How to Legalize Medical Psychedelics in Your Country — Tania de Jong on Australia’s Breakthrough
In a Nutshell
Tania de Jong and her husband drove Australia to become the first country to reschedule psilocybin and MDMA from prohibited substances to controlled medicines in 2023 through Mind Medicine Australia, a charity they founded in 2019. Their campaign succeeded by submitting repeated evidence-based applications to the TGA, training over 750 clinicians, building 30+ local chapters, and leveraging high-profile presentations like David Nutt's to regulators and public testimony from patients like Vanessa whose husband died by suicide after treatment-resistant depression. The result is over 400 patients treated at 20+ clinics with 60-80% remission rates, establishing a model now influencing global policy while de Jong urges continued advocacy for expanded access.
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Tania de Jong recounts the pivotal moment when her husband informed her that psilocybin and MDMA had been rescheduled in Australia. Initially disbelieving, she examined the document herself, convinced there must be an error. Upon confirming the rescheduling, they celebrated with dancing in their kitchen, describing the moment as unbelievable and amazing. Headlines emerged worldwide declaring Australia as the first country to achieve this milestone, positioning the nation as a global leader in the field.
The conversation traces back to 2015 when de Jong first encountered Tim Ferriss's blog post announcing a $100,000 donation to Imperial College for psilocybin depression research. Initially, she had been reading his books and following his biohacking experiments. The blog post referenced the New Yorker article "The Trip Treatment" by Michael Pollan, which explored psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins with Roland Griffiths. De Jong, who had never consumed alcohol, coffee, or any drugs, was profoundly impacted by the article and convinced her skeptical husband to pursue participation in a clinical trial.
After being denied entry to European clinical trials due to lack of mental illness diagnosis, de Jong and her husband were connected to a guide in the Netherlands through the Psychedelic Society. They flew to Europe for their first psilocybin experience. De Jong describes being petrified beforehand, writing her last wishes to her accountant 24-48 hours before the session due to fears of losing control or going crazy. The guide, dressed in white robes reminiscent of Ram Dass, provided no clear answers to her husband's practical questions about the experience.
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