Legalization of psychedelics could benefit military veterans

Psychedelics have the potential to help heal issues like PTSD, long term grief and other mental health challenges that many people are struggling to navigate in today’s world.

On CultureShift, we’ve covered this topic for years, from the University of Michigan’s first-ever Psychedelic Neuroscience and Therapy Symposium in 2019 to Detroit’s decriminalization of hallucinogenic plants in 2021. We’ve also talked to a number of experts in the field.

Related: Psychedelics could provide relief for mental health challenges

Matt Zemon is the CEO and co-founder of HAPPŸŸ, a mental wellness company specializing in psychedelic-assisted ketamine therapy. He’s also the author of “Psychedelics for Everyone: A Beginner’s Guide to these Powerful Medicines for Anxiety, Depression, Addiction, PTSD and Expanding Consciousness.”

For his second CultureShift appearance, he discusses the stigma behind psychedelic use, the more than 300 universities who have recently or are currently studying psychedelic and entheogenic substance use, the changing reputation of these medicines and the benefits of micro-dosing.
According to Zemon, the FDA has given “breakthrough” therapy designation to both MDMA and psilocybin and “we expect both these substances to be legal federally in the next few years.”

“One of the big drivers of [legalization] is therapy for military veterans, first responders, victims of sexual assault: people with treatment-resistant PTSD. In a recent clinical study 67% of patients with just three sessions with MDMA no longer qualify as having PTSD.” — Matt Zemon, author of ‘Psychedelics for Everyone’