Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
- Messages
- 84,998
Greetings Bluelighters,
It is with great pleasure that I write this thread introducing a new partnership between Bluelight and the Multi-disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research (MAPS). As many of you have already noticed, the front page and many of the drug related forums are displaying a new banner advertisement as of late last night. This banner is designed to raise awareness concerning a landmark, FDA approved study funded by MAPS that will explore the potential therapeutic effects of MDMA on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. I know that I speak on behalf of the MAPS team and the leadership of Bluelight in saying that we hope this initiative will help direct appropriate individuals into the study, ultimately leading to an FDA approved indication for MDMA in PTSD.
It is almost impossible to overstate the importance and potential impact of this study. A formal FDA approval would effectively change the status of MDMA from a schedule I substance (deemed illegal and having no medical application) to schedule II, the same class as Ritalin and Percoset. It would open up the door for psychiatrists with the proper training and certification to administer pharmaceutical grade MDMA to patients, in a controlled setting, with whom other forms of treatment for PTSD have failed - essentially SSRIs and psychotherapy. A very short list, indeed. Unfortunately, neither treatment with SSRIs, psychotherapy or the combination of both have proven very effective in adequately treating those who suffer for PTSD. The need for such a drug is great. The government is quite aware of this, as the total amount of money that is paid out in the form of disability compensation to veteran’s with PTSD each year is staggering.
Furthermore, when we stop and consider the influx of young soldiers soon be returning home from battle in the middle east - having experienced first hand the horrors of war, one cannot help but feel a sense of duty to help make this approval a reality.
Now that the study has received government approval, the next step is to move forward with the second phase of the clinical trail. What this entails is identifying five patients who meet the strict criteria dictated by the study protocol (If you are interested in reading about the specifics of the study plan, you may do so here: http://www.maps.org/research/mdmaplan.html) These five patients must have a formal war-related PTSD diagnosis, they must have failed both an SSRI as well as psychotherapy, they cannot be a Vietnam veteran, and must have already had previous exposure to MDMA. Unfortunately, despite getting the word out via a number of different avenues MAPS has yet to identify five such patients, so consequently the study cannot yet move forward.
We believe that the scope and reach of the Bluelight community presents a logical vehicle to help address these enrollment issues. Consider that Bluelight currently averages approximately 9000 unique visits per day, and registers over 400,000 total hits per day. Truly, we are a leviathan in the online drug/psycho-actives community with the ability to disseminate information quickly and easily to a very large audience. As an interactive message board we have the added advantage of being able to discuss the various implications of this and other important issues within our many forums, and I would like to call upon each of you to initiate and/or contribute to such dialog in useful and creative ways.
I am also pleased to announce that we will be launching a new “Drug Studies” forum that will provide a specific place for the discussion of this and other drug related studies and surveys, in a number of different disciplines. More information regarding this forum will be forthcoming.
I am excited to welcome the various members of the MAPS team to our community - I very much looking forward to their direct involvement in the Drug Studies forum, and my hope is that they will interact with and contribute to the many other areas of our community as well. As you see new members with a “MAPS.org” designation under their username, please extend to them a warm welcome and feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved with these new initiatives. I look forward to helping Bluelight and MAPS realize the goals of this important study in addition to many other great accomplishments in the future.
Regards,
Sebastians_ghost
It is with great pleasure that I write this thread introducing a new partnership between Bluelight and the Multi-disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research (MAPS). As many of you have already noticed, the front page and many of the drug related forums are displaying a new banner advertisement as of late last night. This banner is designed to raise awareness concerning a landmark, FDA approved study funded by MAPS that will explore the potential therapeutic effects of MDMA on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. I know that I speak on behalf of the MAPS team and the leadership of Bluelight in saying that we hope this initiative will help direct appropriate individuals into the study, ultimately leading to an FDA approved indication for MDMA in PTSD.
It is almost impossible to overstate the importance and potential impact of this study. A formal FDA approval would effectively change the status of MDMA from a schedule I substance (deemed illegal and having no medical application) to schedule II, the same class as Ritalin and Percoset. It would open up the door for psychiatrists with the proper training and certification to administer pharmaceutical grade MDMA to patients, in a controlled setting, with whom other forms of treatment for PTSD have failed - essentially SSRIs and psychotherapy. A very short list, indeed. Unfortunately, neither treatment with SSRIs, psychotherapy or the combination of both have proven very effective in adequately treating those who suffer for PTSD. The need for such a drug is great. The government is quite aware of this, as the total amount of money that is paid out in the form of disability compensation to veteran’s with PTSD each year is staggering.
Furthermore, when we stop and consider the influx of young soldiers soon be returning home from battle in the middle east - having experienced first hand the horrors of war, one cannot help but feel a sense of duty to help make this approval a reality.
Now that the study has received government approval, the next step is to move forward with the second phase of the clinical trail. What this entails is identifying five patients who meet the strict criteria dictated by the study protocol (If you are interested in reading about the specifics of the study plan, you may do so here: http://www.maps.org/research/mdmaplan.html) These five patients must have a formal war-related PTSD diagnosis, they must have failed both an SSRI as well as psychotherapy, they cannot be a Vietnam veteran, and must have already had previous exposure to MDMA. Unfortunately, despite getting the word out via a number of different avenues MAPS has yet to identify five such patients, so consequently the study cannot yet move forward.
We believe that the scope and reach of the Bluelight community presents a logical vehicle to help address these enrollment issues. Consider that Bluelight currently averages approximately 9000 unique visits per day, and registers over 400,000 total hits per day. Truly, we are a leviathan in the online drug/psycho-actives community with the ability to disseminate information quickly and easily to a very large audience. As an interactive message board we have the added advantage of being able to discuss the various implications of this and other important issues within our many forums, and I would like to call upon each of you to initiate and/or contribute to such dialog in useful and creative ways.
I am also pleased to announce that we will be launching a new “Drug Studies” forum that will provide a specific place for the discussion of this and other drug related studies and surveys, in a number of different disciplines. More information regarding this forum will be forthcoming.
I am excited to welcome the various members of the MAPS team to our community - I very much looking forward to their direct involvement in the Drug Studies forum, and my hope is that they will interact with and contribute to the many other areas of our community as well. As you see new members with a “MAPS.org” designation under their username, please extend to them a warm welcome and feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved with these new initiatives. I look forward to helping Bluelight and MAPS realize the goals of this important study in addition to many other great accomplishments in the future.
Regards,
Sebastians_ghost
