VA Will Fund Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy For First Time Since 1960s

The first-of-its-kind study will treat patients with pharmaceutical-grade MDMA in conjunction with their psychotherapy sessions.

By Patty Nieberg Task & Purpose

The Department of Veterans Affairs will fund a study on psychedelic-assisted therapy, including the use of MDMA, for veterans suffering from behavioral health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse, officials announced Tuesday morning.

The study will be the first time since the 1960s that the VA is funding research to explore the use of psychedelic therapy. In a release on the new study, the VA described MDMA as “a psychedelic compound believed to increase emotional openness, reduce fear, and promote introspection during therapy.”

MDMA is short for Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, which is also known as the party drug ecstasy. VA researchers affiliated with Brown University and Yale University will study how 40 randomly assigned veteran patients react to a pharmaceutical dose of MDMA and 40 others, also randomly assigned, react to an active low-dose MDMA placebo in a clinical setting, officials said.

The MDMA treatments will be administered in concert with traditional psychotherapy treatment. According to the VA, participants do not have to already be enrolled in psychotherapy and the study is limited to veterans with a dual diagnosis of PTSD and alcohol use disorder.

MDMA is currently listed as a Schedule I drug, which is classified by the federal government as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

Rethinking banned drugs

The announcement is the second time in two months that medical researchers have been given the OK to study a drug long banned under federal narcotics laws as a possible treatment for PTSD and other mental health conditions common among veterans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration greenlit a clinical study in November on the impacts of smoking marijuana for veterans with PTSD which veteran advocacy groups then saw as a step towards normalizing studies with drugs that are not currently legal. Naomi Mathis, assistant national legislative director for the Disabled American Veterans, told Task & Purpose in November that the VA’s hesitancy towards studies on Schedule I drugs comes from not wanting “veterans to be guinea pigs.”

In its announcement, the department highlighted that it was the first “VA-funded study for psychedelic-assisted therapy since the 1960s.”

One of the VA’s last studies on similar drugs was a short-lived study in 1963 in which researchers looked at LSD as a treatment for alcoholism at a veterans hospital in Topeka, Kansas.

Outside of VA funding, research involving former service members and psychedelics has continued. In June 2022, the New York Times reported on a study where veterans at VA hospitals were given MDMA and psilocybin to treat PTSD. Those clinical trials were funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the same organization that is funding the recently announced marijuana study.

The hesitancy to research these drugs with former U.S. service members comes after controversial studies that date back to the 20th century. The CIA-backed mind control program known as MK Ultra, which started in 1953 and ran into the 1960s, involved unknowingly dosing Americans with biological and chemical agents, like LSD, or acid.

Despite the federal government’s reservations in recent decades, there’s been a surge in psychedelic research and development happening in the private sector, said Rodger Pinto, policy and advocacy associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Pinto also told Task & Purpose that the VA’s hesitancy has been warranted.

“We’ve got to be cautious that veterans, while they’re leading the charge, don’t become used as a tool to expedite something financially,” he said.

The $1.5 million grant is expected to cover the study for at least five years with enrollment details still being hammered out. The study will take place at the Providence VA Medical Center in Rhode Island and the West Haven VA Medical Center in Connecticut.

“As with all VA studies, treatments will be conducted in a clinical setting with strict safety protocols and following all appropriate federal guidelines for conducting studies with controlled substances,” the department said in a release. “Participants will be closely monitored to ensure their well-being throughout the study.”

The funding is a part of the VA’s broader look at how MDMA and psilocybin can work in conjunction with psychotherapy to treat mental health issues like depression and PTSD in the veteran community. In January, the department put out a call for research proposals from VA researchers and academic institutions to “gather definitive scientific evidence on the potential efficacy and safety of psychedelic compounds.”

The trend hasn’t gone completely unnoticed by the federal government despite movements on legalization. Many states have pending legislation to decriminalize, legalize or allow for medical research with psychedelics, according to a tracker by Psychedelic Alpha, an independent newsletter that tracks psychedelic medicine. In November 2020, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy and decriminalize personal possession.

In 2023, the FDA released draft guidance on psychedelic drug clinical trials. A variety of federal agencies and even military branches have put out calls for academic and private research applications on psychedelics. The National Institutes of Health is looking at their impact on chronic pain in older adults and the Army is exploring use for PTSD or traumatic brain injuries. The Army’s research would be funded from $10 million set aside by Congress in the 2024 defense appropriation bill for Department of Defense-wide psychedelic medical, clinical trial studies.

VA officials still “strongly” discourage veterans from using psychedelics or other unprescribed substances to self-medicate and said that they should consult with their healthcare providers before making treatment decisions, according to the release.

UPDATE: 12/4/2024; This article has been updated information about the study’s parameters for 80 veteran participants and the requirements for participants to have dual diagnoses.

Find the original article at Task & Purpose.

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