California is putting real money behind a question thousands of veterans have been asking for years: what happens when conventional PTSD treatment doesn't work? On September 18, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 113, a state budget trailer bill that directs $4.7 million toward researching whether psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine can help veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD. It's the first time California has put its own money behind this kind of research, and it's the product of three years of advocacy from veterans who felt out of options.
What the new law actually does
AB 113 absorbed the language of Senate Bill 1224, the California Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, which lawmakers had been pushing for since 2023. The funding is narrowly scoped: it pays for research into psilocybin, ibogaine, MDMA, DMT and ketamine, but only when those substances are administered inside a federally registered clinical trial, not through general clinical use. Nobody walks into a California clinic and gets a state-funded psychedelic prescription because of this bill. What changes is that legitimate, federally sanctioned research on veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury now has a dedicated state funding stream behind it.
The law also requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs to convene a California Veteran Emerging Therapies Research Advisory Council, giving veterans, clinicians and researchers a formal seat at the table as the state figures out where the research dollars go, according to VETS, the veteran-led advocacy group that pushed the legislation.
Why this matters beyond California
Standard PTSD treatments, talk therapy and existing medications, simply don't work for every veteran. For the subset who don't respond, the options have historically been limited to whatever clinical trials happen to be recruiting, often far from home and with long waitlists. A dedicated state research fund won't get anyone into treatment tomorrow, but it signals that the state sees treatment-resistant PTSD as a solvable research problem worth resourcing, not a dead end.
Governor Newsom framed the signing in blunt terms: "California owes our veterans more than gratitude. We owe them action," he said. "AB 113 puts real state resources behind finding new answers for veterans struggling with PTSD, TBI, and the invisible wounds of service. Now, it's our turn to be brave, to serve our veterans through bold leadership and real action."
This is also California's third consecutive year advancing legislation in this space, a sign that what started as a narrow policy experiment is becoming a sustained state commitment. Veterans in other states watching this play out may see it as a preview of where research funding conversations are headed nationally, even if the clinical trials themselves stay concentrated in states that fund them.
A state benefit worth knowing about
If you're a California veteran, this bill is one more piece of a benefits landscape that's worth understanding in full, from research funding like this to property tax breaks and education benefits. Our California veteran benefits guide breaks down what's currently available in the state.
At Operation WarriorFit, we believe movement and mental health are connected, whether that's a state-funded research trial or a 5K finish line. If you're a veteran, service member, or first responder looking for a free or low-cost race entry to help you get moving toward your own version of feeling like yourself again, check your eligibility and see what's available near you.