Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
President Trump has signed an executive order to make certain psychedelic drugs more available to treat mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. He directed $50 million in federal funds to make them more accessible, and ordered the Food and Drug Administration to fast track a review of such drugs as psilocybin and ibogaine.
“Can I have some, please?” Trump joked to a laughing audience in the Oval Office.
He was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Also standing in back of Trump was former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, whose memoir about a deadly mission in Afghanistan was the basis of the film Lone Survivor, and podcast host Joe Rogan.
During the announcement, Rogan said he had texted Trump about ibogaine and the president responded, “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.”
And Luttrell told him, “You’re going to save a lot of lives through it. It absolutely changed my life for the better.”
Next week, the FDA will issue national priority vouchers to three psychedelics, which the agency’s commissioner, Mary Makary, said will allow the review of those drugs to be approved quickly – perhaps in just weeks. This is the first time the FDA has offered to fast-track any psychedelics.
During the ceremony, the president framed psychedelics as a way to deal with a national mental health crisis that includes suicide. “Today, over 14 million American adults have a serious mental illness, defined as having a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder,” the order notes. “And about 8 million are on prescription medication for these conditions.”
Trump touted the success of some psychedelic drugs tested on active military personnel and veterans with post traumatic stress disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs is now participating in at least five trials of the drugs in New York, California, and Oregon.
In the 1950s, scientists reported potential advances in using the drugs to treat addiction and other psychiatric conditions. But government research ended in the 1960s, when recreational use became popular. Now, studies on the effects of psychedelics have resumed. A 2025 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that a single dose of the psychedelic LSD could ease anxiety and depression for months. At least 21 million American adults have reported at least one major depressive episode, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Around one in 10 Americans have also been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD.
Psilocybin and ibogaine are currently listed as Schedule I drugs, meaning they have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms.” Ibogaine, a derivative of the West African iboga plant, has in the past been used to treat certain drug addictions.
Trump said that his order would expedite the reclassification of those drugs, and that he expects the FDA to approve them quickly. In 2024, the FDA rejected approval for MDMA to treat PTSD.
