{"id":56498,"date":"2022-08-11T05:04:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T13:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/08\/11\/gop-congressman-is-hopeful-his-psychedelic-research-amendment-can-pass-the-senate\/"},"modified":"2022-08-11T08:45:45","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T16:45:45","slug":"gop-congressman-is-hopeful-his-psychedelic-research-amendment-can-pass-the-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/08\/11\/gop-congressman-is-hopeful-his-psychedelic-research-amendment-can-pass-the-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Congressman Is \u2018Hopeful\u2019 His Psychedelic Research Amendment Can Pass The Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Last week, a Republican congressman appeared on a Fox News podcast to express cautious optimism that the Senate will green-light his House-passed amendment<\/span> to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which, if enacted, would allow the secretary of defense to approve grants for research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for active duty military members<\/a> with PTSD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am hopeful. I am not sure there\u2019s serious opposition. I think there\u2019s a lack of education on this,\u201d Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a military veteran himself, said on the Kennedy Saves the World podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the interview, the congressman also discussed the random encounters that inspired him to first look into psychedelics, evidence that the substances can alleviate PTSD symptoms and the differences between his own amendment and similar measures put forward by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL).<\/p>\n

Crenshaw noted that he hopes that \u201cat least\u201d one of the amendments will make it through the Senate version of the NDAA \u201cand we can make this law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to Crenshaw discuss his psychedelics amendment below:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Crenshaw recounted a series of serendipitous conversations that compelled him to research and take action on the issue.<\/p>\n

One evening roughly a year ago, the congressman had dinner with a veteran friend who told him about his positive experiences with ibogaine. Later that same night, he ran into Jonathan Lubecky, the Veterans & Governmental Affairs Liaison for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), in the elevator of his apartment building.<\/p>\n

Lubecky told him about his own previous suicide attempts and how psychedelics improved his mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, how is it that I am getting the story from two different people that don\u2019t know each other? In the same night? I just thought it was strange,\u201d Crenshaw\u2014who says he has not tried psychedelics himself\u2014recalled.<\/p>\n

In the podcast interview<\/a>, Crenshaw referenced a Department Veteran Affairs study showing that MDMA had transformative effects on veterans with PTSD<\/span>. \u201dIt\u2019s really incredible. So the data is really showing up here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He additionally mentioned the growing number of military veterans who have undergone ibogaine treatment in Mexico<\/span>, with extremely positive results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not enjoyable experiences, they are therapies,\u201d he pointed out, pushing back on any notion that his effort is about recreational drug use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe changes within [veterans] were just so obvious and dramatic that you couldn\u2019t ignore something like this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n

Former Navy SEAL & congressman @RepDanCrenshaw<\/a> (R-TX) joins @KennedyNation<\/a> on the #KSTW<\/a> podcast to discuss some of the cutting-edge treatment options for former members of the military who suffer from PTSD, including the use of psychedelics: https:\/\/t.co\/qjGnLKkqDp<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wBCBgRnA0f<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FOX News Radio (@foxnewsradio) August 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Crenshaw filed a similar amendment<\/a> for last year\u2019s version of NDAA, but the House Rules Committee did not allow it to advance to a floor vote.<\/p>\n

The two-term lawmaker has otherwise consistently voted against marijuana and drug policy reform<\/span><\/a> measures in Congress, including two prior Ocasio-Cortez amendments that were aimed at removing barriers to research on the benefits of psychedelics<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

His home state of Texas recently enacted a law to require officials to study the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crenshaw follows in the footsteps of another high-profile Texas Republican who has recently advocated for veterans\u2019 access to psychedelics. Former governor and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has became a vocal proponent<\/span><\/a> on the issue.<\/p>\n

In the podcast interview, Crenshaw acknowledged that both Ocasio-Cortez and Gaetz have introduced similar psychedelics amendments<\/a> to his own. What <\/span>distinguishes Crenshaw\u2019s amendment from AOC\u2019s, which was also approved by the House last month? It covers more drugs, the congressman said. \u201cI think AOC\u2019s was simply psilocybin and MDMA. I added Ibogaine and DMT to that,\u201d Crenshaw noted.<\/p>\n

With respect to his colleague on the other side of the aisle, Crenshaw admitted that any communications and coordination on the two similar proposals occurred via staff members.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our base doesn\u2019t want to see us work together,\u201d he said. \u201cI hate that. It\u2019s stupid that that\u2019s the case, but it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

SXSW Opens Voting On Nearly 100 Marijuana And Psychedelics Panels For 2023 Festival<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo courtesy of YouTube\/Joe Rogan Experience<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post GOP Congressman Is \u2018Hopeful\u2019 His Psychedelic Research Amendment Can Pass The Senate<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: GOP Congressman Is \u2018Hopeful\u2019 His Psychedelic Research Amendment Can Pass The Senate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, a Republican congressman appeared on a Fox News podcast to express cautious optimism that the Senate will green-light his House-passed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which, if enacted, would allow the secretary of defense to approve grants for research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelicsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56499,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56498\/revisions\/56499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}