Three Things To Read This Week
This edition of Breakthrough Bulletin focuses on America’s veterans.
First, we’ll cover how “with Congress back from Thanksgiving recess, House and Senate lawmakers are set to begin formal conference negotiations on the fiscal 2024 Pentagon policy bill.”
Second, we spotlight the voices of three veterans who say psychedelic medicine saved their lives.
Last, we cover a new bipartisan bill in Wisconsin that would make it easier for veterans with PTSD to access psilocybin treatment.
1. “Momentum Builds For Psychedelic Therapies For Troops, Vets.”
That’s the headline from Roll Call’s Mark Satter who reports on the considerable “momentum building in Congress to explore a new path for servicemembers and veterans struggling with psychological illnesses: psychedelics.” Satter interviewed several Members of Congress and reported on the “small but significant shift among lawmakers’ attitudes toward therapeutic use” of psychedelics. Those attitude changes are driving a host of new psychedelic medicine-related proposals.
Here are the key proposals floating around Congress:
A psychedelic treatment study proposed by “Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Daniel Crenshaw, R-Texas, would direct the Defense Department to study the use of psychedelics in the treatment of PTSD and other related illnesses in active duty servicemembers.”
Expanding Ongoing Clinical Trials Into Psychedelics At The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “[Michigan Republican Rep. Jack Bergman, and California Democratic Rep. Lou Correa] successfully offered an amendment to the fiscal 2024 Military Construction-Veteran Affairs appropriations bill that pushed the VA to carry out ‘large-scale studies’ into drugs like psilocybin and MDMA.” The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs currently is running multiple clinical trials focused on psilocybin and MDMA treatments.
The First-Ever Oversight Hearing On Psychedelic Treatments For Veterans was held last month by the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health. Iowa Republican Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, chair of the subcommittee, called the ongoing clinical trials of psychedelic medicine as “‘ground-breaking,’ with other lawmakers agreeing,” 13NewsNow reported.
“Full approval for MDMA is widely expected in the coming months—and psilocybin may not be far behind,” according to Roll Call. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated the psychedelic medicine psilocybin as a “breakthrough” therapy for depression, as well as the psychedelic medicine MDMA for the treatment of PTSD.
2. Veterans Say Psychedelic Treatment Saved Their Lives.
For CBS News, Lisa Ling and Analisa Novak also reported on Herb Daniels, who felt a “profound darkness” after finishing his 14 years as an Army Green Beret:
“After he retired from the military, [Daniels] said he faced a profound darkness that started to consume him. ‘As I watched more of my teammates… more veterans start to take their own lives, I realized that that’s an option.’ He had a plan one night as he waited for his wife to come home from a trip out of town. ‘I was waiting for her to come through the door, and as soon as I heard it chime, I was gonna shoot myself… [but] the flight was late, thank God. And I kept drinking. So when she came home, she found me passed out in the bed, the gun on my lap that I hadn't used.’
After another suicide attempt, Daniels found out about a nonprofit organization [that] funds grants for veterans [to go on] retreats that use psychedelics for treatment. During his session, Daniels [said his] ‘heart was just opened, wide open, and there was laid bare so much pain, so much anger and as soon as I let it go, I became aware of my presence again, and I felt my body just relax…” Daniels said he felt transformation with the experience.”
For Disabled American Veterans, the century-old veterans support group, Matt Saintsing spotlights the story of Marine veteran Justin Carlisle, who found himself consumed by depression after he returned home from combat:
“The consuming grip of suicidal thoughts had become so dark that Marine veteran Justin Carlisle nearly took his life.
The Iraq War veteran was desperate to try something that could offer some relief from his wartime trauma and waning mental health…. Carlisle knew nothing about psychedelics then but was willing to give it a shot.
That experience … ‘flipped everything’ with his mental health. ‘I haven’t had any suicidal ideation since that point.’ In addition to shedding his suicidal thoughts, Carlisle said the experience launched him on a new path to becoming a licensed mental health counselor. In 2024, he plans to enroll in a Master of Science program in clinical mental health counseling…”
MSNBC’s Harry Smith recently reported on the story of Marine veteran Scott Ostrom, who served two tours in Iraq:
“‘We spent most of our time outside the wire walking around, driving around and getting shot at. When I first got back I thought it was par for the course to have nightmares and be sleepless.’ Ostrom described 12 years of hypervigilance, every waking hour on edge. ‘I was constantly thinking about what I would need to do and how to be ready, I was always armed.’ The VA prescribed antidepressants and opioids, with zero results, Ostrum said.
[But therapy in conjunction with MDMA] worked for Scott Ostrum. ‘All of those walls I built up just dissolved… MDMA gave me a new life, one that is more worth living and where I feel comfortable in my own skin.’ This was five years ago, and he’s been better for five years…”
Watch the entire segment here:
3. “Bipartisan Bill Would Make It Easier To Treat Veterans’ PTSD With [Psilocybin Treatment]”.
For Wisconsin Public Radio, Rich Kremer reports on a new bill introduced by “a bipartisan group of lawmakers that [aims] to make it easier for researchers to treat veterans with acute PTSD” with psilocybin. The bill, if passed, “would create a pilot-program” called the “medicinal psilocybin treatment program”, which would be housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and “administered by researchers at the university.” State Representative Clinton Anderson told the news station that the bipartisan support for the bill demonstrates that lawmakers are “serious, and we're not just throwing out a messaging bill.”
