HEALTH OFFICERS MULL IDEA OF GIVING PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS TO ADDICTS

But Plans In Works: Peyote Used To Treat Addictions In The U.S.

B.C.'s medical community is warming to the idea of treating drug
addicts with psychedelic drugs. But so far, no one is offering to
prove that the treatment works.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall says there is a possible
use for psychedelic drugs, in combination with talk therapy, when
treating addicts.

"Can psychedelic drugs be used in combination with . . . talk
therapy?" he said Friday. "If you put those two things together, you
get better results than just drugs or just talk therapy."

City of Vancouver drug-policy officials have proposed giving peyote
and ayahuasca to addicts, combined with talk therapy.

Both drugs are used by aboriginal people in Latin America for
ceremonial or spiritual purposes.

In a November 2005 report, the Four Pillars team said that ayahuasca,
a psychedelic tea made from plants, "may result in profound lasting
and positive behavioural and lifestyle changes."

Peyote has been used as an antidote to alcoholism. U.S. natives have
used it in rituals to treat addiction.

Vancouver drug-policy officials were unavailable for
comment.

But Dr. David Marsh, who heads Addiction Services at the Vancouver
Coastal Health Authority, said that psychedelic drugs are not
currently being offered to addicts and there are no plans to make them
available.

"However, if someone were to conduct a rigorous trial and demonstrate
effectiveness, then it may be something worth exploring," Marsh told
The Province. "If a natural compound shows promise then it should be
investigated."

Scott MacDonald, assistant director of the B.C. Centre for Addictions
Research, said that psychedelics like LSD were used to treat
alcoholics in the 1960s.

"It's pretty well unproven at this stage whether it's beneficial or
not," said MacDonald. "I'm all for the clinical trials and the
evaluation studies to see if it is beneficial."

Kendall said that if the treatment proves effective, it should be made
available.

"I would like to think that if something is subjected to a rigorous
clinical trial, and it's shown to work, that we wouldn't stop that
being available just because it didn't fit our particular ideological
or moral paradigm," Kendall said.