All clinical trials into the psychoactive drug MDMA are being reviewed by Canadian regulators after complaints about abuse of study participants by a trailblazing American psychedelic research organization.
The California-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps) has led the way in conducting trials into the medicinal qualities of the drug. In May 2021, it released results from a phase-three trial in the journal Nature on the benefits of the drug – commonly sold illegally as a powder or within ecstasy tablets – as a breakthrough treatment for PTSD, for which there is currently no effective pharmaceutical treatment.
