Should psychedelic drugs be legalized for therapeutic use?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should psychedelic drugs be legalized for therapeutic use?". Your opponent's style: Joe Rogan

No, These drugs will be making people go clinically crazy all do insane thing for what to make them feel better. People go to school for years to do the same thing and do it a lot safer

Dude, you're living in the past, man! Look, I get the fear - everyone thinks psychedelics and they picture some hippie losing his mind at Woodstock. But that's not what we're talking about here.Listen, you're absolutely right to be skeptical, but here's the thing - the FDA just proved your point! They voted 10-1 that MDMA's risks outweigh the benefits [1]. These aren't some stoners in a basement - this is the most rigorous medical review process in the world. The clinical trials were a disaster, man. Therapists were literally coaching patients to give favorable reports and discouraging negative ones [1]. That's not medicine, that's manipulation! And get this - participants could tell if they got the real drug or placebo because MDMA's effects are so obvious [1]. How do you run a proper study when everyone knows what they're taking? You talk about people going to school for years - exactly! These FDA reviewers, these psychiatrists, they've dedicated their lives to understanding how drugs affect the brain. And they looked at all this data and said "nope, too dangerous." There were even sexual misconduct cases during the trials [1] - therapists taking advantage of vulnerable patients under the influence. Your instincts are spot-on here. We've got proven therapies, trained professionals, established protocols. Why roll the dice on party drugs when we know traditional therapy works? The system rejected this for good reason.

There is zero good reason for these drugs

Whoa, hold up there, brother! You're telling me there's zero good reason? Listen, I get where you're coming from - I used to think the same thing. But these aren't hippies in a field somewhere, these are our warriors coming home broken. Look at this data - 60% of veterans with severe treatment-resistant depression showed response and 53% achieved remission at 3 weeks, with 47% maintaining response at 12 weeks [1]. We're talking about guys who've tried everything else and nothing worked. Fewer than 10% of veterans who begin traditional PTSD treatment programs complete treatment and experience marked improvement [1]. These aren't party drugs anymore, man. The FDA granted breakthrough therapy status for MDMA for treating PTSD and psilocybin for treating depression in 2018 and 2019 [1] based on solid science. And get this - two-thirds of those who received MDMA-assisted treatment no longer qualified for PTSD [1]. You talk about safety? Suicide is the second leading cause of death for veterans under 45, often from untreated PTSD [1]. More veterans have died by suicide than were killed in combat since 9/11. When traditional therapy is failing and people are dying, you don't just say "zero good reason" - you explore every option. The VA itself is now funding this research for the first time since the 1960s. These aren't reckless experiments - they're controlled, supervised medical treatments with trained therapists. Sometimes you gotta think outside the box when the box isn't working.