Mescaline, the natural psychedelic compound being evaluated for its therapeutic potential by drug developer Neural Therapeutics Inc., could be an effective treatment for a range of conditions, according to respected researcher Professor David Nutt.
Professor Nutt is the deputy head of the Center for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London and a member of Neural’s Scientific Advisory Board.
In a recent presentation introduced by Neural CEO Ian Campbell, Professor Nutt outlined his insights on psychedelic medicine and its potential uses in addressing mental health conditions.
“Mescaline has been rather overlooked in the current resurgence of interest [in psychedelics],” Professor Nutt said.
“We’re impressed by the fact that mescaline has such a long tradition of use in South America. Mescaline has been used for 5,000 to 6,000 years and we know that it’s very safe.”
Professor Nutt highlighted the need for improved treatments for mental health conditions.
“The reality is the best antidepressants we have don’t lift depression in about a third of people and the best treatments we have for post-traumatic stress disorder don’t work in even half the people,” he said.
“We have treatments which can be very helpful and generally pretty safe but for some people, we need innovation and the reality is, there has been no innovation in mental health treatments at the level of pharmacological new medicines for 50 years.”
He shared evidence from clinical trials involving psychedelics which showed their effectiveness in treating a range of conditions, including treatment-resistant depression, tobacco addiction, and alcoholism.
“Psychedelics are a real breakthrough because they work in a different way to traditional drugs and they can work where other drugs have failed,” Professor Nutt said.
“It’s quite plausible that mescaline will be an effective treatment for health problems as well as for self-learning.”
Neural Therapeutics is a drug-discovery company focusing on plant-based active substances to deliver beneficial, over-the-counter dietary supplements and psychedelic-based therapeutic medicines to treat serious mental ailments where no significant treatment is available today. Its key ingredient is mescaline derived from the San Pedro cactus.