in alignment with the current state of evidence as measured through experts in the field of psychiatry?” Davis said. “That really was the whole point of this study.”
The research was recently published online in the International Journal of Drug Policy... (MORE - details)
INTRO: A new national survey reveals considerable differences between psychiatrists’ perceptions about the safety and therapeutic value of certain psychoactive drugs and how those same drugs are categorized under U.S. policy.
For example, the anxiety medication Xanax is a Schedule IV drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it is judged to have low potential for misuse and dependence and strong therapeutic value. But the surveyed psychiatrists rated the drug, known generically as alprazolam, as having the highest misuse potential among all of the drugs they were asked about – equivalent to ratings of misuse potential of methamphetamine and alcohol.
The group also rated the psychedelic compound psilocybin as having the lowest misuse potential and the second-highest therapeutic potential behind ketamine. And yet, as a Schedule I drug, psilocybin has no currently accepted medical use and is deemed to pose a high risk for abuse.
“The problem is that our drug schedules don’t match the scientific evidence of their actual harm and their actual therapeutic and abuse potential,” said senior author Alan Davis, assistant professor and director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education in The Ohio State University College of Social Work.
The authors noted how the evidence has changed since substances were scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in 1970: Studies have suggested psilocybin, MDMA (ecstasy) and cannabis, all Schedule I drugs, have therapeutic potential and relatively low risk for misuse or physical harm. Meanwhile, benzodiazepines, the family of drugs to which Xanax belongs, are the third most commonly misused substances – among both outlawed and prescription drugs – in the United States.
“The question became, are these schedules actually in alignment with the current state of evidence as measured through experts in the field of psychiatry?” Davis said. “That really was the whole point of this study.”
The research was recently published online in the International Journal of Drug Policy... (MORE - details)
