But the psychedelic renaissance brings new hope to this situation—and of sparking wider reform, when veteran-focused legislation may help open the door to broader access. The film In Waves and War, released on Netflix on November 3, will increase public exposure to harrowing issues and potential solutions.

The documentary, which premiered at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival, details the journeys to psychedelic treatment of three Navy SEALs: Marcus Capone, D.J. Shipley and Matty Roberts. 

“We’re so proud to have made this film,” Jon Shenk, who directed the film alongside Bonni Cohen, told the audience at a recent screening, hosted in Massachusetts by the veteran nonprofit Home Base. “Marcus was a 13-year Navy SEAL who sustained multiple [traumatic brain injuries] and concussions and was living with the aftermath of that devastating effect on his mental and physical health. He tried every pill and conventional therapy. They discovered this alternative therapy involving psychedelics, and it ended up really saving him.”

Another recent screening, which I attended, was hosted by the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute of Johns Hopkins University, at the Hopkins Bloomberg Institute in Washington, DC. Johns Hopkins, with its Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, has been among the pioneers in this space since 2000. Besides post-traumatic stress disorder, the department is researching psychedelic treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and smoking cessation, among other needs.

“It’s become painfully obvious to the people close to me that I am struggling in many aspects of my life.”

On screen, the three veterans candidly share painful memories of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. They endured frequent nightmares after experiencing events like ambushes, the bullet wound that saw Roberts receive a Purple Heart, and Operation Red Wings, which in 2005 ended with 19 US troops killed by Taliban forces.

Many of the scars didn’t heal, and for Capone in particular, his resulting health problems began to cause issues with his family. None of the therapies and medications the VA recommended were helping, and his conditions were only worsening.

“My mental condition has diminished. I’ve tried to hide this for the past couple years, but it’s become painfully obvious to the people close to me that I am struggling in many aspects of my life,” Capone wrote in his letter to request medical retirement from the Navy, part of which he reads out during In Waves and War.

“The audience was deeply moved by the story of Marcus Capone and his fellow Navy Seals, the efforts of Marcus’s wife Amber, and the ongoing struggles of our military veterans,” Dr. Virginia Jewiss, the moderator of the DC panel discussion and a professor at the Humanities Institute, told Filter after the event. “We were all stunned and dismayed to learn of the high suicide rates among the military.”

Jewiss also praised the film’s “creative use of animation to bring the viewer into the psychedelic experience.”

Hope for Capone seemed nonexistent, until his wife learned of the possibilities of psychedelic treatments that were being conducted at clinics in Mexico. The therapies utilized ibogaine and DMT, two naturally occurring psychedelics that are prohibited under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act in the US.

Capone was apprehensive, but after persuasion and eventually an ultimatum from his wife and family, he went to Mexico.

He found the treatment extraordinarily effective. He described gaining new, positive perspectives, or closure, on past traumas, such as the drowning death of a close friend and fellow SEAL. He believes this is unlikely to have happened through any VA-sanctioned therapy. 

“All of our friends that are suffering,” he told his wife after his trip, “we need to introduce this to them to get them better.”

Advocates have long urged that people in need should be able to receive psychedelic treatment without the cost and difficulty of leaving the country. There are signs they’re getting through.

In 2019, Marcus and Amber Capone founded the nonprofit VETS (Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions). Both Shipley and Roberts are among over 1,200 people they’ve since funded to receive psychedelic treatments.

“We can’t meet the demand,” Capone told PBS News. “We’re overwhelmed with applications. I’d say we can accept one out of every 10.”

Advocates have long urged that veterans and other people in need should be able to receive psychedelic treatment without the cost and difficulty of having to leave the country.

There are signs they’re getting through. In December 2024, it was announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs would fund its first study on psychedelic-assisted therapy since the 1960s, using MDMA for veterans with PTSD and AUD. Recently expanded VA research is also investigating MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD, treatment-resistant depression and anxiety disorders.

During animated sequences in the film, the three SEALs describe their experiences, with ibogaine and DMT, of overcoming or coming to internal peace with not only the traumas of war, but also traumatic events from life long before they enlisted.

“Ibogaine gets to the root cause of what’s affecting your everyday life,” Capone told PBS News. “Too many treatments put a Band-Aid fix on it …  but psychedelics get into your unconscious.”

“Mexico beat the crap out of me,” Roberts tells his therapist at the end of In Waves and War. “But I could feel a connection to everything.”  

Photograph of DC screening and panel by Josh Kasoff

Update, November 12: This article has been edited to include Dr. Jewiss’s comments, which were received after publication.

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Events over two days were coordinated by a pair of nonprofits that share these goals: Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and Balanced Veterans Network (BVN). Their representatives visited over a dozen congressional offices, including those of influential members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and other Congress members who are veterans.

