After being injured during combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chris Peskuski returned to civilian life damaged both physically and emotionally.
Even before deciding to leave the U.S. Marine Corps in 2011, the Albuquerque resident said he was starting to spiral due to alcohol abuse, a brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder.
“It took me a long time to admit this to myself, but I was broken and I was scaring myself enough to know that I needed to get out,” Peskuski said in a recent interview.
But Peskuski said he was able to turn his life and his marriage around after traveling to South America to use psilocybin, or magic mushrooms.
Now he’s one of several veterans who have been sharing their stories at the Roundhouse, as lawmakers debate creating a state-run psilocybin program for medical patients.
A bill that would make New Mexico just the second state in the nation with such a program, Senate Bill 219, passed the Senate last week on a 33-4 vote. It’s scheduled to be heard in its only assigned House committee on Monday and could reach the House floor later this week.
The advocacy of Peskuski and other veterans at the Roundhouse has already made an impact.
During the Senate debate on the bill this week, Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, said he was previously staunchly opposed to a state-sanctioned psilocybin program.
But he said he changed his mind after a heartfelt conversation with Peskuski, who sat on the chamber floor alongside Block while his wife and 7-year old son watched from the Senate gallery.
“There are many veterans who haven’t come yet,” Block said at one point during the Senate debate on the bill, referring to struggles with mental health issues.
Peskuski said he was encouraged to share his story with lawmakers by other veterans like Crystal C. Romero, who spoke about her own struggles with post traumatic stress disorder at a recent Senate committee hearing.
“I know that our voices have made an impact and changed some people’s minds up here,” Peskuski said.
Going forward, he said he wants to become a psychedelic facilitator to help other veterans experiencing similar struggles to his own.
“There’s a lot of stigma around it in the Marine Corps,” Peskuski said. “Mental health issues weren’t really talked about.”
NM would follow Oregon’s lead under bill
The bill advancing at the Roundhouse would create an advisory board under the New Mexico Department of Health to oversee supervised use of psilocybin for patients.
At least at the start, patients with four conditions would be eligible for the program, which would officially begin in 2028. Those conditions, which would have to be certified by a physician, are depression, substance abuse disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and end-of-life care.
It would also decriminalize the production, prescription and possession of medical psilocybin.
If the bill is signed into law, New Mexico would follow in the steps of Oregon, which became the first state to decriminalize possession and legalize use of psilocybin in 2022, though such use must be monitored.
Some other countries have also decriminalized or partly legalized psilocybin, including Australia, Brazil, Peru, Portugal and Switzerland.
Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma, also pointed out during the Senate floor debate that psilocybin has been used for thousands of years by indigenous healers.
“This medicine is not ground-breaking,” she said. “It’s only new to western modalities of healing.”
But several skeptical senators pointed out the drug is still illegal at the federal level, since it’s classified as a Schedule 1 substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and raised questions about its side effects.
An unlikely road to healing
After leaving the military, Peskuski said he tried more traditional types of therapy at his wife’s urging, including a psychotherapy treatment and acupuncture, but found them only mildly helpful.
At one point, he said he was using a daily regiment of pharmaceutical drugs including Adderall to get out of bed in the morning, and alcohol mixed with Tramadol go to sleep at night.
“I was just super depressed, and became completely demoralized to the point where I really didn’t care anymore,” Peskuski said.
With his health deteriorating, he said a friend referred him to a nonprofit group called Heroic Hearts that helps U.S. military veterans navigate psychedelic therapy.
But that group had a lengthy wait list, so Peskuski decided to travel to Peru on his own to undergo a psilocybin medical treatment.
“I’m either going to die in Peru doing this medicine, or I’m going to die here one way or another,” he recalled thinking. “I was pretty much at the point where I had nothing left to lose.”
Peskuski said he had previously tried psilocybin as an adolescent but just for recreational purposes. He recalls the experience as “just running around tripping.”
As an adult using the hallucinogenic drug in a more controlled setting, he described the experience as profound. Specifically, he said it prompted him to take ownership of his personal struggles, while also reminding him of his resiliency.
“In my core, I am a warrior and I had forgotten that and I’d become a victim in so many ways,” Peskuski said.
He said he’s now able to be a better husband and father, though he said he also sticks to a daily routine of meditation, breath work and martial arts to remain grounded.
“What it really comes down to is I’m here — I’m present wherever I’m at, and I can be present for my family,” said Peskuski.
“I’m not worried about the future, and I’m not dwelling on my past,” he added.
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Source: American Military News
