Pthey can be a therapy for when there are no other therapies. And that is in the case of drug-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress, or so-called existential stress, as support for end-of-life support. Research on psychedelics moves in these worlds, marked by pain and suffering. In short, they are not drugs, they are not used to get high. If we are talking about it now it is because this research is at a turning point in our country. In fact, the first clinical trial on the use of psilocybin – the active substance of “magic mushrooms” – has just started. And, to celebrate and discuss this moment, the Coscioni Association organized an international conference. Scientists, psychiatrists, healthcare workers, jurists and patients from all over the world (as well as members of the Italian Medicines Agency and the European Medicines Agency) will discuss the topic. To try to accompany, culturally and politically, scientific research. The appointment is in Chieti, today and tomorrow.
Psychedelics as a cure: experimentation and conference in Chieti, Abruzzo
If the conference Psychedelics: scientific research, clinical reality, therapeutic uses and regulatory implications takes place in Chieti and why The history of psychedelic therapies in Italy is being written right in Abruzzo. The psilocybin study (authorized by the Italian Medicines Agency, Aifa) is in fact conducted in the Psychiatric Clinic of the Chieti hospital, directed by Giovanni Martinotti, with the contribution of the Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences of the “Gabriele d’Annunzio” University.
In Italy, legal instruments for this type of therapy already exist: the Ministerial Decree of 7 September 2017 on compassionate care and palliative care (law 38/2010) in fact allows early access to experimental treatments for patients without alternatives.
What are psychedelic therapies
But what exactly is it? We asked Marco Perduca, coordinator of the Luca Coscioni Association campaign on psychedelic therapies. «It means theaccompanying psychotherapeutic plans with the intake of these substances: under medical supervision and with dosages established on the basis of the desired effects”. The most promising studies, at an international level, explains Perduca, are up psilocybin, MDMA or DMT, but, for example in Switzerland, also on LSD.
Part of a psychotherapy: the setting
It’s not about taking “a pill” and off you go. The protocols include preparation, psychotherapeutic support and integration of the experience. Also the therapeutic setting – music, dedicated environment, presence of therapists – it is an integral part of the treatment, to accompany the non-ordinary state of consciousness that is created. This is also the case in the USA and the UK. And equally fundamental is that the therapy is carried out by people who know well how these molecules work. «This is an almost total innovation both in the relationship between the people involved and in the places of hiring», explains Perduca.
Who might take psychedelics, from depression to post-traumatic stress
Possible subjects? «There are studies and experiments on deep depression, anorexia nervosa, post-traumatic stressor. The PsyPal project funded by the EU Commission’s Horizon Europe also studies the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In Canada psilocybin is administered to terminally ill patients to manage near-death anxiety».
Speaking of post-traumatic stress, Perduca recalls – in 2019 – the meeting with a former marine returning from Iraq: «He spoke to us about his experience with MDMA in psychotherapy. Thanks to psychedelic therapy he was able to stop thinking about suicide and found the will to live again to dedicate himself to his former veteran colleagues. It was powerful, as well as moving.”
Research in the world and in Italy
But if access is already possible in several countries, in Europe and Italy the path is slower. «It happens, paradoxically, because here the research is public. But something is moving: last year Germany began its first experiment. And now Italy too. The laws are there: we need to start accompanying the studies, even culturally and politically». This phase is a fundamental step in a country, like ours, where there is still a very strong stigma even on cannabis for therapeutic purposes. “But science is a global enterprise, and the possibility of enjoying the applications of its progress must be equally global.”
The appeal of the Coscioni Association on psychedelic therapies
Regarding psychedelic therapies, the Coscioni Association launches an appeal to the governmentsigned by over 170 experts in medicine, research and psychotherapy. Calls for the inclusion of psychedelics among prescription therapies in palliative care and as compassionate care. A pilot project, in collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Defense, for a psycho-therapeutic plan to address post-traumatic stress disorders in military personnel employed in international missions. And a meeting with a delegation of experts who can share the latest research and clinical trials to support what is requested. The appeal has already collected 18,000 signatures.
For those who want to know more, the Luca Coscioni Association co-produces a podcast, Psychedelic Enlightenment.
In January 2026 the first Course in Psychedelic Assisted Therapies. The school is coordinated by the scientific director Enrico Greco, a researcher associated with the University of South Florida. And by the educational directors Sara Ballotti and Raffaello Caiano, psychotherapists with clinical experience in the field of psychedelic therapies.
