Dr. Bronner’s is donating $1 million a year for the next five years to the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). The gift comes after MAPS was given the go-ahead by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin Phase 3 drug trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people with treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Dr. Bronner’s $5 million, five-year pledge is just a portion of a $25 million drug development budget set forth by MAPS to make MDMA an FDA-approved medicine. 

“There is tremendous suffering and pain that the responsible integration of MDMA for treatment-resistant PTSD will alleviate and heal,” said David Bronner.  “To help inspire our allies to close the funding gap, my family has pledged $1 million a year for five years—$5 million total—by far our largest gift to an NGO partner to date. In part, we were inspired by the incredible example of Ashawna Hailey, former MAPS board member, who gave MAPS $5 million when she died in 2011.”

Founded in 1986, MAPS is a non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.