Veterans in the Puget Sound region will be part of a federal push to study how psychedelic drugs could be used to treat mental health conditions.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April calling on federal agencies to help accelerate psychedelic research and drug approvals "to increase access to psychedelic drugs that could save lives and reverse the crisis of serious mental illness in America."
The groundwork for such trials was already underway; the Veterans Affairs department is helping with over 20 trials at clinics across the country. The VA Puget Sound Health Care System is one of five locations recruiting veterans for a study testing the psilocybin drug for treatment-resistant depression.
Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, often called “magic” mushrooms. The VA trial is using a proprietary, synthetic version of psilocybin from the London-based company Compass Pathways.
“If it helps one of our veterans, we're going to try,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins during a visit to Seattle’s VA Medical Center on Aug. 7. “But it's under a clinical supervision.”
Trump’s executive order specifically mentioned ibogaine, a psychoactive compound found in the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga. That psychedelic could also be tested in the Puget Sound region someday, Collins said. But first, the federal government will need to source the drug. The agency is also working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to develop requirements that account for ibogaine's cardiac risks.
“It's going to be safe when we do it with our veterans. That's our key. That's why FDA is doing an accelerated study,” Collins said.
Some veterans in the VA Puget Sound Health Care System will also be eligible to take part in a new trial testing GLP‑1 medications treating alcohol use disorder.
Targeting bureaucracy
Collins is focused on reducing what he has called “red tape” in work across the VA, including research.
“My job is to revamp a very bureaucratic agency to be a very lean organization,” he said. “Not lean in potential or money — lean in focus.”
Some of these federal changes will directly impact the VA's Puget Sound system.
For example, Collins said the agency is aiming for a 30-day hiring process. Speeding up hiring has been a goal for prior VA leaders.
“We were our own worst enemies in hiring. We got some of the best workplaces to be. We got great benefits,” Collins said, but it was taking a long time — around 120 to 130 days — to hire people.
The psilocybin trial is expected to take years to complete. An estimated timeline from trial leaders shows veteran enrollment could begin shortly, and findings are expected to be released in 2031.
