This week, a Senate-passed bill to create a state fund to provide psychedelics to military veterans was taken up by a Maryland House of Delegates. The goal of the fund is to provide “cost-free” access to substances such as psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury, Marijuana Moment reported.
The bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Sarah Elfreth (D), was unanimously passed by the Senate and considered in the House Appropriations Committee.
Just some days prior, the state's House of Delegates passed two bills that would put marijuana legalization on the November ballot.
The objective of the proposal is to establish the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury Alternative Therapies Fund. Originally, the legislation did not include traumatic brain injuries in its text.
Elfreth opened her speech to the delegates by stating: “I feel very strongly that this bill has the potential to save lives. Unfortunately, an average of 22 veterans a day in this country commit suicide. We have a lot more work ahead of us to provide adequate mental health support to those veterans and our heroes returning to this country.”
She then pointed to ongoing trials by Maryland’s Johns Hopkins University, and other institutions, which could establish the benefits of psychedelics-based therapies. “We heard testimony in the Senate from a world-leading scientist doing these trials with the very positive results that they’re seeing,” added Elfreth.
The legislation stipulates that the funds must be directed to study “the use of alternative therapies for veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries,” with the idea of providing “cost-free access” to psychedelics for veterans.
Moreover, it would be required for the state Department of Health to periodically consult with the VA, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, Sheppard Pratt Hospital, and Walter Reed Medical Center, with the purpose of determining the “effectiveness of and a method for improving access to alternative therapies for treating” PTSD and traumatic brain injury in veterans. The partnerships would also help find the “appropriate uses of the fund that further the fund’s purpose.”
By December 1, 2022, the department would be expected to submit a report to the governor and legislation with “initial findings and recommendations.” Another deadline would be set two years after that, for showing findings based on studies funded through the PTSD fund. For the fiscal year 2024, the bill calls for the governor to include $1 million in an annual budget bill for the fund.
The recommendations in the report would focus on “budgetary, legislative, or regulatory changes to expand access to alternative therapies for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries,” as stated by the bill.
“This is an unorthodox bill, and I completely understand that,” Elfreth concluded. “But these treatments will not be funded by the federal [Department of Veterans Affairs] anytime soon. We are in crisis mode as it relates to, unfortunately, the high rate of suicide amongst our veterans' community. This is an unorthodox bill for a critical problem that we need to address.”
Photo courtesy from Wikimedia Commons
