The President Joe Biden signed an extensive defense bill which contains provisions to finance clinical trials on the therapeutic potentials of psychedelics by active duty military personnel.
The President signed into law the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act on Friday. This was about a week following the approval of the final agreement by Congress and its delivery to his desk.
The fact that the bicameral negotiations agreed to keep the psychedelics provisions that Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-TX championed in the House version during the summer was encouraging to advocates.
House negotiators, however, backed down on a separate provision to create a pilot medical cannabis program for veterans. The final bill also did not include a Senate-passed protection against people being denied security clearances because of past marijuana use.
The psychedelics law reform was passed, requiring that the Department of Defense (DOD), establish a procedure by which servicemen with post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries could take part in clinical trials involving psilocybin MDMA, ibogaine, and 5-MeO DMT.
The list of covered psychedelics has also been expanded to include “qualified alternative plant therapies”.
DOD must facilitate this process within 180 calendar days after the law’s enactment. The $10 million funding can be used to partner with federal or state agencies as well as with academic institutions in order to conduct clinical trials.
According to legislation enacted the defense secretary must provide legislators with a detailed report on the trial results and participants within a year after the law was passed, and then every year thereafter for three years.
Biden has not specifically addressed the psychedelics provision when he signed NDAA. He also hasn’t discussed the issue in general, even though it is gaining momentum in bipartisan groups.
The younger brother of the president said that earlier this year he had privately expressed an openness to psychedelic drugs.
This signing comes one year after Biden separately approved a marijuana research bill . It was a historical first.
The medical cannabis pilot program, which was originally attached to the House NDAA as part of an amendment by Rep. Nancy Mace(R-SC), was not included in the final conference agreement.
DOD was required to study the effects of marijuana on veterans and servicemen who are beneficiaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA participant had to have been diagnosed with PTSD or depression, or prescribed pain medication.
Before the floor was considered, the Armed Services Committee attached the psychedelics provisions and medical cannabis. Members then filed dozens more drug policy reforms amendments before the chamber passed its version of NDAA. The House Rules Committee , however, blocked most of the proposals from being considered on the floor .
In the meantime, the Senate had added language to its NDAA legislation that would have prohibited intelligence agencies such as CIA and NSA to deny security clearances solely based on applicants’ past marijuana use. This was part of a separate bill that had been amended by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, to include the cannabis protection.
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The conference report mentions that the Intelligence Authorization Act was included in NDAA. However, it is silent about the cannabis provision.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee, however, passed in September a bipartisan standalone bill that would prohibit the denial or refusal of federal employment and security clearances because a candidate has used marijuana.
Other cannabis Amendments to the Senate NDAA such as that proposed by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI, to allow veterans to use medical marijuana, were not approved.
Separately , the House approved psychedelics reforms by Luttrell (R-TX), and Rep. Dan Crenshaw(R-TX), that are similar in nature to the NDAA as part of the fiscal year 2024 funding legislation for DOD. It is yet to be determined if these provisions, which are largely identical, will be included in the final spending legislation.
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Photo by Dick Culbert.
The first time Marijuana moment published the post Biden signs Defense Bill Requiring Active Duty Military Members to Participate in Psychedelics Research.
