Psychedelic-assisted therapies at the Department of Veterans Affairs go back to the 1960s, but a political backlash at the time halted further research. Today, with psychedelics going mainstream to possibly treat a host of mental illnesses, the VA is leading studies into drugs such as MDMA or Ecstasy, and psilocybin to treat conditions that have been resistant to current therapies for many veterans, including PTSD. One study uses MDMA to explore the underlying roots of the distress caused by PTSD through traumatic memories. Another study looks at the potential of using psilocybin—the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms—as a therapy for methamphetamine addiction, which is a leading cause of overdose deaths among vets. Reliable treatment options for meth addiction are scarce and there is a high rate of relapse, which is why psilocybin is emerging as an experimental treatment for substance abuse. The VA's research into powerful psychedelic drugs is critical to establish their potential to treat certain mental conditions and to identify possible dangers in order to establish critical guidelines for clinical use— both in the VA and among the general population.
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Rosenthal Center for AddictIon Studies