Psilocybin: Government urged to ease restrictions on magic mushroom drug for mental health

• Report by Granada Reports Political Correspondent Lise McNally

The Home Office has been accused of "institutional cruelty" in failing to ease restrictions on a drug that could help those with serious mental health conditions.

Psilocybin is the main compound found in magic mushrooms, and recent studies have shown promising results as a treatment for a range of mental health conditions including PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction.

"This will heal people - it will save their lives," explains Jo Neill, Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester.

"I worked in drugs discovery for 40 years. In all that time, of all the brilliant drugs I have worked on, I have never seen a drug come to the market that has actually made the kind of huge difference to patients that psilocybin could make."

• ITV Granada spoke to Jo Neill, Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester.

Misuse of psilocybin can trigger psychotic episodes, according to the NHS, and experts say more medical research is needed to fully explore its potential and long term impacts.

But there are warnings that this scientific work is being hampered because of current UK legislation.

Psilocybin is listed under Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 - these are the compounds subject to the strictest conditions - whereas substances like heroin, cocaine and ketamine are categorised under the less restricted Schedule 2.

Schedule 2 drugs can be more freely used in medical research, whereas academic studies involving Schedule 1 drugs require a special Home Office licence - this costs more than £3000 to apply for, and can mean laboratories have to spend many thousands more retrofitting their research spaces with additional security.

"This is a huge problem, because it hinders research" Professor Neill warns, "and it's just so sad - I talked to one academic who had a brilliant idea for a study with psilocybin to treat depression, but because of the bureaucracy and the cost of getting a controlled drugs license, she never did this work"

"We urgently need to see the Government reschedule psilocybin, and remove these barriers"

The lack of access to psilocybin is hugely frustrating for artist Sean Jamieson from Manchester, who is living with mental health conditions including depression and non-epileptic attack disorder, that have so far proved resistant to the current treatment options.

"With access to mental health treatments on the NHS - it can feel a lot of the time like you're out of options," he told ITV News. "People's lives are at stake if the Government doesn't lose these barriers, it's as simple as that."

Sean has had the chance to try psilocybin legally overseas, but feels baffled that currently UK patients can only access it if they have the means to attend expensive retreats abroad.

"My therapist actually said she could notice a marked change in my demeanour... It's so unfair because it's very 'pay to play'. If you can afford to go away, if you have a passport, you can do absolutely anything you want. But if you're in this country, you're on a low income and you don't have a passport, you have to get what you're given, and you have to make do."

• ITV Granada spoke to Sean Jamieson from Manchester, who is living with mental health conditions including depression and non-epileptic attack disorder

It's a frustration shared by one MP who is living with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Charlotte Nichols describes her condition as "a living hell", and is urging the Government to make it easier to research potential medicinal uses of psilocybin by reclassifying the drug as Schedule 2.

"It's institutional cruelty not to. Why would we condemn people to their misery - and to all of the consequences personally, professionally, socially, and economically that come with that - when we have a potential option here?" the MP for Warrington North asks,

"And at the moment all we're saying is 'Let's explore it'. We don't have to make the decision at this point on whether or not people should be given psilocybin on the NHS - it's about being able to build a potential case for that. It's a common sense, low cost ask of the Government"

• ITV Granada spoke to Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols about her work to reschedule psilocybin

The Home Office has been approached for comment, and has previously said it was looking at how to reduce barriers to legitimate research.

Speaking in a debate in the House of Commons, minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that the government wanted to tackle this issue "across all categories of schedule one drugs, to reduce barriers to legitimate research rather than focus on individual drugs".

He added: "Equally, we must keep a firm focus on the need to tackle drug misuse, which causes such harm across our society. Both of these are vitally important aims and we will continue working to strike the right balance in the interests of the public."

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