What an honor to have a seat at the table for the Psychedelics 101 briefing hosted by the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus and organized with the help of former Rep. Mimi Walters (R-CA).

SSDP Executive Director Kat Murti ’09 and Program Assistant Chandler Huffman ’25 attended the meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building earlier this week.

Dr. Peter Hendricks, the Heersink Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Dr. Frederick Barrett, Director at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University, provided an insightful and interesting overview of recent clinical studies on psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, ibogaine, and 5-MeO-DMT, their potential for addressing mental health challenges, and other therapeutic applications.

At a time when political polarization is tearing this country apart at its seams, PATH Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI) and J. Luis (Lou) Correa (D-CA) provide an inspiring model of bipartisan leadership in service of addressing some of the most pressing public health concerns. SSDP is very excited to work alongside them to support sensible drug policy at a Congressional level.