Biden Administration Agrees On The Need For A Task Force To Advance Psychedelics Research

A letter on behalf of the federal Health and Human Services (HHS) department acknowledges that the ongoing mental health and substance use crises require for the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies to be further explored. The department would establish a task-force to do so, first reported by Mattha Busby in The Intercept.

The document, written in May 2022 and signed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on behalf of the HHS secretary Xavier Becerra, constitutes the federal response to a February letter signed by five Congress members proposing a task force towards addressing the issues associated with the expected FDA approval of MDMA for PTSD treatment and psilocybin for depression treatment within the next two years.

According to the reply letter, Biden’s administration is “exploring the prospect” of establishing the suggested federal task force to monitor the emerging psychedelic treatment ecosystem, which could involve collaboration with the private sector as well as across federal agencies.

Joining the bipartisan Congressional lawmakers, other state legislators and military veterans had sent a companion letter to the HHS urging the agency to decide on a course of action, considering that “people are going to use them (the psychedelics) regardless of whether regulators act.” 

The battle towards federal legalization of psychedelic medicine is up and running. Besides the potential federal taskforce, two bipartisan bills co-sponsored by Senators Cory Booker and Rand Paul along with Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Nancy Mace have recently been introduced against the DEA’s denial to allow terminally-ill patients from accessing controlled substances. 

Accordingly, the federal agency is currently facing another lawsuit regarding access to psilocybin for oncology patients backed by Right To Try laws.

So far, the DEA has responded positively to a separate claim: following a significant pushback from research and advocacy groups, it revoked its proposal to ban five potentially very therapeutic tryptamines. 

More legislation to widen access to psychedelics is soon to be discussed, including one regarding research and pilot programs within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Photo Courtesy of Rodolfo Clix on Pexels.