Matthew Butler, who spent 27 years in the Army, holds a 2014 photograph of himself during his last deployment in Kabul Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 30, in Sandy, Utah. Butler is now one of the military veterans in several U.S. states who are helping convince conservative lawmakers to take cautious steps toward allowing the therapeutic use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs. The therapeutic used of so-called magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs is making inroads in several U.S. states, including some with conservative leaders, as new research points to their therapeutic value and military veterans who have used them to treat post-traumatic stress disorder become advocates. AP photo/Rick Bowmer photo
Lindsay WhitehurstThe Associated PressMatthew Butler spent 27 years in the Army, but it took a day in jail to convince him his post-traumatic stress disorder was out of control.The recently retired Green Beret had already tried antidepressants, therapy and a support dog. But his arrest for punching a hole in his father’s wall after his family tried to stage an intervention in Utah made it clear none of it was working.“I had a nice house. I had a great job, whatever, but I was unable to sleep, had frequent nightmares, crippling anxiety, avoiding crowds,” he said. “My life was a wreck.”He eventually found psychedelic drugs, and he said they changed his life.“I was able to finally step way back and go, ‘Oh, I see what’s going on here. I get it now,’
