Ex-British army chief calls on ministers to back MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans | Military

A former British army chief is calling on the government to ease restrictions on the party drug MDMA so it can be trialled more cheaply as a treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Sir Nick Carter, who served as chief of the defense staff until 2021, said current regulations meant a single gram of “medical grade” MDMA cost around £10,000, compared to a street price of around £40, inflating the cost of trials.

The Sandhurst-trained former general wants Britain to continue its trials after a study in Nature Medicine showed PTSD symptoms were eliminated in 71% of 52 cases where MDMA-assisted therapy was trialled.

Carter said early results showed MDMA therapy had the potential to be more effective than existing treatments for PTSD, which affects about 9 percent of veterans who served during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“What we want is for the government to make the cost of testing much cheaper. We’re not asking for MDMA to be declassified, but there should be some sort of reduction in its classification when it comes to medical treatment,” Carter said.

The potential benefits could extend beyond the military, Carter added. “This could help not only veterans, but also others like the police and workers in other emergency services and the NHS,” he said.

MDMA, or ecstasy, is a class A drug in the UK and is illegal to sell or possess, although it can still be purchased from dealers on the black market. But to be used in a clinical environment, it must be purchased abroad and expensively transported in a special convoy to researchers.

A group from Cambridge University is seeking to raise £2 million to fund a new trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for around 40 people, in partnership with the charity Supporting Wounded Veterans, of which Carter is a patron.

So far £700,000 has been raised, according to Gilly Norton, the charity’s chief executive, for tests to cover a group of veterans, first responders and war correspondents all suffering from PTSD in the UK.

When used recreationally, in small doses, MDMA produces feelings of euphoria and acts as an empathogen, increasing feelings of well-being, empathy and compassion. These are the qualities that mental health researchers want to take advantage of.

A course of MDMA-assisted therapy consists of two or three eight-hour sessions with a therapist to explore underlying issues that a person suffering from PTSD would normally be reluctant to explore.

“Essentially, it affects the plasticity of the brain,” Carter said. “So when the psychiatrist asks questions, the patient is much more responsive. The process needs to be closely monitored; it’s not about creating a trip, it’s about getting the right effect.”

One of those hoping to benefit is Martin Wade, 53, a former British Army lawyer, who developed complex PTSD several years after being deployed to Helmand province, Afghanistan, with the Royal Marines in 2006-07.

One of Wade’s responsibilities included deciding whether a proposed operation complied with UK and international law, as the sole lawyer responsible for the deployment.

“What I found particularly difficult was that as time went on, I felt more and more responsible for what was happening on the field,” Wade said.

Wade also conducted initial investigations into incidents in which civilians were killed, to determine whether a military police killing investigation was necessary.

In one case, he had to decide whether a war crime had been committed after a soldier fired a warning shot into the ground in front of a car heading toward a military convoy. The bullet ricocheted, went through the engine compartment, killing the driver, a woman and her 3-year-old child she was holding, Wade said.

“One hit, three dead civilians, no bombs on board, and this 18 or 19 year old and the rest of the convoy are really traumatized. I get on a plane to deal with this, and all of a sudden… I can feel my body now. Where do I start?” He concluded that it was a “terrible, terrible mistake”.

In the years that followed, Wade struggled with drinking and mental health issues, before being diagnosed with PTSD and ultimately being abruptly discharged from the military. Further psychiatric treatment in hospitals followed and gradually Wade’s condition improved, partly helped by the fact that he had become an artist.

Wade said he wishes he could try MDMA-assisted therapy because he believes the trials “really offer some hope to veterans.”

He said he understands that “it gives you a sense of self-worth when you talk about difficult, ingrained experiences that have become part of a chronic illness.”

Despite many years of conventional therapies “and all my best and earnest efforts to make the symptoms go away,” Wade said he was never able to eliminate “the hypervigilance, the hyper-arousal, the flashbacks and the nightmares.”

Wade called for more help for those suffering from PTSD. “What really irritates me is that when you are in a place like Afghanistan you realize how much missiles are being used at £80,000 per warhead.

“And you think what if the government gave every struggling veteran therapy worth £80,000.”