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World's First Trial of MDMA as Treatment for Alcoholism to Begin

Researchers in the UK will undertake the first-ever trials of this treatment in the next two months.
Fotografía: Flickr

Researchers from Imperial College London are getting ready to undertake the first-ever clinical trial of MDMA to treat alcohol addiction. Scientists will administer doses of the drug in conjunction with psychotherapy as part of a study that will take place in the next two months, reports the Guardian.

The scientists will work with a total of 20 patients, who will be people with a history of frequently relapsing into alcoholism after trying other kinds of treatment. Patients will first undergo physical detoxification, and then do two talking therapy sessions without MDMA. Then they will take a high dose of the drug in capsule form and take part in a day-long session involving another conversation with a therapist and meditation.

"[The treatment] is using drugs to enhance the relationship between the therapist and the patient, and it allows us to dig down and get to the heart of the problems that drive long-term mental illness," said one of the psychiatrists leading the trial, Ben Sessa, in an interview with the Guardian.

The researchers are all ready to begin the trial, and are just waiting for the delivery of 99.99% pure MDMA.

This is not the first time MDMA has been used in clinical settings. Scientists in New Zealand recently began testing whether the drug can cure tinnitus, and the body of evidence that it could be used to treat PTSD is growing.

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