“The main objectives of today and yesterday were to find co-sponsors for numerous federal bills, including the PREPARE Act (H.R. 2935), the Evidence-Based Drug Policy Act (H.R. 3082) and a number of veteran-focused access bills,” Jason Ortiz, LPP’s director of strategic initiatives, told Filter on September 30.

The PREPARE Act, introduced in April by Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH), would establish a federal commission to study and advise on ways to regulate cannabis similarly to alcohol.

“I think it’ll be invaluable to make sure we can bring on folks that are typically not seen as allies.”

The Evidence-Based Drug Policy Act, introduced the same month by Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), would repeal a provision of a 1998 act, which bans the Office of National Drug Control Policy from using federal funds to study potential legalization of Schedule I substances—as cannabis remains—and requires the ONDCP to oppose legalization attempts.

“Having over a dozen meetings with folks specifically on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, to bring cannabis issues to that committee, was a huge shift in strategy,” Ortiz said, “and I think it’ll be invaluable moving forward to make sure we can bring on folks that are typically not seen as allies.”

Large numbers of United States veterans live with harrowing physical and mental health conditions. In many cases, available pharmaceuticals haven’t helped. Cannabis has given many tremendous relief—and might help far more. But despite research supporting its use for numerous conditions, the Schedule I status of “no currently accepted medical use” means veterans don’t have access through the VA.

In this context, veteran suicide rates are distressingly high. Eric Jansen, BVN’s government affairs coordinator, has been personally impacted. On Easter morning 2017, Jansen came home to find his best friend, Army veteran Brad Chartier, dead by suicide. Jansen carried the pain of Chartier’s death for years, he said, until an ayahuasca ceremony gave him closure and a new appreciation for life and advocacy.

One matter Jansen discussed with congressional staffers was the disturbing findings of Operation Deep Dive, which indicated that veteran suicide rates were double the commonly stated average of “22 a day.”

“These findings expose a much graver reality of veteran suicide and overdose than previously acknowledged, underscoring the urgency of addressing this crisis with new approaches,” Jansen told Filter.

“Raising awareness is half the battle … Ultimately, the only path to moving legislation forward is through increased co-sponsorship and committee support.”

While there was camaraderie and humor among the veteran advocates on Capitol Hill, they pressed congressional staffers about a number of injustices. These included cases of veterans who remain incarcerated for nonviolent marijuana convictions—in states where lucrative, legal cannabis marketplaces have since been created.

Among the cases are those of Robert Deals, an Air Force veteran serving an 18-year sentence in an Arizona prison; Deshawn Reilly of the Marines, serving a 17-year sentence in Georgia; and Kristofer Fetter, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and received a sentence of nearly five years in New York.

Trying to engage with lawmakers can be a long and frustrating process, but Jansen said progress was definitely made.

“While it was difficult to meet directly with elected representatives, we were able to engage with their staff, which is a critical first step,” he explained. “Raising awareness is half the battle … Ultimately, the only path to moving legislation forward is through increased co-sponsorship and committee support.”

The advocates found some lawmakers particularly receptive. Rep. Tony Wied (R-WI), for instance, who has a small memorial to Chartier in his office, was strongly in favor of the measures discussed.

The targeted lawmakers were from both sides of the political aisle, and to match that, the advocates also had mixed political views, coming together in what might strike some as an unlikely alliance.

“But really,” Ortiz said, “the main objective was, ‘Can we work together as progressive advocates and [some] Republican veterans to actually have a central message that we can share in unity with Congress to bring them on board?’”

“The answer,” he said, “was absolutely yes.”

“We crushed every meeting we were a part of, and we walked out with additional co-sponsors and members of the PATH Caucus.”

“We crushed every meeting we were a part of, we were well received by members of all parties and we walked out with additional co-sponsors and members of the PATH Caucus moving forward,” Ortiz said, referring to the congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus.

“It’s incredible what we can do when the left and right unite for the same mission,” he concluded, “and yesterday and today were fantastic examples of how bipartisan these particular issues are, when we’re talking about cannabis legalization and veterans having access to life-saving treatments.”

Jansen agrees with the importance of bipartisanship in making tangible legislative progress.

“Bipartisan engagement is absolutely essential,” he said. “Information sharing builds trust, and asking representatives directly what they need from us strengthens our advocacy. Caucuses, by design, are bipartisan, and that dynamic is critical to success. Mental health challenges transcend party lines; this is not a partisan issue, but an American one. To achieve lasting reform, we must bring together support from across the aisle.”

All photographs by Josh Kasoff. Top photograph, taken in the office of Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), includes: veteran Terry Iver (second from left), Jason Ortiz (third from left), veteran Jake VandenPlas (center), Eric Jansen (third from right) and veteran Roger Pinto (second from right).

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