Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have teamed up on another psychedelics amendment to appropriations legislation—this time seeking to give the Department of Defense (DOD) another $10 million to support clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of substances such as ibogaine and psilocybin.
Under spending legislation that was enacted last session, DOD is already mandated to conduct the trials, with $10 million in funding, to investigate the medical value of psychedelics for active duty military members.
Now a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers are seeking to provide additional support to widen the scope of the department’s research as it moves to fulfill its mandate.
Led by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), a Navy SEAL veteran himself who has been candid about his own experience benefitting from ibogaine and 5‐MeO‐DMT, the amendment would transfer the $10 million to “enable DoD Wide psychedelic medical clinical trails for the Defense Health Program research, development, test and evaluation.”
A spokesperson for Luttrell told Marijuana Moment on Friday that, if the amendment is adopted, the designated funding “would be placed in the Defense Health Program Research and Development line” at DOD.
Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Nancy Mace (R-NC)—as well as Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Lou Correa (D-CA), who serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus.
The House Rules Committee will determine if the amendment should be made in order for floor consideration during a hearing on Monday.
This proposal comes as bipartisan lawmakers and stakeholders continue to see advances in the debate over psychedelics medicine.
For example, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) recently said the psychedelic ibogaine represents an “astonishing breakthrough” in the nation’s current “sick care system” that’s left people with serious mental health conditions without access to promising alternative treatment options—and he intends to use his influence to advance the issue.
Meanwhile, a Navy SEAL veteran credited with killing Osama Bin Laden said during a Fox News interview this week that psychedelic therapy has helped him process the trauma he experienced during his time in the military, stressing that “it works” and should be an available treatment option.
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 commonly affecting military veterans.
Last month, meanwhile, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his agency is “absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of FDA, is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans “within 12 months.”
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with Kennedy about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And he said he’s 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.
Collins also recently visited a facility conducting research on psychedelics, and he reiterated that it’s his “promise” to advance research into the therapeutic potential of the substances—even if that might take certain policy changes within the department and with congressional support.
The secretary’s visit to the psychedelics research center came about a month after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.
Collins also briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump in April.
Meanwhile last month, bipartisan congressional lawmakers asked the VA head to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine for military veterans.
In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”
Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.
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Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.
Kennedy, for his part, also said in April that he had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at 15 years old, which he took because he thought he’d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.
Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized FDA under the prior administration over the agency’s “suppression of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.
In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Last year, VA’s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.
In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that it was “very encouraging” that Trump’s pick to have Kennedy lead HHS has supported psychedelics reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.
Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.
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