[PRESSWIRE] September 29, 2026 – WASHINGTON, D.C. — On September 14th, 2026 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a public hearing on “Considerations for Potential Future Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs.” Two weeks later, the hearing is over – but the opportunity for the public to help shape the federal conversation is not.
The FDA is accepting public comments through October 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. SSDP is encouraging researchers, clinicians, patients, advocates, people with lived experience, and members of the public to use a federal comment tool created by SSDP’s grassroots network to submit comments directly to the FDA.
Federal attention has accelerated significantly in 2026. In April, Executive Order 14401 directed federal agencies to accelerate psychedelic research and appropriate drug approvals. In July, FDA finalized its first guidance specifically addressing psychedelic drug clinical investigations, and on September 14, FDA convened a major public hearing on the potential future therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs.
The FDA hearing brought together federal officials, researchers, clinicians, advocates, and other stakeholders to provide perspectives on the potential future therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. Eighty people were selected to speak from a pool of hundreds of people who applied. There was a combination of in-person and virtual speakers, including two representatives from SSDP. The testimony was overwhelmingly positive about the potential future therapeutic use of psychedelics. Rather than debating whether psychedelics have therapeutic potential, most speakers focused on what responsible access should look like – including patient safeguards, provider qualifications, quality assurance, data collection, and equitable access.
“What struck me most was just how dramatically the conversation has changed,” said SSDP Executive Director Kat Murti. “Speaker after speaker came to the FDA ready to talk seriously about how we move psychedelic therapies forward safely and responsibly. Kevin Sabet, one of the few remaining advocates of the failed War on Drugs, was the only speaker to come out squarely against psychedelic therapies – and he didn’t even have the courage to appear in person. The debate in the room wasn’t really about whether psychedelics have a future in medicine. It was about what that future should look like and who gets to help shape it.”
“Psychedelics regulation must protect public health without entrenching exclusion,” said SSDP Ambassador Jorge Valderrábano, Advocacy Officer at Agora Innovation Lab, who spoke at the FDA hearing. “The clearest path forward is a phased, evidence-based framework that combines certified sites, regulated supply, mandatory safety standards, accountable clinicians, and transparent reporting while progressively expanding access beyond hospital settings.”
The FDA hearing also highlighted areas of ongoing debate about how psychedelic-assisted care could be structured, including questions about the role of therapy and who should be permitted to facilitate psychedelic care.
“The biggest divide I noticed was around whether therapy should be required and who should be allowed to facilitate psychedelic care,” said SSDP Ambassador Zane Qarni, who attended the hearing. “Different professionals had very different ideas of what the future of psychedelic treatment should look like.”
Turning an FDA Hearing into a Community Conversation
For SSDP, participating in the FDA hearing was only one part of the effort. The hearing created a rare moment of federal attention on psychedelics – and an opportunity to bring together the people working across psychedelic research, care, access, and policy to make sense of what they had heard, build connections across the movement, and discuss what should come next.
That evening, more than 150 advocates, researchers, clinicians, veterans, policy leaders, and community members gathered at THE GATEWAY, hosted by SSDP and partners, to unpack what they had heard at the FDA, discuss what it could mean for the future of psychedelics, and ask what should come next. The gathering created space for the deeper conversations that could not happen within two-minute testimony at a federal hearing, bringing together people approaching psychedelic policy from different parts of the field.
The evening featured SSDP’s Murti; Betty Aldworth, Co-Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which has spent decades advancing psychedelic research and helping build pathways for psychedelic-assisted therapies; Meredith Thomas of Thank You Life, which works to address financial barriers to psychedelic therapy; Simeon Schnapper of JLS Fund; Brigitte Gordon, DNP, PMHNP-BC, of Journey Clinical, who also testified at the FDA hearing; and veteran advocate Samantha Juan. The conversation was hosted by Joe Moore of Psychedelics Today, Anne Philippi of The New Health Club, and Marissa Feinberg of PSYCA and Triple Bottom Why. Together, they brought perspectives spanning research, clinical care, patient access, philanthropy, veterans, policy, and movement building to the central question: What comes next?
Taylor Puch, M.Sc., Secretary of the Board, Appointed Director, and Co-Chair of SSDP’s Psychedelics Committee, participated in the FDA hearing and THE GATEWAY before joining SSDPers on Capitol Hill the following day.
“If you had told 16-year-old me that one day I would stand inside the FDA headquarters with hundreds of people talking openly about the future of psychedelics, I don’t think I would have believed you. At the time, I was just beginning to understand these substances and why something that felt so meaningful to me was treated as something that should not even be discussed. Years later, after dedicating my career to this field, I found myself sitting in that room, not just as a professional in the space, but as someone who has personally experienced the impact these substances can have. That evening, I joined more than 150 people at THE GATEWAY to keep that conversation going. The next day, I joined my SSDP colleagues on Capitol Hill to bring it directly to Congress.”
From FDA Headquarters to Capitol Hill
On September 15th, SSDPers took that conversation to Capitol Hill, holding 17 in-person meetings with congressional offices and educating more than 200 offices about psychedelic policy. In the two weeks since, SSDPers have continued that outreach through additional virtual meetings with congressional offices. Advocates brought lawmakers and staff perspectives on psychedelic research, therapeutic access, regulation, and the need to reduce barriers to scientific inquiry.
