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A GOP-controlled House committee has approved an amendment attached to a must-pass defense bill that would require a \u201cprogress report\u201d on an ongoing psychedelic therapy pilot program for active duty military service members and veterans.<\/p>\n
The amendment, led by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), passed as part of an en bloc package of proposed changes to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The previous 2024 NDAA \u201cdirected the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct a pilot program using MDMA to assist members of the armed forces and veterans still suffering from PTSD,\u201d the amendment to the bill report says, adding that members support DOD\u2019s funding of two psychedelics trials that are ongoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the committee understands that these MDMA-assisted therapies are still on going, increased oversight, awareness, and communication with the Department is needed to deliver the most innovative available means necessary to assist those suffering from PTSD,\u201d it says<\/a>.<\/p>\n The amended legislative report calls on the defense secretary to provide committees of jurisdiction with a report \u201cno later than February 1, 2026\u201d that covers \u201cthe progress, findings, shortfalls, and recommendations to continue and, if necessary, improve the current programs using MDMA to treat patients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2024 NDAA specifically required DOD to establish a process by which service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury could participate in clinical trials involving psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT.<\/p>\n DOD is empowered to partner with eligible federal or state government agencies, as well as academic institutions to carry out the clinical trials, with $10 million in funding.<\/p>\n Under the 2024 NDAA, the defense secretary was required to provide lawmakers with a report within one year of the enactment, and every subsequent year for three years, with information about trial findings and participation.<\/p>\n While Congress has been notably amenable to psychedelics research proposals in recent sessions, the House Rules Committee on Monday separately blocked a bipartisan amendment to a spending bill led by Luttrell that would have given DOD another $10 million to support clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of substances such as ibogaine and psilocybin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, bipartisan congressional lawmakers recently met with the head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to discuss pathways to provide access to psychedelic medicine<\/a> as an alternative treatment option for conditions such as PTSD.<\/p>\n After\u00a0requesting the meeting with VA Secretary Doug Collins<\/a>\u00a0in May, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)\u2014founding co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus\u2014said the three had a productive conversations about advancing psychedelics therapy for the veteran community.<\/p>\n Collins has stood out as a VA secretary who\u2019s especially passionate about exploring the potential of substances such as ibogaine and MDMA to provide relief from serious mental health conditions, coordinating with other officials including U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said recently that his aim is to\u00a0free up plant-based medicine options within 12 months<\/a>.<\/p>\n Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) separately said the psychedelic ibogaine represents an \u201castonishing breakthrough\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in the nation\u2019s current \u201csick care system\u201d that\u2019s left people with serious mental health conditions without access to promising alternative treatment options\u2014and he intends to use his influence to advance the issue.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a Navy SEAL veteran credited with killing Osama Bin Laden said during a Fox News interview last week that psychedelic therapy has helped him process the trauma he experienced during his time in the military,\u00a0stressing that \u201cit works\u201d and should be an available treatment option<\/a>.<\/p>\n That interview came days after the U.S. House of Representatives included an amendment to a spending bill from Correa and Bergman that would encourage VA to support research into the benefits of psychedelics in treating medical conditions<\/a>\u00a0commonly affecting military veterans.<\/p>\n Collins, for his part, also disclosed in April that he had an \u201ceye-opening\u201d talk with Kennedy\u00a0about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine<\/a>. And he said he\u2019s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.<\/p>\n Collins also\u00a0recently visited a facility conducting research on psychedelics<\/a>, and he reiterated that it\u2019s his \u201cpromise\u201d to advance research into the therapeutic potential of the substances\u2014even if that might take certain policy changes within the department and with congressional support.<\/p>\n The secretary\u2019s visit to the psychedelics research center came about a month after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who\u2019s become an advocate for psilocybin access to\u00a0discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community<\/a>.<\/p>\n Collins also\u00a0briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0in April.<\/p>\n Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually\u00a0to establish psychedelics-focused \u201ccenters for excellence\u201d at VA facilities<\/a>, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.<\/p>\n \u2014 Bergman has also\u00a0expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump<\/a>, arguing that the administration\u2019s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies \u201cspines\u201d to tackle such complex issues.<\/p>\n Kennedy, for his part, also said in April that\u00a0he had a \u201cwonderful experience\u201d with LSD at 15 years old<\/a>, which he took because he thought he\u2019d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.<\/p>\n Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized FDA under the prior administration over the agency\u2019s \u201csuppression of psychedelics\u201d and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a \u201cwar on public health\u201d that would end under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n In December, VA separately announced that it\u2019s providing $1.5 million in funding to\u00a0study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans<\/a>\u00a0with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).<\/p>\n Last year, VA\u2019s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced\u00a0\u201cstunning and robust results\u201d from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that it was \u201cvery encouraging\u201d that Trump\u2019s pick to have Kennedy lead HHS has supported psychedelics reform. And he\u00a0hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on<\/a>\u00a0for the next administration, but that didn\u2019t pan out.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Congressional Committee Directs Pentagon To Issue Update On Psychedelic Treatment For Military Service Members<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A GOP-controlled House committee has approved an amendment attached to a must-pass defense bill that would require a \u201cprogress report\u201d on an ongoing psychedelic therapy pilot program for active duty military service members and veterans. The amendment, led by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), passed as part of an en blocContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":82257,"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\/82256"}],"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=82256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82258,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82256\/revisions\/82258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Congressional Committee Directs Pentagon To Issue Update On Psychedelic Treatment For Military Service Members<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"