April 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday to accelerate research for some psychedelic drugs to treat mental health disorders.
Surrounded by podcaster Joe Rogan and veterans, the president signed the order that could lead to use of the psychedelics in controlled, therapeutic settings.
“We’re taking this decision, this decisive step, to confront one of the most urgent public health challenges facing our nation, the mental health crisis,” Trump said Saturday in the Oval Office.
“Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” Trump said.
The order directs the Food and Drug Administration to speed its review of new treatments. Trump said the order applies to certain drugs that are already in the “advanced stages of clinical trials.”
Rogan said he sent the president “some information” about the drugs after he heard about them on his podcast, The Hill reported.
“I sent him that information. The text message that came back: ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’ Literally that quick,” Rogan said.
Trump mentioned ibogaine, which has been used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in other countries. He said the administration would be “opening the pathway” for the drug to be included in the Right to Try Act, which allows terminally ill patients to participate in clinical trials for treatments still under FDA review, The Hill reported. Trump signed that act into law in 2018.
“Under this new program in this administration, drugs can get approved in weeks, not a year or year plus, but in weeks, if they are in line with our national priorities,” FDA Commissioner Martin Makary said at the signing.
“This is an unmet public health need, and there are potentially promising treatments,” Makary said. “That’s why there’s a sense of urgency around this. That’s why we’re doing it now.”
In 2024, 471 U.S. service members died by suicide, and there were 1,515 attempts reported, according to the Pentagon’s Annual Report on Suicide in the Military.
Some of the drugs included are ibogaine; LSD; psilocybin; known as magic mushrooms; and MDMA, known as ecstasy. Trump added that the government had just committed $50 million in additional funding for ibogaine research, The Post reported.
“Federal prohibition of psychedelic medicine in America is over,” said W. Bryan Hubbard, an advocate for access to ibogaine, The Washington Post reported.
Kevin Sabet, who was a White House drug policy adviser over three presidential administrations, disagreed. He said the order will “send the wrong message” and encourages hasty, potentially dangerous research.
“People need to realize there is little to no evidence for most of these drugs and most of the conditions they claim to alleviate,” Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, wrote in a text message to The Post.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed the idea of using psychedelics to help with mental health conditions. On Saturday, he said officials owed it to veterans “to turn over every stone.”
“It’s disturbing to me and to the president that hundreds, in fact, thousands of veterans are having to travel to Mexico or other countries to experiment with interventions that hold great promise,” Kennedy said.
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