Active-duty US soldiers to receive psychedelic drugs for PTSD next year

As the war on drugs approaches its end, a new doctrine could soon take hold: psychedelic drugs for active-duty soldiers suffering from PTSD. In two studies funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), 186 service personnel with PTSD will likely next year undergo multiple sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy. The deputy under secretary of war for personnel and readiness, Sean O’Keefe, is following the research closely, a January letter shows , and a new group of DoD and Veterans Affairs (VA) department therapists are to begin training in psychedelic-assisted therapy next week ahead of soldier enrollment. It is hoped guided sessions with the euphoria-inducing drug could, perhaps counterintuitively, help soldiers fight for their country for longer – and that once they leave the military they will not be crippled by traumatic stress. “Helping people process trauma, whoever they are, is probably better than not,” said Rick Doblin, the founding president of advocacy group the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), which has helped bring MDMA-assisted therapy to the brink of federal approval. “There’s something noble about being willing to sacrifice yourself for other people. …