Across the country, states are looking beyond traditional counseling and medications to help firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical workers cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Because first responders routinely witness fatal crashes, violence, and extreme trauma, the psychological toll often builds up over time until “the crazy stuff starts to at least seem normal,” notes Jason Cerrano, a retired firefighter and paramedic.
To address this growing mental health crisis, lawmakers are paving the way for alternative therapies:
- Maryland: A new law taking effect in October will protect firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and rescue workers from employment discrimination if they use medical marijuana legally off-duty. As long as the workers are registered medical cannabis patients and are not impaired while on the job, a positive test for cannabis metabolites cannot be used against them.
- Connecticut: The state recently expanded a Yale University pilot program that studies psilocybin-assisted therapy. Originally limited strictly to veterans, retired first responders, and frontline healthcare workers, the program is now open to any state resident 18 or older who meets Yale’s clinical eligibility requirements.
- Missouri: Lawmakers advanced a bill that would allow first responders and veterans to receive psilocybin and ibogaine under medical supervision for PTSD and other mental health conditions, provided they are part of approved research studies. (The legislature ultimately adjourned before sending the final bill to the governor).
- Ohio: Taking a financial support approach, Governor Mike DeWine recently signed a measure creating a Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Commission. This body will review applications from eligible first responders to help cover the financial costs of their PTSD treatments.
As the stigma around these alternative treatments continues to fade, state governments are increasingly viewing them as necessary tools to protect the mental health of those who protect the public.
Dabbin-Dad Newsroom
