Treating soldiers with psychedelics?
In a world of constant partisan fury, the National Defense Authorization Act remains a bit of an elixir.
That's the monster 3,000-page military spending package that has become one of the few areas in Congress where Republicans and Democrats mostly still come together to make sure the Defense Department can function.
This year has been no exception despite months of government shutdowns and other policy breakdowns. Both Republicans and Democrats all over the state were hailing the NDAA's passage, which was stuffed with all kinds of political goodies like pay raises for soldiers and new construction projects at military bases all over the state, including new barracks at Fort Cavazos.
But it also contains revolutionary new research into using psychedelics to treat soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. For years, U.S. Reps. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-Bronx, have been trying to get Congress to allow the Pentagon to study psychedelics, a treatment that has shown promise but is only available overseas because of anti-drug laws in the U.S. You can imagine the stigma around the topic in the Senate dinning room.
But that changed with Thursday's vote. The NDAA directs the Department of Defense to create a clinical trial program for psychedelic-assisted therapy. The Senate, which had been the stumbling block, already agreed to the language. While the research is starting with the Pentagon, Ocasio Cortez has said previously that her goal is to eventually allow others outside the military suffering from PTSD to benefit from the research.
"This will save lives and potentially revolutionize the way we treat all types of PTSD," Crenshaw said after the bill overwhelmingly passed the House.
Who's up, who's down
Up: Soldiers.
Christmas came early for soldiers on Texas' 15 active duty military bases. The NDAA that is on its way to President Joe Biden has a 5.2 percent pay raise for members of the military. That is the biggest pay raise for the military in more than 20 years.
Down: Oil workers.
In a year in which Texas oil workers are helping the U.S. set all kinds of records for extracting oil and gas, world leaders just signed a deal in Dubai that calls for nations to move away from fossil fuels because of the impact on climate change. Not so coincidentally, after the deal was signed, Gov. Greg Abbott put out a social media post vowing to defend the industry
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What else is going on in Texas
 Photo by: Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer | | Gov. Abbott and ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas touted a new Calpine power plant in Freestone County. | |
 Photo by: Kirk Sides, Staff Photographer | | Rice University's president reiterated the university's position against antisemitism after Ivy Plus leaders failed to denounce on-campus speech that calls for the genocide of Jews. | |
 Photo by: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | | Police in Texas have found unregulated radioactive material dozens of times over the last five years through the program, which is set to end next year. | |
 Photo by: Joel Martinez, MBI / Associated Press | | Texas' 2024 election season officially began this week as the clock ran out for candidates to enter the March primaries, setting the field for Houston-area races up and down the ballot. | |
 Photo by: J. Scott Applewhite, AP | | Senate negotiators and the President Joe Biden's administration are still racing to wrap up a border security compromise to unlock the stalemate before the end of the year. | |
 Photo by: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg | | To secure more aid for Ukraine, the White House is negotiating with Senate Republicans on a deal to revive Trump-era border policies. | |
Pick of the day
Andrew Collins, an independent voter, was one of many who talked to the Associated Press about the potential 2024 presidential matchup between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Their poll showed Trump and Biden both have significant negative approval ratings among independent voters in particular.
What else I'm reading
The price tag for impeaching Texas Attorney Ken Paxton keeps climbing. Philip Jankowski at the Dallas Morning News said invoices and receipts they have obtained show that more than $4.3 million was spent for the two-week impeachment trail in September. The Senate voted to acquit Paxton of all charges.
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