North Carolina Lawmakers Push $5 Million Bill to Fund Psychedelic Therapy Research
North Carolina could become one of the first states in the South to fund psychedelic therapy research. The HEAL Act, a bipartisan bill now before the General Assembly, would create a $5 million grant program for studying psychedelic assisted therapy in trauma survivors.
The target populations include veterans, first responders, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The state budget signed July 7 left the bill unfunded, but lawmakers get another shot when the legislature reconvenes July 27.
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Key Takeaways
| Key Takeaway | Detail |
|---|---|
| The bill | The HEAL Act, bipartisan legislation in the NC General Assembly |
| Funding | $5 million research grant program |
| Focus | Psychedelic assisted therapy for veterans, first responders, and trauma survivors |
| Also creates | A task force of clinicians, veteran advocates, state officials, and Indigenous representatives |
| Status | Left out of the July 7 budget; legislature reconvenes July 27 |
| Important note | The bill does not legalize any psychedelic substance |
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Why Veterans Are Driving the Push
The numbers explain the urgency. More than 600,000 veterans live in North Carolina. In 2023 the state’s veteran suicide rate hit 32.9 per 100,000, nearly double the rate among non veterans. Rep. Allen Chesser, a Republican co sponsor, says conditions like PTSD and treatment resistant depression are not responding to conventional medicine. Sen. Sophia Chitlik, a Durham Democrat, says veterans in her district now leave the state, and sometimes the country, to get care. She wants North Carolina to lead in evidence based psychedelic medicine instead.
The Research Is Already Happening
State universities are not waiting on Raleigh. A UNC Chapel Hill team has monitored psilocybin sessions with 20 patients in a severe depression study. Duke’s medical school has taught a psychedelic medicine course for four years. Researchers there still debate a core question: does the psychedelic experience itself drive the antidepressant effect, or does the biology work on its own? The HEAL Act would fund research designed to answer exactly that.
For now, ketamine remains the only legal psychedelic assisted therapy in America, and clinics offering it operate in every state. The HEAL Act would not change that. It funds science, not access. But federal momentum is building, with HHS and the VA announcing a partnership on psychedelic treatments this week. North Carolina wants to be ready when the science catches up.
