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Georgia lawmakers discussed the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin for serious mental health conditions at a hearing focused on military veterans last week.<\/p>\n
Experts and people with personal experience with psychedelic treatment testified before the House Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, sharing information about emerging research into the medical value of entheogenic substances and the long-term benefits they may have for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n
The panel approved a bipartisan resolution in March<\/a> that called for the formation of a House study committee to investigate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a> and make recommendations for reforms. But as Chairman Heath Clark (R) explained, there were more than a dozen study committee that were created during the last session, and the psychedelics proposal was set aside and not enacted.<\/p>\n The legislation, sponsored by House Appropriations Public Safety Subcommittee Chairman Bill Hitchens (R), might not have crossed the finish line this past session\u2014but Clark said \u201cthis is a discussion we need to have and make some recommendations for this body going forward in the next session to look at moving forward and potentially seeing some funds to get the study off the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark, who is retiring and not running for reelection this year, said at the beginning of last week\u2019s hearing that it was his \u201chonor, maybe my last act as chairman of this committee, to look at some innovative groundbreaking medical advances that are happening and ways to deliver some treatment and care to our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the first witnesses to testify was Boadie Dunlop, medical director for the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program and the co-author of an upcoming study on psilocybin-assisted therapy that is set to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n He said that the research he worked on is \u201ca groundbreaking piece of work because it\u2019s for the first time showing that these [psychedelic] agents that have been on what we call Schedule I\u2014so not for a medical use\u2014 actually can have power in the treatment of psychiatric disorders when delivered as part of a psychotherapy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ethan Whitfield, a 23-year Army veteran who suffered from PTSD, shared his personal story of finding successful treatment with psilocybin after exhausting traditional medical options. He said that the hearing<\/a> marked the one-year anniversary of his psilocybin treatment, and he\u2019s been sober ever since, even though he didn\u2019t go into the therapy with the intention of cutting out alcohol and other substances.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditional medicine, I do think, does have amazing breakthroughs and other benefits,\u201d he said. \u201cBut with that said, I think there should be a balance struck with looking at other modalities of treatment and therapies as well. This [psilocybin] therapy, for instance, has been used for thousands of years.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark said that, as a Christian, he feels that it\u2019s important to \u201credeem what God has created, to use it for good,\u201d even if some people may \u201chave abused this recreationally.\u201d The next legislative session in Georgia begins on January 9.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lawmakers on the panel discussed legislation enacted in Texas last year that requires the state to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n The day after the Georgia committee held its psychedelics hearing last week, lawmakers in Missouri met to discuss possible solutions to the military veterans\u2019 mental health and suicide crisis, with several people testifying about the possible therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a> for the at-risk population.<\/p>\n Missouri Rep. Tony Lovasco (R) introduced a psychedelics reform bill<\/a>\u00a0for the 2022 session. It\u00a0was addressed during a hearing<\/a>\u00a0in the House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee in March, but it did not advance.<\/p>\n According to a poll released in July, 54 percent of Americans said that they favor \u201callowing research into the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelic substances<\/a> for active-duty military members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).\u201d That includes 60 percent of Democrats, 45 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of independents.<\/p>\n An effort to legalize psychedelics possession for adults in California was abandoned last month after it was significantly watered down in an Assembly committee, with the sponsor Sen. Scott Wiener (D) pulling the bill because it was effectively reduced to a study proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Colorado voters will see a historic initiative to legalize psychedelics possession<\/a> and create psilocybin treatment centers in the state on the ballot this November.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a top federal health agency says it is actively \u201cexploring\u201d the possibility of creating a task force to investigate the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics<\/a> like psilocybin and MDMA in anticipation of federal approval of the substances for prescription use.<\/p>\n Minnesota Voters Should Decide On Marijuana Legalization At The Ballot, Republican Nominee For Governor Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Georgia Lawmakers Talk Next Steps For Psychedelics Research For Military Veterans At Committee Hearing<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Georgia lawmakers discussed the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin for serious mental health conditions at a hearing focused on military veterans last week. Experts and people with personal experience with psychedelic treatment testified before the House Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, sharing information about emerging research into the medicalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":56973,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56972"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56974,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56972\/revisions\/56974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Georgia Lawmakers Talk Next Steps For Psychedelics Research For Military Veterans At Committee Hearing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"