Legislators in Washington have added additional funding to the National Defense Authorization Act in hopes of conducting medical research into psychedelic drugs. According to the bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers pushing the provision, it could help treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw (R), a former Navy SEAL and co-sponsor of the amendment, said he "can't find one member of Congress that is actually opposed to this."
But many conservatives have their concerns.
Dr. Jennifer Bauwens, director of family studies at the Family Research Council (FRC), recently told "Washington Watch" that the ultimate goal is not to treat patients, but to decriminalize the drugs' recreational use.
"What I think people need to know about this push for psychedelic drugs is that the endgame is decriminalization; it is to use these drugs for recreational purposes," Dr. Bauwens told Tony Perkins.
"When you look at this push, you have actors like Rick Doblin who have been wanting to make psychedelics look respectable, and how do you do that? Through research," she posed. "He has been pushing, since the Nixon administration, to put these drugs in a respectable light, to shed the old hippie image of psychedelic drugs and make them respectable through the psychological community. And right now, there are already therapists who are trained in what is called psychedelic assistance therapy. They're already trained … they're just waiting for the FDA approval.”
Perkins, who hosts the daily radio program, warned that this is not only a physical battle, but a spiritual one as well.
"The scripture speaks to opening ourselves up to these types of influences," he noted. "From a spiritual standpoint, as I see what's happening, this bipartisan push for the legalization of drugs – we're talking about psychedelics, but we can talk about marijuana [and] anything else – is that this is reflective of where we are spiritually as a nation."
In his view, "We're going into a very dark vortex."
