But don’t get this wrong. They do not endorse drug use for ordinary recreational purposes.

Instead, a $30 million research program to study psilocybin mushrooms in the treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression, and another research program to legalize a drug formally called MDMA for the same use. Bills to fund them are advancing in strong new evidence that they can be very effective. new treatment.

That’s why former Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy and Marine Corps veteran Robert Steele visited the Capitol earlier this month. His 39-year-old married father of two children told a House committee that the effects of PTSD and a traumatic brain injury had left him nearly crippled, suicidal, unable to work, and He said his family life was nearly destroyed.

Despite being so driven to serve in the military and law enforcement that he’d never even tried marijuana, Steele decided to seek relief after hearing that magic mushrooms might help. He explained how he resorted to magic mushrooms “out of despair” as a last effort.

He called the impact “deep”.

“For the first time in years, I was able to think clearly,” Steele told a House committee. said. My wife and children have noticed that I am happy again.”

Steele says that thanks to psilocybin, he is a happier person, has an improved memory, and is free of suicidal thoughts.

“This drug has restored my relationships, brought me closer to my wife and children, and restored a life worth living.

Dr. Suzanne Sisley tells the House Armed Services and Public Safety Committee that the grant contained in House Bill 2486 will set Arizona on a different path than voter-driven states like Oregon and Colorado that have legalized magic mushrooms. said it would happen.

“I hope our state can actually lead the way in science before establishing a regulatory system for selling mushrooms,” Sisley said.

She is a psychiatrist and primary care physician who has spent years researching alternative medicines to treat PTSD and other disorders.

This isn’t the first time Sisley has dealt with state legislators or drug politics.

She was fired ten years ago from the University of Arizona, which had plans to start a federally approved medical marijuana research program. It happened as she tried to overcome opposition from Republicans in Congress.

Sisley was endorsed by veterans who turned to her research on PTSD to show the results. She eventually started the Scottsdale Institute, which aims to develop treatments and pain management for PTSD using marijuana and other natural compounds.

At a hearing earlier this month, Sisley told lawmakers that clinical trials conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for the Study of Psychedelics and Consciousness have shown promising results. Although he said he was using synthetic psilocybin, the proposal unanimously supported by the committee was to consider the whole natural mushroom.

Anecdotal evidence has led veterans and law enforcement officers like Steele to band together to promote treatments using psilocybin mushrooms, but they remain Schedule 1 drugs under federal law. and has no medical or other legal use.

That means federal funding for research into potential treatments using mushrooms wasn’t available until recently. He said it could lead to funding to test and other addiction treatment studies.

Although in a different therapeutic area, Sisley said federal funding is important.

Republicans and Democrats on the Arizona House Committee accepted the proposal and $30 million in state funding after asking whether mushrooms were addictive. Sisley said it appears to be much less likely than caffeine, and Johns Hopkins research suggests mushrooms could have a big impact in treating addiction.

Another bill that would allow MDMA to be prescribed if the federal government removed it from Schedule 1 restrictions would open another avenue for treating PTSD and similar disorders.

Clinical studies have shown that MDMA, which has been illegally used for decades as a party drug under names like Molly and Ecstasy, is highly effective when administered in the right settings. .

The drug is usually administered by a doctor after several visits to a counselor, said Mike Williams, a lobbyist for a company that runs clinical trials. Patients remain in the clinic while under the influence of the drug.

“80% of patients treated with this treatment recovered from their PTSD diagnosis. This is an amazing drug,” said Williams.

Williams’ comments were based on limited trials, but Democrat Rep. Amish Shah believes there is great potential in using MDMA to treat people with PTSD and depression. said.

Shah, an emergency room physician at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, which represents the northern Phoenix district, said he was impressed after reading the research on MDMA.

“This is actually causing ripples in the medical community. When done in a controlled environment with the right therapists trained to do this the right way, it can be very effective in helping people with PTSD. He joined 14 other members of the House Appropriations Committee to approve House Bill 2489.

“I think it’s really great when something like this happens,” Shah said.

“We know one drug, and using it in another situation brings people many cures,” he said. And I hope it helps many people who suffer from PTSD. ”

Peoria Republican Rep. Kevin Payne, who advocates for legislation addressing issues affecting veterans and law enforcement officers, supports both bills. He called the unanimous approval of both committees a “Kumbaya moment”.

If the bill passes the House, they head to the Senate.