ecstacy

A panel of outside experts voted against the potential use of MDMA for treating PTSD, citing that available evidence fails to show that the psychedelic is effective or that benefits outweigh risks.

FDA scientists said patients who received MDMA and talk therapy showed “rapid, clinically meaningful, durable improvements in PTSD symptoms.” But they also called the research “challenging to interpret.”

Australian physicians can prescribe doses of MDMA, aka ecstasy, for PTSD. Psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, can be given to people with hard-to-treat depression.

Research into psychedelic drugs was halted in the 1960s amid concern about recreational use. Now, the VA is among dozens of medical providers resuming that work.

Police are wondering if a 20-year-old man who shot himself and died at Halifax Health Medical Center had used a popular synthetic narcotic before his…