The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department has been urged by major VSOs (Veterans Service Organizations) to keep looking into psychedelic therapy and other alternative therapies, such as medical marijuana, if these treatments can be proved to be effective. One leading group told Congress that a major stumbling block to the exploration of these novel treatments is the classification of these substances under Schedule 1 of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
These views were expressed during a joint hearing of the Senate and House VA committees early this week. The legislators received testimony from various VSOs, and a leading concern across all the groups was the urgent need to support access and research into psychedelics and marijuana, especially with regard to Veterans Affairs.
Representative Jack Bergman, a Republican from Michigan who serves as the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Advancing Psychedelic Therapies, asked Daniel Contreras, the National Commander of DAV (Disabled American Veterans), how the Veterans Affairs Department should approach fostering psychedelic therapy research. Contreras responded that the VA needs to consider all alternatives. He also revealed that he had personal experience with psychedelics, given the helpful role they have played in his wife’s treatment regimen.
DAV’s director in charge of national legislative affairs added that their organization was interested in ensuring that there is ample research and that the VA Department can expedite the process of translating that research into useful treatments in the field on condition that those treatments have proven efficacy.
In his concluding remarks during their testimony, Bergman affirmed that it isn’t acceptable to discount something simply because that thing isn’t understood. Progress is made by understanding novel things, he added.
Prior to the actual Congressional hearing, DAV had submitted their testimony in writing. In that testimony, the VSO revealed that they supported legislative efforts to ask the VA to undertake research aimed at studying the efficacy of using psychedelics to treat mental health issues and TBIs (traumatic brain injuries). The group also supports federal research geared towards understanding how marijuana can help in treating veterans afflicted with conditions they sustained while on active duty.
Other groups, such as American Legion and Wounded Warrior Project also shared their views on marijuana and psychedelic research. They highlighted that some alternative therapies, such as MDMA, psilocybin and ibogaine were in various stages of clinical research and the VA had made funding available for some studies to be conducted on some of these alternative treatments.
The overall sentiment of these groups is that these studies and policy decisions need to be expedited so that members of the veteran community can have access to these options once their efficacy is ascertained.
These testimonies show that a lot of hope is pinned on the studies being conducted by various startups, such as Mind Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD) (NEO: MMED) (DE: MMQ), as well as the academia in efforts to document whether or not psychedelics and other alternative treatments have any efficacy in treating the health conditions that veterans grapple with.
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