Veterans' advocacy and emerging clinical evidence drive national action
WASHINGTON, April 18th, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS) today applauded the signing of a White House executive order directing expanded federal attention and potential funding for research into psychedelic compounds including ibogaine, a treatment with emerging potential to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and addiction.
VETS Co-Founders Amber and Marcus Capone were in attendance at the White House for the signing on Saturday, underscoring the central role veterans and their families have played in bringing ibogaine from the margins into national policy conversations.
"This is a meaningful and long-overdue step," said Amber Capone, Co-Founder and CEO of VETS. "For years, veterans and their families have shared their search for healing outside the traditional system. That transparency—combined with the urgency of the crisis—is what has driven ibogaine into serious scientific and policy consideration."
Since its founding in 2019, VETS has supported approximately 1,300 veterans and spouses in accessing psychedelic-assisted therapies, while helping build the research and policy foundation needed to bring these treatments into a safe, regulated U.S. medical framework.
That effort is now being reinforced by a growing body of scientific evidence. In collaboration with the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab, VETS-supported veterans participated in a landmark Nature Medicine study—the first to examine ibogaine's effects in Special Operations veterans with TBI—which found dramatic clinical improvements, including suicidal ideation dropping from 47% to 7% and significant reductions in PTSD, depression, and anxiety, with improved cognitive function.
Building on those results, a March 20, 2026 publication from the same Stanford team in Cell using the same VETS cohort identified measurable structural brain changes consistent with neuroplasticity, including increased cortical thickness, subcortical volume expansion, and an average reduction in predicted brain age of approximately 1.3 years one month after treatment.
"The science is beginning to catch up with what veterans have been reporting for years," said Marcus Capone, Co-Founder of VETS. "But the takeaway isn't that this is ready for broad use—it's that we urgently need rigorous clinical trials, careful screening, and strong medical oversight to do this the right way."
Ibogaine remains a Schedule I substance in the United States, limiting both access and research. As a result, many veterans have had to leave the country they served to access care. VETS is working to change that, advocating for a safe, regulated, evidence-based pathway to care here at home.
At the same time, federal action follows years of momentum at the state level, driven largely by veteran advocacy.
"State legislatures didn't wait for Washington, and Washington took notice," said Logan Davidson, VETS Legislative Director. "That momentum was built by veterans and families who made this issue impossible to ignore."
VETS has helped secure more than $124 million in public funding for psychedelic research while advancing a series of landmark policy victories at both the state and federal levels of government. Most notably, the organization played a central role in the Texas Ibogaine Initiative, the largest public investment in psychedelic research in U.S. history, securing over $100 million for clinical trials targeting PTSD, TBI, and addiction. VETS also helped pass Texas House Bill 1802 (2021), the state's first public funding for psilocybin research for veterans' PTSD, and catalyzed the first-ever federal grant program for psychedelic treatment research for active-duty service members through the introduction of the Douglas "Mike" Day Psychedelic Therapy to Save Lives Act.
Additional efforts include advancing California legislation to establish regulated access and streamline research approvals, supporting state-funded research initiatives in Georgia, and launching the VALOR coalition—a first-of-its-kind national alliance of veteran-serving organizations working to drive mental health policy reform.
Public awareness has also helped accelerate progress. VETS-supported veterans are featured in In Waves and War, a documentary chronicling their experiences with ibogaine treatment, which has been nominated for two Emmy Awards, bringing national attention to both the crisis and the potential for recovery.
VETS calls on federal agencies, academic institutions, and policymakers to build on this momentum by rapidly funding large-scale clinical trials, establishing clear regulatory pathways, and prioritizing veteran populations in research efforts.
About Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)
Founded in 2019, Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the veteran suicide epidemic through three core pillars: resources, research, and advocacy. VETS provides access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans and their spouses, supports scientific research with leading institutions, and works with policymakers to advance evidence-based treatment options for traumatic brain injury, PTSD, addiction, and other service-related conditions. Since its founding, VETS has supported more than 1,300 veterans and spouses with treatment access and comprehensive integration support.
Media Contact
Brad Burge, Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), 1 6508636887, [email protected], https://vetsolutions.org
SOURCE Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)
Share this article