Psychedelic Law and U.S. Military Veterans
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Event Description
Military veterans and active-duty service members experience unique stressors and are heavily impacted by depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide. As part of the evolving psychedelic renaissance, researchers are exploring therapeutic interventions such as psilocybin, MDMA, and ibogaine. These substances produce profound changes of cognition, perception, and mood. Clinical trials suggest they may produce significant mental health benefits for veterans. Researchers are still exploring the risks and benefits, but the heavily restricted status of psychedelics (as Schedule I controlled substances) impedes research in veterans and military personnel. Meanwhile, though the FDA may soon approve psychedelic medicines for some indications, they may be prohibitively expensive for many patients, including veterans.
This event assembles a panel of leading experts on veterans health, psychiatry, public health, law, and psychedelic research to discuss the challenges facing veterans who seek access to psychedelic medicine. Panelists will discuss efforts to increase funding of psychedelic research for veterans, nonprofit organizations that help veterans access psychedelics in jurisdictions where they are legal, efforts to educate Congress and federal agencies on psychedelic medicine, reducing the cost of psychedelic medicines, and current legislation to promote research and access, including state-level legal reforms, the federal Breakthrough Therapies Act, and federal defense spending bills.
Panelists
- Welcome: I. Glenn Cohen, Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics and James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law, and Deputy Dean, Harvard Law School
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Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School; 19th Director of Centers for Disease Control
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Lynnette A. Averill, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine; Co-Director, “Ethical Legal Implications of Psychedelics in Society (ELIPSIS) Center," BCM; and Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Reason for Hope
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Marcus Capone, U.S. Navy SEAL Veteran, Founder and CEO, TARA Mind; Co-Founder, VETS
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Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Trauma, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Director of Mental Health, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center
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Juliana Mercer, U.S. Marine Corps Veteran; Director of Veteran Advocacy & Public Policy, Healing Breakthrough
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Moderator: Mason Marks, MD, JD, Senior Fellow and Lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School; Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor, Florida State University College of Law
This event is sponsored by the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.