Brigit Toebes selected as chair of State Commission on MDMA

Brigit Toebes, Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen and scientific director of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, has been selected to act as the chair of the State Commission on MDMA. The Dutch Council of Ministers agreed to the proposal by Ernst Kuipers, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport.

Advice from State Commission

The State Commission will be asked to research the status of XTC (MDMA) in the context of public health and to provide advice on the advantages and disadvantages of using the drug for medicinal purposes. Their advice will include a multi-discipline analysis of the risks to health, prevention, and the European context and relevant agreements. The Commission strives to provide its advice on the status of MDMA to the Dutch Cabinet by 31 January 2024.

Collaboration

‘There are indications that MDMA could help patients. Trauma patients, for instance. The State Commission comprises a very broad base encompassing a wide range of expertise. As a legal professional, I have not yet researched psychedelics myself, and so I am very much looking forward to the collaboration and learning process’, says Brigit Toebes.

Alongside Toebes, the State Commission includes the following members:

• Prof. Wim van den Brink, emeritus Professor of Addiction and Psychiatry at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam (AMC)

• Prof. Eric Vermetten, Professor of Medical-Biological and Psychiatric Aspects of Psychotrauma at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)

• Drs. Femke Gresnigt, Emergency Department physician specialized in drug intoxication at the OLVG Amsterdam hospital

• Drs. Martha de Jonge, senior project leader of drug prevention at the Trimbos Institute and project leader of students and drug prevention

• Prof. Emile Kolthoff, Professor of Criminology at the Open University, previously lector of Subversion at Avans University of Applied Sciences

Full faith
Minister Kuipers: ‘It is a positive development that the status of MDMA in the context of public health and its medicinal use are being investigated. I am looking forward to receiving the State Commission’s advice. I have full faith the Cabinet and I will be provided with solid advice in this area.’