Politics
Congressional Committee Directs Pentagon To Issue Update On Psychedelic Treatment For Military Service Members
A GOP-controlled House committee has approved an amendment attached to a must-pass defense bill that would require a “progress report” 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 bloc package of proposed changes to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
The previous 2024 NDAA “directed 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,” the amendment to the bill report says, adding that members support DOD’s funding of two psychedelics trials that are ongoing.
“While 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,” it says.
The amended legislative report calls on the defense secretary to provide committees of jurisdiction with a report “no later than February 1, 2026” that covers “the 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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 as an alternative treatment option for conditions such as PTSD.
After requesting the meeting with VA Secretary Doug Collins in May, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—founding co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said the three had a productive conversations about advancing psychedelics therapy for the veteran community.
Collins has stood out as a VA secretary who’s 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 free up plant-based medicine options within 12 months.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) separately 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 last 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.
Collins, for his part, 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.
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 courtesy of Dick Culbert.
