With marijuana at the forefront of the national and media debate around drug legalization, it’s easy to forget another important battle being fought in the medical field – use of MDMA.
MDMA is currently being used in trials as a method for treating extreme PTSD, the kind which has resisted traditional therapies and medicines. Studies in the Phase II trial of MDMA have shown extremely promising results, with “83 percent of PTSD sufferers [able to] completely overcome their symptoms within two months of beginning administration of the drug. Moreover, four years later, the participants were still free of symptoms.”
Phase I of the study was a meager 20 participants, which made it difficult to generalize the effects of such a therapy. Phase II, which is currently ending, had a total of 147 participants and provided a great deal more data. 
Brad Burge, MAPS’ (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) director of Communications, says, “Phase 3 starts around 2017, and it will take four to five years to finish. So that will put it at early 2021 for FDA approval.” [emphasis our own]
It is important to note that while FDA approval is necessary for MDMA to be used as a legitimate pharmaceutical treatment for PTSD and other mental illnesses, it will still likely be very closely monitored. However, the next five years could be very different depending on which presidential candidate enters the White House. This has the potential to be a truly watershed moment in the fight for drug legalization. We can only hope that it ends up the right way.
via Inquisitr
