After four years of work by charities such as MAPS, a licence was obtained last year to import nine grams of MDMA into Canada for the purposes of undertaking studies and treatments in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD.

Historically there have been major setbacks in the study of MDMA for therapeutic purposes as a result of its status as an illicit and controlled chemical. These have included outright bans on medical research, among more practical difficulties manifesting as the outlawing of synthesis, or the rejection of efforts to import the substance from countries in which MDMA is actively produced and researched for psychotherapeutic purposes.

However, much progress has recently been made, with studies into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD having taken place in the USA, Israel and the UK among several other countries. These studies have generally seen high levels of success, with some blind trials showing up to 83% of subjects’ conditions improving over time in response to the therapy.

Read more about the announcement here, and find out more about MDMA-assisted psychotherapy here.