Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have introduced a bill to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.
The legislation from Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—is titled the “Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act.”
It would require VA to designate at least five of its medical facilities as centers for excellence that would be charged with researching the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance misuse.
“Today marks a monumental step forward in our fight for our Veterans who return home with invisible wounds,” Correa said in a press release on Friday. “We’ve spent years pushing the VA to explore breakthrough treatments like psychedelic-assisted therapies because too many of our men and women in uniform return home different than how they left.”
“Now that the VA has heeded our call to make funding available to study these treatments, it’s past time they build dedicated centers to study the therapeutic uses of psychedelic substances that our Veterans have been asking for,” he said. “Veterans deserve real solutions, not more of the same.”
The bill lists several psychedelics that the lawmakers want to see explored: MDMA, DMT, ibogaine, ketamine and psilocybin. The VA under secretary could expand that list, and they could also add medical conditions that could be studied.
“It is time for Congress and the VA to take real action in support of our Veterans suffering from the invisible wounds of war,” Bergman said. “Establishing VA centers of excellence to research psychedelic therapies will build on the years of work by myself, my friend Rep. Correa, and other Members advancing these promising solutions to our mental health epidemic. I’m proud to help introduce this critical piece of legislation.”
In addition to Correa and Bergman, the bill is being cosponsored by Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Morgan Luttrell (R-TX).
“This legislation will directly benefit our veterans by enhancing their access to innovative healthcare,” Luttrell told Marijuana Moment on Friday. “By designating these centers, we’re making sure they have access to the latest cutting-edge treatments and therapies that can make a real difference in their lives.”
“Whether it’s mental health support or physical rehabilitation, these centers will lead the way in innovation, ensuring our veterans get the groundbreaking care they need,” he said. “Our VA system must fully support those who’ve served, and this is a big step in that direction.”
There are a number of factors that VA would need to take into account as it selected the facilities that would host the centers of excellence, including regional distribution, partnerships with accredited medical schools, ability to recruit scientists “capable of ingenuity and creativity in medical research efforts,” data collection capabilities and more.
The legislation would provide for $30 million in appropriations for VA annually to carry out the research.
VA would need to submit a report with findings and recommendations to veterans-focused congressional committees within two years of enactment and each subsequent year. Among other things, the report would need to detail activities being carried out at the centers, key findings from the research projects and recommendations on ways to “improve the delivery of innovative therapies to veterans.”
“This is a watershed moment for both psychedelic policy and veteran care,” Melissa Lavasani, founder and CEO of the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition (PMC), said in a press release. “The data is clear: these therapies work. Veterans deserve access to safe, evidence-based treatments that address the root causes of their suffering—and this legislation delivers just that.”
Amy Rising, a veteran advocate, said veterans “are in a war of attrition,” and “the weight of the invisible burden can sometimes feel unbearable.”
“The mental health challenges that we face, including the devastating reality of suicide and accidental deaths, are an ongoing battle,” Rising said. “Innovative therapies present a lifeline to healing pathways, offering a reason for hope and new possibilities for those veterans we have lost.”
While it’s uncertain if or when the bill might advance, it represents a continuation of a unique theme in Congress over recent years, with bipartisan lawmakers increasingly finding common ground on psychedelics research and therapy.
Potentially bolstering the bill’s prospect, the new VA secretary under the Trump administration appears proactively engaged in the push for psychedelics research. And he recently disclosed that he’s had an “eye-opening” conversation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), about the issue.
VA Secretary Doug Collins, a former Republican congressman, also said that he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.
“After public pressure from veterans’ organizations, and conversations with Secretary Kennedy, Secretary Collins is under a mandate to provide access to innovative therapies,” Rising told Marijuana Moment. “Secretary Collins knows we need swift action, and we expect Congress to move accordingly.”
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Meanwhile, Bergman recently expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.
Luttrell last month cheered news that the Department of Defense (DOD) has separately allocated nearly $10 million in funding for research into the therapeutic potential of MDMA for active-duty military members.
Read the text of the Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act below:
Another Hawaii House Panel Approves Bill To Support Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Research
Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.
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