Psychoactive compounds and how they are regulated

FoodLegal advises a growing number of pharma industry players in relation to formulations and marketing regulatory issues. In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has recently approved the use of the psychoactive compounds MDMA and psilocybin to treat treatment-resistant mental health conditions from 1 July 2023. This article explores the regulation of psychoactive compounds in the context of this approval and also in the context of various substances consumed by humans. Whilst the pharmaceutical and food industries exist with different regulatory frameworks in Australia, there are numerous areas where they interface and overlap or intersect and where choices must be made by brands and formulators.