Sen. Forrest Dunbar said FDA approval of ecstasy drug was ‘imminent,’ but agency experts studying it voted overwhelmingly against approval

By
Suzanne Downing
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41

Sen. Forrest Dunbar may be convinced that psychedelics like MDMA (“Molly” or “ecstasy”) should be mainstreamed for psychiatric uses in Alaska, but a panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration is not so sure.

The FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted against approving the drug for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder.

The vote, 10-1, showed that the experts feel that the drug made by Lykos Therapeutics is not safe, and its possible benefits don’t outweigh its risks. On a vote of 9-2, the committee also said that MDMA is not effective for treating PTSD, according to the research.

The committee’s recommendation means that the FDA probably won’t approve the use of the drug, which was to be used in combination with “talk therapy.” A decision on the Lykos Therapeutics application is expected this summer.

“I’m not convinced at all that this drug is effective based on the data I saw,” commented Rajesh Narendran, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh who is the committee’s chairman.

Democrat Dunbar, of Anchorage, and Democrat Rep. Jennie Armstrong, also of Anchorage, filed legislation this year to set up a psychedelic medicine task force in anticipation of the drug being approved.

Dunbar told the Legislature in his sponsor statement that approval of MDMA was imminent and that research shows it is effective:

“The FDA is currently reviewing MDMA for treatment of PTSD, with approval expected by the end of this year. Additionally, advanced trials show that psilocybin and ibogaine are effective at treating PTSD, depression, anxiety, and TBI symptoms. Passing SB 166 is vital for Alaska to leverage these treatments in addressing mental health challenges. The task force represents a step towards pioneering mental health solutions. I urge your support for SB 166 to ensure that Alaska will be ready for the FDA’s imminent approval of psychedelic medicine,” Dunbar said in his sponsor statement.

Rep. Jamie Allard wrote on her Facebook page: “I voted NO on HB 228, Representative Armstrong and Senator Dunbars Psychedelic Drug Task Force Bill. I believe there are better ways to help our service men and women instead of us continuing to push for drug addiction or be used as guinea pigs. I will be requesting the Governor Mike Dunleavy VETO HB 228 setting up a task force, that’s clearly a waste of funds. We can and must do better in helping and supporting our fellow veterans. Seeing all the research prove that more drugs isn’t always the answer. I believe this bill was to use military members as a platform to legalize psychedelic drugs, in the state of Alaska and said so in my floor speech.”

41 COMMENTS

    • He attended American University in DC, then Harvard and finally Yale University Law School. (Hunter Biden and the Clintons also graduated from Yale Law School). Accordingly, he is among those now entitled and anointed to rule over us lesser humans.

      • Unless your name is Joe Miller. West Point graduate. Yale Law School graduate. Judge. US Senate candidate in 2010 who beat Lisa Murkowski in the Republican Primary election. I actually liked conservative Joe Miller. But we had to keep him from breaking up the Murkowski legacy. We made history. Sorry Joe. And Lisa almost made history all on her own by failing the Bar Exam four times.

        • And, Captain Joe Miller served as a US Army tank commander in Gulf War 1. Compared to the stature of Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski looks like the little whiney brat that her dad protected more than any of his other children. Frank, you really f’d this child up.

          • Frank Murkowski doesn’t care. That selfish old man is only worried about his pension first, and his family last name second. And he’s still dumber than a shovel full of manure.

    • Muldoon area is where Forrest got his support which by the way is where Lafrance garnered a majority of her support also from the high density residents who rely on public assistance. A drive through neighborhoods right before elections is very telling.
      Zack Fields had nearly every single house on blocks in the downtown neighborhood between 9th and valley of the moon park.(picket fences and a Prius in every driveway)

  4. Does Senator Dunbar have any personal experience with the identified drugs? It might explain his misperceptions about imminent FDA approval. Asking for a friend.

  5. Ecstacy is the drug of choice for homosexual men seeking heightened eroticism. So, now we know.

  7. Psychedelic medicine? Now, just what is that, what will be real and what won’t? I always had the thought that the reason to take drugs was to escape the reality. And now ya take it to get with reality? Let’s see where that goes. And Dumbar thinks this is going to fix society? Just like Oregon fixing drug abuse by making it all legal.

