Bipartisan and bicameral congressional lawmakers have reached an agreement on a large-scale defense bill that contains a House GOP-led section to fund studies into the therapeutic use of psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA for military service members.
Following negotiations, lawmakers released the conference report for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday evening, maintaining psychedelics research provisions championed by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) that were attached to the House version over the summer. The report notes, however, that the House negotiators receded on a separate section to create a medical cannabis pilot program for veterans.
The psychedelics provisions that have been adopted would require the Department of Defense (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. The list of covered psychedelics was also expanded to broadly include “qualified plant-based alternative therapies.”
DOD would need to facilitate that process within 180 days of enactment. It could partner with eligible federal or state government agencies, as well as academic institutions to carry out the clinical trials, with $10 million in funding.
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