Maine is Making Progress on the Medicinal Use of Psychedelics

It may sound a bit exotic, but there's a lot of research to support this.

Scientists have been looking for ways to treat things like depression for decades, and we've come a long way. Where 50-100 years ago the initial treatment for something like depression could be as sever as electro-shock therapy, modern times have made treatment substantially less barbaric.

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Years ago, I worked in a kitchen in a mental health facility, and I've heard the horror stories. In more modern times, the process involves things like medications and talk therapy to root out the issues. But there's been a surprising treatment that been gaining a lot of traction the last several years... the use of psychedelics.

Why psychedelics?

Without getting into a bunch of science-y stuff that most people wouldn't fully comprehend, it's been shown that some drugs like ketamine, LSD, and psilocybin have a unique ability to offset some of the extreme symptoms associated with certain mental health issues.

Controlled therapy with these drugs in a safe, secure environment has shown to reduce some major symptoms, either through micro-dosing, or in-house treatment. There's enough support that Oregon has already made psychedelics legal for medical use/research.

What's next for Maine?

Here in Maine, the initial bill to create an exploratory committee has passed the state Senate. From here, it moves onto the House of Reps. A similar bill was introduced once before, but stalled in the House. The wording has been changed quite a bit and watered down in an effort to make it more passable.

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If it all goes forward, the committee will get to work, and look to be presenting their findings this coming November. So there is still a lot of work to do, and it won't happen quickly. We already know how long it took to get recreational cannabis in order... Psychedelics will probably take at least as long. But at least it's progress...

Random subject change, but here's proof of how rough April has been on Mainers...