Congressional Committee Directs Pentagon To Issue Update...

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.*

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