  9. There is something going on in his head that makes him see hear and interpret words different than normal people.
    He also swears the constitution is “shot full of racism”

    Evidently our nations founders were not the “educated” scholar Gump is….Or possibly his misuse of the drugs in question make him want to normalize them.
    Armstrong came from the same batch of cookies…She resembles Jenny in many ways.

  10. Does that mean that Comrade Dunbar will fight for Alaska Army Guard members to use ecstasy? He is a JAG officer so anything he is promoting as a civilian should carry over to the Guard.

    • The number of residents in his district receiving public assistance has a lot to do with his high level of support.
      That is why Joe and the Democrats try so hard to cater to the poorly educated and public assisted black population.
      Remember folks “if you aint voting for me you aint black”

  12. He may be an idiot, but he’s right. MDMA HAS been shown to be very often effective for treating PTSD. I did EMDR & it helped, but you’re supposed to do them together. Do you know what it’s like to try to navigate every day when triggers are everywhere & your trauma seems worse than the day it first happened?

    • I agree with you there……but PTSD has become a “common” diagnose by doctors to everything now……..kids/adults from divorce, car accidents, dog bites, school bullying, and more! It may get out of hand with overprescribing, like Vicodin.

  14. Wonder if he was stoned on X when he came to that conclusion.

    Many decades ago I had brilliant ideas 1/2 way through a bottle of tequila. Most didn’t pan out come morning.

    • Millions of people in major blue Democrat cities are proving you wrong about solutions found in a bottle of alcohol.
      The majority wake up mid day on the sidewalk bathing in vomit and massively hungover and someone comes along and offers them a free breakfast and leads them to a nice sheltered area with a huge list of free items from phones to debit cards and when cold weather hits they get free complimentary hotel rooms.

      You just have to find the “right” city to indulge…

  15. Dropping Acid is not addictive, and Acid is cheap to make, this of course explains big pharma’s resistance to its acceptance.
    As always when speaking about the Wolves in Lab Coats, one must ” follow the $!”.

  16. One of the things psychedelics are supposed to do is address depression and related mental problems. Big Phama makes a huge amount of $$$ selling drugs to help control those things. They captured the regulatory agency (FDA). There is no way the FDA will ever approve psychedelics. Too much $$$ in play.

    We saw the same thing play out during the 4 years of the Zombie Apocalypse when the FDA / NIH systematically trashed every single off schedule drug (ivermectin / hydroxychloroquine / monoclonal antibodies) / alternative treatment (vitamin D) in favor of the jab / remdesivir and ventilators. A LOT of $$$ to be made on those three. Not so much on the others, as their patents all expired.

    Follow the $$$. Always follow the $$$. Cheers –

    • It takes critical thinking to follow your train of thought.
      It is sad legislators dont have that ability.

  17. So we’re trusting the Feds on this one (because we hate Forrest Dunbar) but didn’t trust them on COVID vaccines.

    Look at the whole war on drugs, especially with regard to cannabis. Alcohol is OK, but weed has been outlawed for almost a century by the feds. I wonder if psychedelics are any different – some may be ok, others not. Real science is needed here.

    And what right does the federal government have to tell an individual what they can/can’t put in their bodies/

    Principles and critical thinking – they’re your friend.

    In case you care – I treat everything the government says with a grain of salt, and look for basic facts and logic. It’s “small l” libertarianism.

    • The number of people who support or demonize certain drugs for political purposes is eye opening, science be damned…as long as it serves the political purpose.

    • It is possible to do both at the same time: despise both Forrest and the feds. In the end, you get better results by simply following the $$$, which both Forrest and the feds are chasing. Cheers –

  19. If you understood how gay men “make love” you would understand why drugs are so important to complete the “act”. These are very, very sick people. They are owned by satan. We must pray to Jesus to save them.

  21. Have they got nothing better to do with their time.?? Anchorage is literally falling down and these people are worried about legalizing more harmful drugs. The insane are running the asylum.

  22. It will be interesting to see how Dunbar descends from his misguided cloud. A multiple year plane crash happening in very slow motion.

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