Cannabis can be used as a psychedelic in therapy, but it's not for everyone, some mental health providers say

Some Canadians who suffer from mental illness are turning to psychedelic therapy that utilizes cannabis instead of better-known psychedelics such as psilocybin.

In psychedelic therapy — an emerging field, no matter the substance — patients use drugs that alter their consciousness, under supervision of a trained therapist, to try to help with hard-to-treat conditions.

Under the right conditions, cannabis can be a useful tool in therapy, says Vancouver registered psychologist Hillary McBride, including that it is easier to access than some psychedelics. 

Not only is cannabis legal in Canada for people 19 and over, but there is familiarity with prescribing it, she says, "which means that people can go to their doctor … and talk about drug interactions and talk about health risks."

In contrast, to access psilocybin or MDMA for psychedelic therapy, a health care professional must apply to Health Canada's Special Access Program (SAP) on behalf of the patient. 

McBride hosts the CBC podcast Other People's Problems, which takes listeners into therapy sessions with her clients. The show's new season focusses exclusively on psychedelic psychotherapy sessions, the majority using cannabis. 

"The hope is that in letting people hear a little bit about what this sounds like, that we're … creating some demystification around this process," said McBride, who holds a PhD in counselling psychology. 

But therapists and researchers warn this approach is not suitable — or safe — for everyone, and research is still in its infancy.

While humans have grown and used cannabis for thousands of years, medical research into its uses is much newer.

Compared to other psychedelics used in therapy, there's much less research on the psychedelic effects of cannabis, let alone its use in psychotherapy, says Dr. David Wolinksy, an addiction psychiatrist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

But he says cannabis's psychedelic effects as reported in the literature show enough potential promise to merit further research.

Wolinsky is the lead author of a literature review on the psychedelic effects of cannabis published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in January 2024. 

With cannabis as well as other psychedelics — in the right therapeutic setting, with a properly trained mental health provider — McBride says she and others are seeing good outcomes for treatment-resistant cases, particularly of trauma, depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

She says cannabis may act on the brain and body in a way that makes it easier to access some of the feelings and sensations key to working through difficult stuff in therapy.