Lifeboat ethics, risk, and therapeutic opportunity: an appeal for equitable psychedelic therapy access in the “high-risk” addiction patient
Frontiers in Psychiatry September 20, 2023 Taylor Black 2 citations
Psychedelic-assisted treatment for mental health is advancing, with psilocybin and MDMA nearing FDA approval and some US jurisdictions decriminalizing psilocybin. However, neither FDA indications nor regulated use models adequately address addiction treatment, especially when compounded by disability and social dispossession. Addiction increasingly burdens informal care networks, public safety, and healthcare systems, while stigma and mistreatment alienate people from care and raise costs. To maximize population health benefits, regulatory, clinical, and payment systems must support research, safety monitoring, and implementation that reduce barriers for those bearing these costs. A collaborative approach, rooted in mutual support and accountable to public institutions, is needed to equitably disseminate these therapies, learning from ancient traditions of ritualized sacramental use.