Psilocybin's potential in treating methamphetamine use disorder with Jonathan Brett

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professor Jonathan Brett, a senior consultant at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, clinical director of the Psychiatry and Non-Prescription Drug and Alcohol Unit, and a clinical toxicologist with the New South Wales Poison’s Information Centre, Australia. The interview covers Jonathan’s research article looking at psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder: A pilot open-label safety and feasibility study

• Psilocybin and what psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy looks like [01:20]
• Why look at methamphetamine use disorder? [04:38]
• Why is psilocybin promising for methamphetamine use disorder? [06:21]
• Explaining the single-arm open label pilot trial [09:35]
• The key findings of the study [10:54]
• The efficacy of psilocybin for methamphetamine use disorder treatment [12:12]
• The implications of the findings for policy and practice [14:50]
• The increased interest in psychedelics and a note of caution [17:03]

About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health.

About Jonathan Brett: Jonathan is a senior consultant in clinical toxicology and addiction medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, clinical director of the Psychiatry and Non-Prescription Drug and Alcohol Unit and a clinical toxicologist with the New South Wales Poison’s Information Centre. He has fellowships with the Royal Australian College of Physicians in clinical pharmacology, toxicology and addiction medicine. He is a conjoint Professor with St. Vincent’s Clinical School, University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a Senior National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Research Fellow with the Medicines Policy Unit of Centre for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW. He is president elect of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians College of Addiction Medicine. He was chief investigator on a pilot study of psilocybin facilitated psychotherapy (PP) for methamphetamine use disorder (MAUD), the first PP study of addiction in Australia and the first for MAUD worldwide. He is also chief investigator on a trial of PP for treatment resistant depression and chief medical advisor for a study of psilocybin microdosing for depression.

Original article: Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder: A pilot open-label safety and feasibility study. Doi: 10.1111/add.70187

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