LAWMAKERS SAY ALARMING SUICIDE RATES AND A SHORTAGE OF TRADITIONAL MENTAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS HAS LED THEM TO CONSIDER RESEARCH INTO ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, INCLUDING SO-CALLED MAGIC MUSHROOMS. (AP PHOTO/RICHARD VOGEL, FILE)
A new political action committee (PAC) called the Psychedelic Medicine PAC aims to elect leaders who support the therapeutic use of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, ketamine, and MDMA (ecstasy).
The group is in the early fundraising stages and has contacted donors interested in funding the PAC.
The PAC wants to secure federal funding for more education and research on psychedelic medicine use and aims to raise $10M in its first year.
- Advocates argue that psychedelic drugs are safer and more effective than prescription drugs, with recent clinical studies backing their claims.
- The Biden administration has explored the possibility of launching a task force to study psychedelics in the hopes of the FDA approving their therapeutic use.
- Reps. Lou Correa and Jack Bergman have relaunched the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus to address ways to alleviate the national mental health crisis through psychedelic science and research.
The Psychedelic Medicine PAC hopes to secure buy-in from Republicans and Democrats and wants to avoid creating opposition within the halls of Congress, as seen in the divisive strategies employed by the cannabis reform movement.
