“Make love, not war” was the peace movement’s slogan during the Vietnam War era. Nowadays, the U.S. military establishment seems poised to embrace a new slogan: make love and war.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, lawmakers in Congress from both political parties are trying to leverage a must-pass defense funding bill as a means to advance several drug policy reform proposals. The Pentagon brass has generally expressed support for these measures.

More than 1,400 amendments have been filed so far to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA is essential for national security, which is why it often gets amended every year with a host of provisions unrelated to defense, a political tactic known as “decorating the Christmas tree.” This time around, those decorations involve marijuana and psychedelics.

The amendments seek to expand access to medical marijuana for military veterans, fast-track the rescheduling of psychedelics, protect people from being denied security clearances over marijuana, and allow military servicemembers to use cannabidiol (CBD) products.

The line between soldiering and the hippie culture has blurred. At stake are billions of dollars in potential pharmaceutical treatments. We’re already seeing a proliferation of start-up biotechs exploring the use of cannabis and psychedelics for medical and psychiatric treatments. Venture capitalists, individual investors, and Big Pharma are scrambling to get a piece of the early action.

According to a recent report by Global Industry Analysts, the psychedelic drugs market is set to reach a value of $6.3 billion in 2026, up from $3.2 billion in 2021. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 14.5% during the five-year forecast period.

WATCH THIS VIDEO: Cannabis Legal Reform Rolls On

Congressional members are hoping that the NDAA bill will be used to enact the drug policy reforms when Congress reconvenes after the July 4th recess. We’ll know in the coming weeks which amendments survive, and which don’t.

One amendment would authorize doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue medical cannabis recommendations to veterans living in states where marijuana is legal. Another would promote MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans. MDMA is methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy.

The VA recently began administering psychedelic substances to patients as a part of clinical trials in search of new treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and a host of other ailments that disproportionately affect veterans of recent wars. At least five trials are currently underway, deploying such substances as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), MDMA, and psilocybin (the psychoactive ingredient in “magic mushrooms”).

Under a psychedelics measure to the NDAA funding bill, the Secretary of the Department of Defense would be required to initiate clinical trials into the therapeutic benefits of certain psychedelics for active duty service members with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and other chronic physical and psychological ailments.

The clinical trials would be required to involve psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine, or N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). The secretary would be mandated to give lawmakers a report within 12 months of the enactment of the legislation with data about the trial’s results.

Another psychedelics measure would empower the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to transfer drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA that have received “breakthrough therapy” designations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The following chart shows how drugs are classified by the federal government:

A cannabis amendment to the NDAA bill calls for the creation of a Department of Defense medical program that would study the health effects of marijuana used by veterans and service members who are VA beneficiaries.

To be eligible for the program, the VA participant would need to have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression or anxiety, or have been prescribed a pain management regimen.

Two additional cannabis amendments would 1) prohibit drug testing for marijuana as a requirement for military enlistment, and 2) require the defense secretary to develop a plan to provide reenlistment waivers to service members who test positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

America still operates a vastly expensive and destructive war machine. However, as it often does with other broad social movements, the Pentagon high command is embracing drug reform.

The time for investors to act is now. As cannabis enters the mainstream, some pot stocks are superb investments. But many others are not. You need to conduct due diligence.

That’s where my publication, Marijuana Profit Alert, comes in. By applying my proprietary screening methodologies, I pinpoint for subscribers the most attractive plays on the psychotropic revolution. To learn more, click here.

John Persinos is the chief investment strategist of Marijuana Profit Alert.

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