Psychedelics for San Diego veterans: research, bills and options

As of October 2026, no psilocybin or MDMA treatment is legally available to veterans in San Diego except inside approved clinical trials. Both drugs are still Schedule I. What has changed is research money: in September 2026 California set aside $4.7 million for veterans' psychedelic research, an effort that San Diego County legislators and veterans' groups pushed for years.^1,2

Where things stand in October 2026

If you're a veteran in San Diego County weighing psychedelic treatment, the short version is that the law hasn't moved but the research has. Here's the status of each piece, checked against the bills, trial registries and agency records cited below.

This page is general information, not legal or medical advice.

Why San Diego keeps showing up in this debate

San Diego County is a military county. Naval Base San Diego, Naval Base Coronado, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Camp Pendleton are all here, and so are a lot of the veterans who've lobbied Sacramento on psychedelic research. The county's legislators, from both parties, have carried or championed several of California's veterans' psychedelic bills since 2021.

Marie Waldron (R-Escondido area)

Former Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron, who represented North County, has said her interest began on Veterans Day 2021, when she heard Navy SEALs at a Coronado fundraiser describe psychedelic treatment for PTSD. She authored AB 941, a bill to create a state workgroup on psychedelic-assisted therapy, and coauthored SB 1012 with San Francisco's Scott Wiener. Both died in 2024.^11,12 Waldron was termed out and left the Assembly on November 30, 2024.¹³

Brian Jones (R-Santee)

State Sen. Brian Jones of Santee teamed up with Sen. Josh Becker on SB 803, the "Heal Our Heroes Act," in 2024. It would have run a psilocybin pilot for veterans and former first responders in three counties: San Francisco, Santa Cruz and San Diego. Its sponsors pulled it in late June 2024.¹⁴ In 2026 Jones championed SB 1224, the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, which was held in committee on August 13, 2026. Its core idea, state money for veterans' psychedelic research, then moved into the budget.^1,5

Chris Ward (D-San Diego)

Assemblymember Chris Ward's AB 1103 was signed in October 2025 and took effect January 1, 2026. Any study in California that uses a Schedule I or II drug, such as psilocybin, MDMA or ibogaine, needs approval from the Research Advisory Panel of California. AB 1103 lets small groups of panel members approve qualifying federally authorized studies instead of waiting for a full meeting. It runs until January 1, 2028. The veterans' group VETS sponsored it.^6,15

The pattern across all of these bills is consistent: support for research and supervised programs for veterans, not open legalization. Even SB 751, Sen. Becker's 2025 bill for UC-run veterans' pilots in up to five counties, died on February 2, 2026.¹⁶ For the full legal picture, see our guide to whether mushrooms are legal in San Diego.

What AB 113's $4.7 million does, and what it doesn't

AB 113 is a trailer bill to the 2026 Budget Act. It was chaptered on September 18, 2026, as Chapter 248, Statutes of 2026.⁴ The Senate floor analysis lists $4.7 million from the General Fund for the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine "to support veterans' psychedelic research."² VETS called it California's first state investment in veteran psychedelic-assisted therapy research.¹⁵

KPBS reported that the language grew out of SB 1224, with support from the Heroic Hearts Project, the American Legion, AMVETS, Healing Breakthrough, the Military Officers Association of America, Vietnam Veterans of America and VFW California.¹ SB 1224 had proposed a fund run by the state Department of Health Care Services and CalVet, with grants to a University of California campus that would anchor federally registered clinical trials, and it barred using the money to buy or hand out controlled substances.⁵ The enacted budget routes the money through the precision medicine initiative instead. As of October 20, 2026, we found no campus or study publicly named, so the first grant announcement is the thing to watch.

Trials with San Diego ties

VA San Diego's MDMA studies

VA San Diego Healthcare System has hosted two small MDMA trials for PTSD led by Dr. Leslie Morland of VA San Diego, the VA National Center for PTSD and UC San Diego:

• MDMA with couples therapy (NCT05979844). Veterans with PTSD and their partners took part in a brief cognitive behavioral conjoint therapy, with the veteran receiving MDMA in two full-day sessions with the partner present. It enrolled 16 people and was completed on November 14, 2025. No results had been posted as of October 20, 2026.^7,17
• MDMA with massed prolonged exposure (NCT06117306). Sponsored by Healing Breakthrough with VA San Diego and the National Center for PTSD. It started in October 2024 and is listed as active, not recruiting, with completion estimated for March 2027.⁸

