Groups like Heroic Hearts already run informal psychedelic retreats for military veterans in countries where these substances are legal or tolerated. The prediction says 5,000 veterans total will have used these retreats by the end of 2026. This matters because veterans struggle with PTSD and trauma, and some find relief through these retreats — but they happen in legal gray zones with no oversight.
Existing networks (e.g., Heroic Hearts, VETS) are operational and growing. Current trajectory suggests several thousand veterans are already being served annually in informal/international settings. 5,000 cumulative by year-end is plausible but the number is hard to verify independently since these are informal/underground operations with no central reporting. Confidence is tempered by the measurement problem: this is effectively unverifiable with public data, which is a falsifiability concern. Retaining but flagging that resolution requires a credible third-party census or investigative report.