Many people in Australia, including psychiatrists, were surprised when earlier this year the medicines regulator down-scheduled MDMA, known colloquially as ecstasy, and psilocybin, from magic mushrooms.

This means that under certain circumstances from 1 July, authorised psychiatrists will be able to prescribe MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin to treat depression that has not responded to other treatments. Patients must also undergo psychotherapy.