“SSDP supports measured regulation grounded in scientific evidence and a federal framework that expands legitimate research, creates appropriate pathways for patients to access promising therapies, and ensures that the Controlled Substances Act reflects current medical and scientific knowledge,” said Murti. “As psychedelic therapies continue to develop, federal policy should also support evidence-based education, provider training, harm reduction, and accessible care while reducing stigma and protecting individual choice. We have decades of experience with the War on Drugs showing us that prohibition and criminalization can create harms of their own. As Congress considers the future of psychedelics, we have an opportunity to build policy around evidence, public health, and human dignity rather than repeating those mistakes.”
SSDPers participating in the Lobby Day reported engaged conversations with congressional offices across the political spectrum.
“It was a nice surprise to see almost all Senate offices express a genuine interest in or willingness to expand psychedelic research and/or therapeutic access to PATs [psychedelic-assisted therapies],” said SSDP Ambassador Madison Carlino, Drug Policy Analyst for the Reason Foundationr. “Seeing how bipartisan these issues are left me hopeful for future action at both the state level and in Congress, particularly to remove barriers to psychedelic research.”
Psychedelic research and therapeutic access have increasingly drawn interest from lawmakers across party lines. The Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus reflects that interest as members of Congress introduce legislation related to psychedelic research and access to psychedelic-assisted therapies.
“This is not about left or right, this is a bipartisan issue,” said SSDP Elected Director and Chair of SSDP’s Policy Committee Naomi Shifman.
Research, Access, and the Future of Federal Drug Policy
The FDA hearing also underscored a broader challenge facing psychedelic policy: Today’s scientific research is advancing within a regulatory system shaped by past decades of drug prohibition.
For researchers, clinicians, and advocates, the development of psychedelic therapies raises questions about whether existing federal frameworks can accommodate emerging science without unnecessarily restricting research or limiting future treatment options. SSDP argues that federal policy should distinguish between the scientific evaluation of a substance and assumptions based on its historical legal status. Research should be allowed to establish where psychedelic therapies are effective, where they are not, what risks they present, which patients may benefit, and what safeguards are necessary.
For Karley Snyder MPA, PMP, Prosci® , an appointed board member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the federal conversation must balance emerging scientific evidence and appropriate safeguards, with individual autonomy. “The FDA’s public hearing on the future of psychedelic medicine was an important opportunity to share with federal organizations what operationalizing these tools could look like. As a board member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, I believe we have a responsibility to take seriously the emerging evidence that psychedelic-assisted therapies can reduce suicidal ideation and show promise in treating substance use disorders.”
Reform does not mean eliminating safeguards. Instead, advocates argue that regulation should be designed around the actual risks and benefits of psychedelic therapies rather than historical stigma surrounding the substances themselves.
Snyder continued, “Stigma has historically limited our ability to research, understand, and responsibly advance these tools. We cannot allow outdated perceptions of psychedelics to stand in the way of scientific progress or the development of new options for people who desperately need them. At the same time, personal sovereignty must remain central to this conversation. Adults should have the ability to make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing, with access to accurate information, appropriate safeguards, and evidence-based options. People deserve access to tools that can help them stay alive, recover, and build healthier lives-and they deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their own care.”
A future federal framework should expand legitimate scientific research while reducing unnecessary barriers to clinical investigation, establish evidence-based safety and quality standards for psychedelic products and therapeutic settings, and create appropriate training and accountability standards for clinicians and other qualified facilitators. It should also protect informed consent by ensuring that patients have access to accurate information about potential risks and benefits, while developing pathways to care that do not unnecessarily restrict access. Federal policy should support harm reduction education and accurate public information, remain responsive to emerging scientific evidence rather than outdated assumptions, and recognize and respect the cultural and historical significance of psychedelic practices, including the traditions and sovereignty of Indigenous communities.
Reflecting on the experience, Puch added, “Those two days represented both how far we’ve come and how much work remains. It was also a reminder that progress does not happen on its own, rather, it happens when researchers, advocates, people with lived experience, and policymakers come together and demand that evidence and people, not stigma and outdated drug policy, shape the future of psychedelics. I am incredibly grateful to be part of this movement working to make that future possible.”
Submit a Public Comment and Take Action Before October 5, 2026
The FDA is currently accepting written comments through October 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. That means there is still time for the people who will be affected by federal psychedelic policy to make their voices heard.
SSDP is encouraging researchers, clinicians, patients, advocates, people with lived experience, and members of the public to participate in the federal process and share their perspectives on the future of psychedelic research and therapeutic policy. Members of the public can submit comments through SSDP’s easy-to-use federal comment tool.
Public comments can provide the FDAs with information about scientific research, clinical experience, barriers to research and care, patient perspectives, safety considerations, and the potential consequences of different regulatory approaches.
The people affected by federal drug policy belong in the rooms where that policy is made. SSDPers showed up at FDA. More than 150 people gathered afterward to keep the conversation going. SSDPers took that conversation to more than 200 congressional offices. Now SSDP is asking the public to show up, too.
SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT TO THE FDA
With chapters on campuses and in communities across the country, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is the largest youth-led grassroots network dedicated to replacing War on Drug policies with those rooted in evidence, compassion, and human rights.
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For more information, please visit ssdp.org.