Congress wants the Veterans Affairs Department to lead the way in psychedelics research. Included in the government funding law President Joe Biden signed on Saturday is an amendment directing the VA to spend $20 million on large-scale trials of emerging therapies, including talk therapy combined with MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms. The drugs can cause hallucinations and change users’ perceptions of reality. Long considered party drugs, researchers are examining their utility in treating mental illness. The backstory: The provision, authored by Reps. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) and Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), encourages the VA to use federal funding to study psychedelics as mental health treatments for veterans. The Food and Drug Administration has designated MDMA and psilocybin as breakthrough therapies, a label meant to speed their development. The news comes on the heels of the defense bill Congress passed late last year, which includes an amendment authorizing the Pentagon to study psychedelic treatments for service members. Correa traveled to Mexico last month to visit a clinic that provides psychedelic treatment to U.S. veterans to see how it works and whether it should be offered in America. Why it matters: Investing federal funding in psychedelics research is yet another indication that Congress is warming up to psychedelics as a potential treatment for mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, which disproportionately affects veterans, particularly those who have deployed to war zones. Both male and female veterans with PTSD are at a higher risk for suicide than veterans without the condition. About 5 percent of Americans have PTSD in any given year, according to the VA. What's next? Juliana Mercer, a Marine Corps veteran and director of veteran advocacy and public policy at the advocacy group Healing Breakthrough, called Congress’ decision “a significant first step towards meaningfully reducing the veteran suicide rate.” The group’s next focus is ensuring the VA has the resources to scale MDMA-assisted therapy, she told Erin in a statement. Zoom out: In February, the FDA accepted Lykos Therapeutics’ new drug application for talk therapy combined with MDMA and granted it priority review. That means the agency will review the application over six months, with a target date of Aug. 11 to decide whether to approve it.
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