President Biden Approves Psychedelics Clinical Trials For Active Military Members

President Biden officially signed into law the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), large-scale legislation that also contains a mandate to fund clinical trials with psychedelics for active service members.

Biden’s decision was announced on Friday, Dec. 22, a little over a week after receiving the bill’s final version that was designed and approved in a bicameral move in Congress.

Following the approved psychedelics provision, the Department of Defense (DoD) must create, within 180 days of the enactment, a process for service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) to participate in clinical trials with psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine or 5-MeO-DMT.

With $10 million in funds, the DoD is enabled to partner with eligible federal or state agencies and academic institutions to perform the clinical studies.

Meanwhile, the defense secretary will provide lawmakers with a yearly report (four in total following the legislation’s enactment) on findings and participation in the trials.

See Also: State-Regulated Psychedelics 'On A Collision Course' With FDA, Says Harvard Law Expert

Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), the provision’s sponsor and a military veteran, is one of several congress members who has consistently worked on advancing psychedelics reform in recent years along with Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR,) to name a few.

See Also: Psychedelics Legalization & 2024 Election: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Confirms Support In New Interview

According to Marijuana Moment’s Kyle Jaeger, President Biden “didn’t specifically weigh in on the psychedelics provisions when he signed the NDAA, nor has he generally discussed the issue even as it has gained momentum in bipartisan circles.”

However, Frank Biden, the president's younger brother, recently said that in private conversations the president has expressed openness to psychedelic medicines.

The new approval follows the momentous passing of a marijuana research bill in December 2022.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Anne Mathiasz and AlenKadr on Shutterstock and Adam Schultz on Wikimedia Commons.