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A top official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says there\u2019s an \u201cunstoppable narrative\u201d in support of advancing psychedelic medicine, with a combination of compelling personal stories of recovery and robust clinical data from studies he\u2019s hoping to expand upon. He also said bipartisan acceptance of psychedelics has \u201csurpassed\u201d that of marijuana in Congress.<\/p>\n
At a psychedelics conference organized by Horizons on Friday, VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal also discussed his efforts to position the department to provide psychedelics-assisted therapy \u201cthe moment it\u2019s approved\u201d by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adding that he\u2019s anticipating \u201coverwhelming demand\u201d from veterans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need to do for our scientific community, especially within the VA, is prove the case further,\u201d he said, pointing out that the department is actively supporting trials into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and MDMA. \u201cWe want to expand that further and prove the case for veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elnahal also acknowledged that some scientists feel the treatment option should be made more immediately available, and so VA has taken into account the \u201cethics of not<\/em> doing this and how that might be an ethically problematic scenario\u201d given the promise these substances have already been found to have in treating conditions commonly affecting military veterans.<\/p>\n He said that while he doesn\u2019t have any insight into the timing of FDA\u2019s ongoing review into MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)<\/a>, he expects it could come later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if it does happen, we have to be prepared,\u201d especially given the \u201coverwhelming demand that I predict we will get from the veteran community,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthere will be a proliferation of very unique and specific providers\u201d for psychedelic medicine.<\/p>\n One thing that Elnahal said \u201csurprised\u201d him as VA started working on the issue was the \u201cstrong bipartisan support\u201d it enjoyed in Congress, pointing to the leadership of certain conservative members such as Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) as an example.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want us to do this type of work, and they\u2019ve been trying to be proactive to pass even more legislation to enable this,\u201d he said. \u201cThe good news is, at baseline, the [Drug Enforcement Administration] has a much easier waiver process to be able to do studies on psychedelics than, for example, cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCannabis has been advocated for more aggressively by the veteran community for some time, but I think psychedelic substances surpassed that in terms of acceptance and bipartisan support,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we need to make sure that that is continued. That\u2019s not a guarantee.\u201d<\/p>\n The psychedelics conference took place about two weeks after the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee passed a bill to require VA to notify Congress if any psychedelics are added to its formulary<\/a> of covered prescription drugs.<\/p>\n President Joe Biden also signed into law a bipartisan measure to provide funding to the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics for active duty military members<\/a>. That was enacted under the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).<\/p>\n \u2014 In March, congressional appropriations leaders also unveiled a spending package that\u00a0contains language providing $10 million to facilitate the psychedelics studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in January, VA separately issued a request for applications to conduct in-depth research on\u00a0the use of psychedelics to treat PTSD and depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n During joint U.S. House and Senate committee meetings in March, VSOs also pressed members of Congress to more urgently\u00a0pursue the potential benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy and medical marijuana<\/a>.<\/p>\n The requests from groups like the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Disabled American Veterans and the Wounded Warrior Project came on the heels of organizations at last year\u2019s set of annual VSO hearings\u00a0criticizing VA for \u201cdragging their feet\u201d on medical marijuana research<\/a>.<\/p>\n In October, VA separately launched a new podcast about the future of veteran health care, and\u00a0the first episode of the series focuses on the healing potential of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n FDA officials also recently joined scientists at a public meeting on\u00a0next steps for conducting research to develop psychedelic medicines<\/a>.<\/p>\n DEA Judge Postpones Hearing On Proposed Psychedelics Ban Amid Constitutional Challenge To Scheduling Process<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top VA Official Says Psychedelics Have \u201cSurpassed\u201d Marijuana In Bipartisan Acceptance In Congress<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A top official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says there\u2019s an \u201cunstoppable narrative\u201d in support of advancing psychedelic medicine, with a combination of compelling personal stories of recovery and robust clinical data from studies he\u2019s hoping to expand upon. He also said bipartisan acceptance of psychedelics hasContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":75239,"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\/75238"}],"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=75238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75240,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75238\/revisions\/75240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top VA Official Says Psychedelics Have \u201cSurpassed\u201d Marijuana In Bipartisan Acceptance In Congress<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"