UC San Diego

UC San Diego's Center for Psychedelic Research runs psilocybin studies, but none listed today is specific to veterans. The phantom limb pain research is relevant to amputees, and the university was a site for Compass Pathways' depression trials. Our San Diego research guide lists every study with its status. To check what's enrolling, use UC San Diego's trial portal and ClinicalTrials.gov.¹⁸

Federal research: VA and Defense Department

On August 5, 2026, the VA announced PIVOT, a Phase 3 psilocybin trial for about 240 veterans with treatment-resistant depression. Its sites are in Alabama, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. There is no San Diego site, and the estimated primary completion date is December 2030.⁹

The Pentagon is funding research too. Section 723 of the fiscal 2024 defense authorization law told the Defense Secretary to set up funding for research on treating service members with PTS or traumatic brain injury using MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine and some other substances.¹⁹ A January 2026 Defense Department report listed two funded MDMA trials worth $9.8 million combined, at Walter Reed and UT Health San Antonio. Neither had enrolled patients at the time, and neither has a San Diego or Navy site.²⁰

Executive Order 14401, signed April 18, 2026, directs HHS, the FDA and the VA to share data and expand trial participation for breakthrough-designated psychedelics. It doesn't reschedule any drug.²¹ Our explainer covers what the order changes in California.

If you're still on active duty

Service members are in a different legal position from veterans. Article 112a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice punishes anyone subject to the UCMJ who wrongfully uses, possesses, distributes or imports a substance on the federal schedules, which includes psilocybin. Punishment is whatever a court-martial directs.²²

That rule travels with you. A city's deprioritization resolution, Oregon's licensed service centers, Colorado's healing centers and Mexico's ceremonial exceptions don't protect anyone subject to the UCMJ. Article 112a also separately names importing a controlled substance into the United States.²² The one carve-out in the defense law is narrow: it lets the Defense Secretary authorize active-duty members to take part in FDA-authorized psychedelic trials "without regard to" Schedule I status or Article 112a.¹⁹

This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a military defense attorney or legal assistance office about your own situation.

Retreats in Mexico

Many San Diego veterans hear about psilocybin and ibogaine retreats in Tijuana and Baja. Before going, know how Mexican and U.S. law treat them. Mexico's General Health Law lists hallucinogenic mushrooms and psilocin in its most restricted group of psychotropics, and its personal-use table has no psilocybin entry. Mexico exempts only indigenous and Afro-Mexican ceremonial use from prosecution.²³ Bringing a Schedule I substance back across the border at San Ysidro or Otay Mesa is federal importation, punishable by up to 20 years.²⁴

We cover the legal and safety questions in detail in our guide to psychedelic retreats in Tijuana and Baja.

Legal options for veterans right now

• Clinical trials. Search UC San Diego's trial portal and ClinicalTrials.gov, and ask your VA care team about trials elsewhere.¹⁸
• Oregon and Colorado. Oregon's licensed psilocybin services are open to adults 21 and older, including those who don't live in Oregon. Products must be used at the service center and can't be taken home.²⁵ Colorado runs licensed healing centers; we couldn't confirm whether they take clients from other states. See where legal access stands this fall.
• VA mental health care. Approved PTSD and depression treatments are available through the VA, and veterans and service members can reach the Veterans Crisis Line without being enrolled in VA health care.²⁶
• Legal alternatives your doctor can discuss. Ketamine and esketamine are legal treatments in some cases. Our guide to psychedelic therapy in San Diego explains them.

The veterans' groups behind the push

• VETS (Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions), co-founded in 2019 by former Navy SEAL Marcus Capone and Amber Capone, sponsored AB 1103 and backed AB 113.¹⁵
• Heroic Hearts Project, founded by Jesse Gould, supported SB 1224 and AB 113.¹
• Healing Breakthrough sponsors the VA San Diego prolonged-exposure MDMA trial. Its executive director, Juliana Mercer, a former Marine who worked with wounded service members at Wounded Warrior Battalion West in San Diego, told the American Legion that "None of this conversation is around decriminalization or legalization."²⁷
• The American Legion has adopted a resolution on emerging therapies to address veteran suicides.²⁷

Get help now

• Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255. It's available 24/7 to veterans, service members, Guard and Reserve members, and their families and friends.²⁶
• San Diego Access & Crisis Line: 888-724-7240, 24/7, with mobile crisis teams.
• Fireside Project: psychedelic peer support by call or text at 62-FIRESIDE (623-473-7433), 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific. It isn't a crisis line.
• Emergency: 911.