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AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Legislature has approved a study that will look at using psilocybin as a treatment for veterans struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms." This is the first of its kind study on the use of these psychedelics on veterans with PTSD.
It will be 20 years since 9/11 this September and the impact of war rarely stays overseas.
"We lost so far 114,000 veterans to suicide because of PTSD since 2001," said Texas Rep. Alex Dominguez, D-Brownsville.
Dominguez says the current treatments for PTSD are not doing enough.
"The two medications that are currently being prescribed to them are psychotropics -- prozac and zoloft -- and they are increasingly being shown to be ineffective for these veterans suffering from PTSD, so we need a fresh look. We need a big idea to solve this big problem," Dominguez said.