A pair of lawmakers announced Thursday they are forming a bipartisan congressional caucus devoted to psychedelic therapy.
Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Lou Correa (D-CA) will co-chair the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Clinical Treatments Caucus (PACT) to explore clinical research into the efficiency of psychedelics in treating brain disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse disorder.
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The caucus will not advocate the legalization of psychedelics for recreational use or decriminalization.
“Having served our Nation as a member of the United States military and in Congress, I’ve seen the destruction post-traumatic stress disorder can cause on my fellow veterans and their families,” said Rep. Bergman. “Our job is to find solutions to these problems, and if psychedelic-assisted therapy can help treat or even fully cure someone of their PTSD, we need to take a closer look at these potential life-saving therapies.”
The caucus will seek more federal funding for the National Institutes of Health for clinical trials into psychedelic-assisted therapy, which refers to the supervised use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin or LSD, for therapeutic purposes.
The legislative group also aims to increase congressional and media awareness of “evidence-based psychedelic science and research” by holding briefings on the subject.
Studies at universities such as Johns Hopkins University and New York University have suggested that psychedelic therapies could have benefits for individuals with mental health conditions, though research in the field is limited overall.
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“Despite the initial promising results, so much more research is needed to determine efficacy and durability of these findings, to better understand the psychotherapy needed to support psychedelic journeys and to identify who can safely benefit,” said Rachel Yehuda, director for the Center for Psychotherapy and Trauma Research and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “But to date, it has been difficult for investigators to properly vet these treatments because conducting the trials with Schedule I compounds involve so many hurdles.”
The announcement comes a week after Colorado voted to decriminalize psychedelics, becoming the second state to do so after Oregon. Only a small number of cities have passed local measures decriminalizing some psychedelics, including Denver and Washington, D.C.
