A bill introduced by bipartisan members of Congress would establish a federal grant program worth $75 million to support research on the therapeutic potential for psychedelics in certain medical conditions among active military personnel.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-TX, filed the legislation in last week. The legislation is called the “Douglas ‘Mike’ Day Psychedelic Treatment to Save Lives 2023 Act,” in honor of a former Navy Seal and Silver Star recipient, who died in march.
The measure has 11 cosponsors, and it has been referred by the House Armed Services Committee to the Defense Secretary to set up the grant program. It would fund phase two clinical trials into psilocybin ibogaine MDMA and 5-MeO DMT with an emphasis on exploring treatments for conditions such as post-traumatic disorder, traumatic head injury and chronic trauma encephalopathy.
The grants can also be used for “training practitioners to treat members of the Armed Forces on active duty with covered psychedelic drugs” in order to treat covered conditions.
From fiscal years 2024-2028, the Defense Department will allocate $15 million per year to support this grant program.
The grant is open to federal agencies, state agencies, educational institutions and non-profit organisations.
The bill states that clinical trials funded by grants can take place whether or not the substance is regulated under federal or military law.
The Defense Secretary would have to report to Congress every 180 days, within 180 days following the passage of the law. This report should include information on the clinics selected to receive the grants, as well as the number of military personnel who took part in the clinical trials.
Crenshaw is a veteran who has lost his eye in Afghanistan due to an IED blast in 2012. He has been an active voice on the psychedelic reform discussion in Congress.
The bill was filed about two months after he sent to the leaders of House Appropriations Subcommittee to urge them to instruct federal agencies to include active military servicemen in psychedelic research.
Other cosponsors include Reps. Lou Correa, Nancy Mace, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Matt Gaetz.
Henry Berkowitz (CFO of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, VETS), a retired Navy Seal and CFO at VETS, told Marijuana Moment that legislation to further research into psychedelic assisted therapy was critical for active duty service members and veterans.
He said that “we have seen real-world evidence that supports the promise of these treatments for hundreds of Veterans in our program. But more science is urgently needed.” “We are racing against an unrelenting and cruel clock, as 20 veterans die by suicide every day in the United States. Evidence suggests that this number could be twice as high.”
Crenshaw successfully inserted , an amendment, into the House passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act, last year. This would have allowed for the Secretary of Defense to approve grants for the research of the therapeutic potential for certain psychedelics, such as MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine, and 5-MeO DMT, for active duty members of the military with PTSD.
The measure was not included in the final package after bicameral conferences. The fact that the amendment was approved by the House represented a significant step forward, but a similar Crenshaw-sponsored amendment was prevented from being voted on in 2021 by the House Rules Committee.
The military was given a directive to investigate the potential for “plant-based therapy” such as cannabis and certain psychedelics to benefit service members.
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The National Institute on Drug Abuse has recently begun soliciting proposals to explore how psychedelics can be used to treat addiction to drugs . They plan to fund the studies with $1.5 million.
At a Senate Committee hearing earlier this week, NIDA Director Nora Volkow informed members that new evidence is emerging that psychedelics have “significant potential” to treat certain mental health disorders.
Last year, Sens. Brian Schatz, D-HI and Cory Booker, D-NJ urged top federal officials to give an update on studies into the therapeutic potentials of psychedelics. They argued that federal prohibition had stymied research.
NIDA’s response to the question was that the federal prohibition made it harder to study the benefits of psychedelics and required researchers to jump through extra regulatory hoops. Volkow said previously that she hesitates personally to study Schedule I drug due to these complications.
In 2021, the director told Marijuana Moment that researchers should prioritize psychedelics research because more people will use the substances as a result of studies showing their therapeutic potential.
In March, bipartisan members of Congress filed an updated version to streamline federal rescheduling for “breakthrough therapies such as psilocybin or MDMA to promote drug research and development.
Booker, Sen. Rand Paul, (R. KY) and Rep. Nancy Mace, (R. SC) led another bill last year, which was designed to clarify federal “Right to Try”, (RTT), laws that give seriously ill people access to Schedule I medications, such as marijuana and psychedelics, like psilocybin, and MDMA. The bill was not passed by the end the session.
The bipartisan psychedelics legislation introduced this session coincided roughly with a relaunch of a congressional group dedicated to promoting research on the therapeutic potentials of entheogenic drugs.
Below you will find the text of the new bill on psychedelics.
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Photo by Dick Culbert.
The article A Bipartisan Bill Funding Psychedelic Research for Military Service Members with $75 Million in Grants first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
