By Jasmine Owen, Legislative Coordinator, Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)
As we shared in our Q1 update, 2026 has been a year of accelerating momentum for psychedelic-assisted therapy policy. Between April 1 and June 30, that momentum continued, not just in the number of bills advancing, but in the kind of progress being made. Q2 was defined less by first steps and more by infrastructure: appropriations that expand existing clinical trials, research programs built to outlast any single legislative session, a wave of “trigger laws” designed to make sure veterans aren’t left waiting once federal approval arrives, and Days of Action that put veterans directly in front of the lawmakers writing these bills.
It’s worth pausing on a distinction that’s easy to lose in the headlines: a bill being introduced is not the same as a bill passing. A bill passing one chamber is not the same as it being signed into law. And a law being signed is not the same as it being funded or implemented. Q2 brought real progress across all of these stages, and part of our job is making sure that progress is understood accurately, without overstating what it means for veterans seeking care today.
Q2 Legislative Highlights
Federal Momentum Reinforces State Progress
While states continued building the infrastructure for future access, the federal government also took a significant step forward. In April 2026, President Trump signed the Executive Order Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness , directing federal agencies to identify barriers slowing the development of breakthrough mental health treatments, strengthen coordination across government, and accelerate research and regulatory pathways for promising therapies, including psychedelic medicines. For advocates who have spent years encouraging states to invest in research while preparing for eventual FDA approval, the Executive Order represents an important acknowledgment that innovation in mental health care deserves national attention. It also reinforces a central theme emerging across the country: states are no longer waiting for the federal government to act, and the federal government is increasingly recognizing the value of the research infrastructure those states have helped build.
Georgia: Expanding an Existing Trial
In 2025, Georgia made its first direct investment in psychedelic research for veterans. This year, the state built on that commitment with a new $1 million budget appropriation directed to Emory University, supporting MDMA-assisted therapy research for veterans with PTSD. Rather than creating a new program from the ground up, the funding expands a trial originally established under the Douglas Mike Day Act, demonstrating how state investment can build lasting research infrastructure and accelerate work already underway.
Oklahoma: Joining the Multi-State Ibogaine Research Effort
Oklahoma’s HB 3834 establishes a state ibogaine research program serving veterans and civilians with PTSD, TBI, and substance use disorders, while also making the program eligible for federal research grants through ARPA-H. Although the bill does not include a state appropriation, its significance extends beyond Oklahoma’s borders. As a companion to Texas’s SB 2308, HB 3834 adds Oklahoma to an emerging multi-state ibogaine research effort that now includes Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi – creating opportunities for states to build complementary research infrastructure and strengthen the case for federal investment in ibogaine research.
Colorado: Building a Research Pilot Within an Existing Framework
Colorado’s HB 26-1325 establishes an ibogaine research pilot program within the state’s existing Natural Medicine program, allowing up to five sites to develop research and treatment programs for veterans and civilians. Rather than creating an entirely new regulatory structure, the bill builds on infrastructure Colorado has already established for regulated natural medicine. While the pilot does not include a direct state appropriation and instead relies on gifts, grants, and donations, it also makes participating research eligible for federal funding through ARPA-H–creating a pathway for Colorado to leverage existing state infrastructure to attract new research investment.
Five States Pass FDA-Model Trigger Laws
Perhaps the most significant Q2 development for future access wasn’t a single high-profile bill, it was a pattern. Illinois (SB 3322), Kansas (HB 2218), Mississippi (SB 2056), South Dakota (HB 1099), and Virginia (SB 379/HB 1347) all passed “trigger laws” that align state regulatory frameworks with federal action: once the FDA approves a psychedelic therapy and the DEA reschedules it, these laws allow prescribing, dispensing, and use of that therapy without requiring additional state legislative sessions to catch up. Without laws like these in place, states can face significant delays reconciling state law with new federal status. Delays that fall directly on patients. These five laws represent downstream policy infrastructure that VETS’ FDA-model approach has helped make politically viable in state legislatures across the country.
North Carolina and Massachusetts: Bringing Veterans to the Statehouse
Not every state’s story this quarter was about a bill crossing the finish line. Some of the most important work was about building the case for one. In June, VETS led back-to-back Legislative Days of Action: in Raleigh on June 16, and at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on June 17. Both convened veterans, researchers, and advocates to meet directly with legislators and staff.
