Members of Congress from both parties on Wednesday joined with two veterans organizations to press the Food and Drug Administration to approve MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for PTSD, hoping to bring an end to the suicide crisis among veterans.

Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Lou Correa (D-CA), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), and Jimmy Panettea (D-CA) joined Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer and other veterans on Wednesday to unveil an art installation at the Capitol building featuring nearly 150,000 dog tags, representing the nearly 150,000 veterans who have died by suicide since 9/11. The effort is to raise awareness for how MDMA-assisted therapy can help veterans and PTSD sufferers overcome their trauma.

Meyer, the first living Marine to earn a Medal of Honor since the end of the Vietnam War, told the Washington Examiner that MDMA changed his life.

During his tour in Afghanistan in 2009, Meyer led the charge in a six-hour battle after an enemy ambush to evacuate more than two dozen Afghan soldiers and search for missing U.S. comrades.

“As somebody who came back with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and went down the rabbit hole of all the current solutions that are out there, it absolutely gave me my life back,” said Meyer.

Approximately 17 veterans die by suicide each day in the United States, with PTSD being the strongest contributing factor. 

In mid-August, the FDA is expected to issue a decision on whether to approve MDMA, also known as ecstacy or Molly, along with traditional cognitive processing therapy as a treatment for PTSD. An advisory panel that met last month, however, recommended that the agency deny approval for the drug.

Clinical trials found that MDMA-assisted therapy effectively eliminated the PTSD diagnosis of 71% of trial participants and rendered “clinically significant improvement” in symptoms for 86% of participants. 

These findings are almost double those of current medication protocols for PTSD. There has not been a new drug for PTSD approved since 2001.

MDMA, which is known to increase feelings of social connectedness and empathy as well as improve mood, assists in talk therapy by allowing the patient to essentially get out of a trauma response mindset that can block the healing process.

Juliana Mercer, a veteran and the director of advocacy for the veteran’s organization Healing Breakthrough, told the Washington Examiner that MDMA “enables you to actually go into therapy and get to the root cause of your trauma without that [fight or flight] reaction.”

Critics from the FDA advisory committee voiced concerns that the studies cited by Lykos Therapeutics, the pharmaceutical company responsible for the medication and trials, had problems maintaining quality control standards.

One common problem for medical studies on psychedelics is functional unblinding, or when a study enrollee can accurately guess whether or not they were given a placebo or the real medication, which was true of the MDMA studies. Panelists also cited Lykos’s lack of examination of the potential for abuse of MDMA.

Mercer said, however, that the advisory committee meeting went from discussing “data, facts and science to an emotional conversation and a demonization of MDMA.”

“This is something that is so much needed, not just for veterans, but for everyone that’s out there suffering,” said Mercer.

Mercer and Meyer called on legislators to encourage the FDA to “follow the science” as with any new drug application.

“This is such an opportunity to really have a true, everlasting impact inside of our veteran community,” said Meyer.

The pair also encouraged anyone, especially fellow veterans, to seek help if they are struggling with their mental health.

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“Lean on each other,” said Meyer. “There’s hope through this.” 

The National Crisis Hotline, 988, has particular resources for the needs of the veteran community.