The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is sponsoring historic research to treat veterans with MDMA. On December 3, the VA announced it would award a five-year grant of up to $1.5 million to study the efficacy of MDMA, combined with psychotherapy, for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder.
The project, to be conducted by VA researchers affiliated with Brown and Yale universities, will enroll eligible participants and pair them with psychologists for treatment with the drug. The VA had announced in January that it wanted to expand funding opportunities for research around both psilocybin and MDMA.
The new grant award “marks the first time in more than 50 years that psychedelic research will be conducted at VA facilities,” according to Military.com. Treatment will take place at the VA’s medical centers in Providence, Rhode Island, and West Haven, Connecticut. Enrollment in the trials will begin in 2025.
Participants will receive two monthly doses of MDMA, along with counseling before and after taking the drug.
A government summary of the West Haven trial states that it will be the “first open label pilot trial” of veterans suffering both alcohol use disorder and PTSD. Participants will receive two monthly doses of MDMA, along with “preparatory” counseling sessions before taking the drug and “integrative” sessions afterwards. Researchers will evaluate changes over time in patients’ alcohol use and PTSD symptoms, using the Timeline Followback method.
“VA is on the cutting edge of clinical research for veteran health, including in the investigation of psychedelics for mental health,” Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal said in a press release. “This study will give us better insight into the potential of MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for veterans.”
It’s not the first time the federal government has invested in psychedelic research in recent years. In 2023, the Department of Defense awarded Yale researchers a $1 million, three-year grant to study treatment of veterans’ PTSD using MDMA and another synthetic formulation, methylone.
The latest development comes at the end of a disappointing 2024 for proponents of MDMA reform. It was expected to be the year that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved MDMA as a legal treatment for PTSD. Lykos Therapeutics, formerly the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Public Benefit Corporation, spent over a decade conducting and sponsoring clinical trials with MDMA. But in August, the FDA rejected the company’s application, telling it to conduct an additional Phase 3 trial and resubmit at a later date.
Concern over veterans’ mental health is a rare point of agreement across the political spectrum.
That setback hasn’t stopped psychedelics including MDMA from being increasingly explored and accepted in different settings. The last several years have seen states introduce or pass a wave of legislation to support pilots using the drugs for treatment, often with a specific focus on veterans and first responders like cops or firefighters. Examples include efforts by lawmakers in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and California; and successful bills in states like Washington and Texas.
Concern over veterans’ mental health is a rare point of agreement across the political spectrum, and the issue has brought some conservative and Republican voices into psychedelic lobbying and lawmaking, including former Texas governor Rick Perry and Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw.
A 2021 study found that since the 9/11 attacks, active-duty and retired military members were four times more likely to die of suicide than in active combat. The VA estimated that in 2021, an average of 17 veterans died of suicide every single day.
“Some factors linked to suicide in active duty service members include loneliness, relationship issues, workplace difficulties, trauma, disrupted schedules, increased stress, poor sleep, injury and chronic pain,” wrote April Smith, an associate psychology professor and veteran suicide researcher at Auburn University. “On top of these same factors, veterans may also experience difficulties transitioning to civilian life.” Smith also cited veterans’ familiarity with firearms, when research has associated handgun ownership with greatly increased suicide risk.
The VA states that veterans are slightly more likely than civilians to suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives, at a rate of 7 percent; among veterans, certain demographics are at greater risk, with women reportedly twice as likely men to develop PTSD. Earlier in 2024, Yale researchers published findings that veterans are much more likely than the general population to have generalized anxiety disorder (7.9 percent versus 2.9 percent), with certain demographics, such as veterans of color, again more vulnerable. Veterans have also been found to have higher risk of alcohol use disorder.
Such factors have earned psychedelic research for veterans wide political support. In the broader national context, new studies like those the VA is funding could provide compelling evidence on a path toward medical MDMA access for everyone in need.
Photograph of West Haven VA Medical Center by Veterans Health via Flickr/Public Domain
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