Virginia Officials Highlight Potential Of Psychedelics In Treating Depression & PTSD

It seems that the therapeutic potential of psychedelics is becoming more generally accepted in Virginia, as activists are hoping to expand upon the state’s current psychedelic decriminalization ordinance.

State lawmakers Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) and Del. Dawn Adams (D) discussed the role of psychedelics in combating conditions such as treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and post-traumatic stress disorder during a virtual event organized by the reform group Decriminalize Nature Virginia, held on Thursday and reported by Marijuana Moment.

Psilocybin “offers unique and extraordinary paths to help people out of things like fear at the end of life and refractory depression and PTSD,” Adams said.

Hashmi stressed that “tremendous research...demonstrates that these particular plant-based medicines have the capacity to heal, to help and assist people in ways that other medicines often cannot do.”

The news follows a recent announcement that Virginia Tech researchers are making discoveries in the field of psychedelics to help people struggling with emotional injuries.

Chang Lu, professor of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech is helping researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University study the epigenomic effects of psychedelics on mice.

The team has said their findings will help understand how psychedelic substances like psilocybin, mescaline and LSD may alleviate symptoms of addiction, anxiety, depression and PTSD.

Research On Psychedelic Drugs Helping Veterans With PTSD

In the meantime, it appears that veterans are a step closer to benefiting from research into the use of psychedelics for PTSD treatment.

At the meeting before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee held in September,  Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) had asked for a status update on research.

Lisa Brenner, who serves as director of the VA's Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center for Suicide Prevention, said trials are underway and they are anticipating the results.

“Once we are able to see the results from those well-designed trials, then we will be able to begin to think about what would be next steps in terms of any modifications necessary or what next steps within VA would be, but along with you, we will continue to watch closely,” Brenner said.

Photo: Courtesy of Adrien Olichon from Pexels