A bipartisan group of members of Congress have filed an amendment to a large-scale military bill that would extend a psychedelics research effort at the Department of Defense (DOD) for an additional six years.
Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Mike Ezell (R-MS), Troy Carter (D-LA) and Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) are proposing to amend the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2027 to include language expanding DOD studies on psychedelics that were first authorized under the earlier 2024 NDAA.
That program, signed into law by then-President Joe Biden, directed DOD to establish a process by which active duty service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury could participate in clinical trials involving psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine, 5-MeO-DMT and “qualified plant-based alternative therapies.”
As enacted, it only required the secretary of defense to issue updated reports on progress within one year of the law passing and then annually for three years after that. The new amendment would replace “three years” in the law with “nine years.” It also specifies that DOD would have to “extend the performance of research conducted using funding awarded under this section to September 30, 2033.”
The previously enacted legislation, which was also championed by Luttrell, set aside $10 million to fund the military psychedelic studies.
Lawmakers also used last year’s NDAA to push DOD for a “progress report” on the ongoing psychedelic therapy clinical trials.
The House Rules Committee is expected to meet later this month to determine which submitted amendments to the current NDAA may proceed to floor votes.
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Earlier this month, the House Armed Services Committee approved its version of NDAA and an attached report that calls on military officials to pay greater attention to potential “access pathways” to psychedelic therapies for servicemembers.
Citing a psychedelics executive order signed by President Donald Trump in April, the panel urged DOD leaders to “remain informed of lawful research and access pathways relevant to post-traumatic stress disorder and other serious mental health conditions affecting servicemembers during post-deployment and transition periods, and members of the Reserve Components and National Guard who also serve as first responders.”
That includes studies on “psilocybin-containing investigational products, including naturally derived whole-mushroom formulations administered in structured therapeutic settings,” the report that the panel approved to be attached to NDAA says.
The panel is directing the secretary of defense to issue a report by February 1, 2027 that assesses data on such trials, along with an assessment of “legal and regulatory requirements for expanded access,” including under Trump’s psychedelics executive order as well as a Right to Try law the president signed during his first term in office.
The secretary’s report would also need to include a “proposed timeline for potential pilot activities or expanded clinical research beginning in fiscal year 2027, and for any broader implementation thereafter.”
“Assessment of Emerging Clinical Research for Treatment-Resistant PTSD
The committee recognizes the importance of federally lawful clinical research, expanded access, and right-to-try pathways for investigational treatments addressing serious mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder. These pathways may include recent State-enabled support for Food and Drug Administration-regulated studies of psilocybin-containing investigational products, including naturally derived whole-mushroom formulations administered in structured therapeutic settings, consistent with applicable Federal law, Right to Try, expanded access authorities, Drug Enforcement Administration requirements, and the April 18, 2026 Presidential Executive Order titled ‘Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness.’ The committee encourages the Department of Defense to remain informed of lawful research and access pathways relevant to post-traumatic stress disorder and other serious mental health conditions affecting servicemembers during post-deployment and transition periods, and members of the Reserve Components and National Guard who also serve as first responders.
The committee commends the rigorous, ethical clinical research conducted in accordance with federal law and force health protection standards to evaluate emerging treatments for service-connected mental health conditions where existing therapies have proven insufficient. The committee further believes that careful Department of Defense review of safety, dosing, and feasibility data is appropriate to inform future Department force health protection policy, medical readiness planning, and continuity of care during military-to-civilian transition.
Accordingly, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a report to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than February 1, 2027, assessing the data from the Phase I Passage and Phase II Fortitude Trials and its potential applicability to active-duty, reserve, and transitioning servicemembers.
The report shall include the following:
(1) a summary of the Phase I Passage Trial safety, dosing, and adverse event data reviewed and analyzed by the Department for applicability to active-duty, reserve/guard, and transitioning servicemember populations;
(2) implications for force health protection, medical readiness, and suicide prevention strategies, including identification of any gaps in existing treatment options for active-duty, reserve/guard, and transitioning servicemembers;
(3) legal and regulatory requirements for expanded access, Right to Try, or other federally lawful pathways involving investigational Schedule I treatments, including coordination with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the applicability of the 18 April 2026 Presidential Executive Order ‘Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness’ to treatment-resistant PTSD and associated comorbidities, including elevated suicide risk during post-deployment and transition periods;
(4) considerations for ensuring continuity of care for servicemembers transitioning from the Department of Defense to the Veterans Health Administration, to include eligibility criteria, clinical treatment oversight, informed consent, safety monitoring, and adverse event reporting; and
(5) proposed timeline for potential pilot activities or expanded clinical research beginning in fiscal year 2027, and for any broader implementation thereafter, as appropriate.”
Lawmakers have used past years’ versions of NDAA to advance reforms on marijuana use and drug testing in the military.
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