In North Carolina, VETS worked alongside Carolinas for Care to mobilize veterans and allies behind Senate Bill 1018 , the HEAL Act, sponsored by Senators Robert Brinson and Sophia Chitlik. The bill would create a Breakthrough Therapies Research Grant Fund within the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, appropriating $5.4 million to fund studies on psychedelic medicines for populations disproportionately impacted by trauma. It would also establish a Breakthrough Therapies Task Force, bringing together state health, military, and commerce leadership, university medical schools, tribal council representatives, and legislators to oversee that research and recommend regulatory pathways if these medicines are federally reclassified.
In Massachusetts, VETS advocates returned to the State House to advance a package of complementary bills, including S.1400 /H.4200 , which would authorize a Department of Public Health pilot allowing licensed mental health clinics to provide supervised psychedelic-assisted treatment and collect outcomes data on depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorder. That advocacy paid off: on July 8, the Massachusetts House passed the pilot program outlined in S.1400/H.4200 as an amendment to its economic development bill unanimously. The bill passed the House by a vote of 148-2. The legislation now advances to a conference committee where the House and Senate will negotiate on a final version of the bill. As they are reconciling, VETS is urging lawmakers to retain the language in the final version and send it to Governor Healey’s desk.
At three Days of Action across two weeks, veterans shared first-hand accounts of recovery from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and other invisible wounds of war. The kind of testimony that has repeatedly proven more persuasive to lawmakers than data alone. Both states remain works in progress: North Carolina’s HEAL Act is still moving through the legislative process, and Massachusetts’ pilot program still needs to be negotiated by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor before it becomes law.
What This Adds Up To
None of these developments happened in isolation, and none of them belong to VETS alone. Each reflects the sustained work of state coalitions, research institutions, clinicians, and — most importantly — veterans who continue to show up in statehouses to share their experience. What Q2 demonstrates is a shift in the kind of progress being made. It reflects a shift from demonstrating that state-supported psychedelic research is viable to building the systems needed to sustain it: funding pathways, research programs, regulatory alignment, and durable relationships with lawmakers.
Since VETS’ first clinical trial appropriation in Texas in 2021 – a $2.2 million investment – this movement has grown into more than $175 million in public research funding, more than 20 state laws, six active clinical trials, and a Presidential Executive Order validating the research-first approach VETS helped pioneer. From Arizona to Virginia, Nevada to Louisiana, the states VETS has worked in are building a national network of research programs designed to support rapid, responsible implementation once FDA approval is secured.
It’s important to be direct about what this progress does, and doesn’t, mean. Legislative wins like these are essential steps, but they are not the same as legal or affordable access to treatment today. Research funding, trigger laws, pilot programs, and task forces are the groundwork. The work of turning that groundwork into safe, accessible care for veterans is ongoing, and it requires continued collaboration among lawmakers, researchers, clinicians, and advocacy organizations.
Looking Ahead to Q3
As we move into the second half of 2026, our focus remains on:
- Turning state wins into federal pressure — leveraging this quarter’s state-level progress through the VALOR Coalition to keep the pressure on Congress and federal agencies for research funding and regulatory action
- Building state-federal collaboration — pursuing opportunities where state programs and federal agencies like ARPA-H and HHS can work together, so state infrastructure translates directly into federal partnership rather than parallel tracks
- Setting the stage for 2027 — laying the groundwork now for a legislative agenda that will be bigger and more ambitious than any year before it
- Finishing the job in North Carolina and Massachusetts — continuing to support the HEAL Act’s progress through the General Assembly and urging the Massachusetts Senate to retain and pass the pilot program language
- Keeping veteran voices at the center — continuing to bring lived experience into statehouses and to policymakers who are shaping what comes next
We are never out of the fight. And with every appropriation, every reform, and every veteran who walks into a statehouse to tell their story, we move closer to a future where the systems needed to support veteran healing are ready as the science, regulation, and pathways to care advance.
Stay informed and stay involved:
- Read our Q1 2026 Legislative Update for the full picture of this year’s progress so far.
- Support VETS’ advocacy work to help sustain this momentum through the rest of the legislative cycle.
- Follow VETS’ Policy and Advocacy team for ongoing updates as Q3 develops.