{"id":132998,"date":"2026-06-23T22:10:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/06\/23\/nearly-5-million-veterans-have-used-magic-mushrooms-lsd-or-mdma-study-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:39:56","slug":"nearly-5-million-veterans-have-used-magic-mushrooms-lsd-or-mdma-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2026\/06\/23\/nearly-5-million-veterans-have-used-magic-mushrooms-lsd-or-mdma-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 5 million veterans have used magic mushrooms, LSD or MDMA, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An estimated 4.8 million U.S. veterans have used psychedelic drugs, but many are hesitant about discussing that use with their Department of Veterans Affairs providers for fear of jeopardizing their VA benefits, according to a new RAND study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The research, released by the the Washington think tank Tuesday, examined veterans\u2019 use of psilocybin mushrooms, LSD and MDMA, along with their levels of support for legal use of the drugs and their understanding of the VA\u2019s policies on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study comes as President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/03\/17\/dod-commits-98-million-to-study-psychedelics-for-active-duty-troops\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/03\/17\/dod-commits-98-million-to-study-psychedelics-for-active-duty-troops\/\">funneled funds<\/a> into studying psychedelics as a form of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/07\/16\/will-rfk-jrs-push-for-psychedelics-help-or-hurt-the-emerging-field\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/07\/16\/will-rfk-jrs-push-for-psychedelics-help-or-hurt-the-emerging-field\/\">mental health therapy<\/a>, often promoting their potential to treat veterans, in particular. Despite recent support from the federal government, the study revealed confusion among veterans about the VA\u2019s policies regarding the substances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVA policy around psychedelics remains unclear, and we found that about half of veterans were unsure about discussing them with a VA doctor,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furl.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com%2Fs%2FOEeCC3Yq9qtL4mRJIQtRcQeCk-%3Fdomain%3Drand.org&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cnikki.wentling%40militarytimes.com%7C413f74dc4a7d43902ede08ded161222e%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C0%7C639178412299307399%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=rpqYF4cffM800UxKmNyGlCrr1dc41paqM9YGGEVnGtA%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"Original URL: https:\/\/url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com\/s\/OEeCC3Yq9qtL4mRJIQtRcQeCk-?domain=rand.org. Click or tap if you trust this link.\"><u>Michelle Priest<\/u><\/a>, lead author of the report, said in a statement. \u201cThat uncertainty matters, especially as veteran issues are prominently featured in policy conversations surrounding psychedelics, both at the federal and state levels.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About half of veterans were unsure whether discussing their use of psychedelics with their VA doctors would risk their benefits. The VA issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealth.va.gov\/marijuana.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.publichealth.va.gov\/marijuana.asp\">policy<\/a> in 2023 that encourages veterans to discuss their marijuana use with their doctors \u2014 and specifies that marijuana use wouldn\u2019t affect their benefits \u2014 but there\u2019s no such guidance or guarantee for other drugs, RAND said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about the findings Tuesday, a VA spokesperson directed reporters to the department\u2019s webpage, which states the agency \u201cstrongly discourages self-medicating or attempting to replace other mental health treatment options with psychedelics or any other unprescribed substances.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cProven, evidence-based treatments, are currently available at VA facilities to treat veterans with mental health conditions,\u201d the VA website continues. \u201cVeterans should always consult their health care providers before making any treatment decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 27.5% of all veterans have used the substances, the study states. LSD was the most common, with veterans being more likely than the general population to have used LSD in their lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study found that veterans were more likely to support the legal use of psilocybin mushrooms and LSD \u2014 23% for mushrooms and 11% for LSD \u2014 but support for MDMA, at 9%, was about the same as the rest of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center received a $4.9 million <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/03\/17\/dod-commits-98-million-to-study-psychedelics-for-active-duty-troops\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/03\/17\/dod-commits-98-million-to-study-psychedelics-for-active-duty-troops\/\">Defense Department grant<\/a> to fund a study of MDMA and its effects on active-duty soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/04\/20\/trump-clears-path-for-expanded-psychedelic-research-to-treat-veterans-ptsd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/04\/20\/trump-clears-path-for-expanded-psychedelic-research-to-treat-veterans-ptsd\/\">signed an executive order<\/a> in April committing at least $50 million in federal funds to boost research on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/01\/09\/a-veterans-search-for-healing-led-to-an-ibogaine-trip-and-an-epiphany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/01\/09\/a-veterans-search-for-healing-led-to-an-ibogaine-trip-and-an-epiphany\/\">ibogaine<\/a>, a powerful hallucinogen derived from the African shrub iboga. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the signing ceremony, Trump said, \u201cIt\u2019s for a lot of people, but it\u2019s for our military in particular. The suicide epidemic among veterans is a national tragedy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Less than 1% of veterans have used ibogaine, the RAND study found. About 5% of veterans who hadn\u2019t used it were willing to try it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the executive order, which directed the Food and Drug Administration to accelerate reviews of certain psychedelic therapies, the VA announced its launch of a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-launches-mdma-assisted-mental-health-therapy-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-launches-mdma-assisted-mental-health-therapy-trial\/\">clinical trial<\/a> to evaluate MDMA-assisted therapy on severe mental health disorders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The RAND study revealed confusion among veterans about the VA&#8217;s policies regarding psychedelics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":108793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":25,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","your-air-force","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","news","your-army","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"veterans"},"6":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","news","your-marine-corps","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"veterans"},"7":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","news","your-navy","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"veterans"}}},"categories":[15,86,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3417],"class_list":["post-132998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SC64QHNQEFAG3M2NIFTM532FBU","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2026\/06\/23\/nearly-5-million-veterans-have-used-magic-mushrooms-lsd-or-mdma-study-finds\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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