US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced reforms intended to speed up access to medical research and treatment based on psychedelic drugs.
The research has to do with certain psychedelic drugs that can be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries in military veterans.
“I’m pleased to announce historic reforms to dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs,” Trump said during a news conference from the Oval Office.
The US President signed an executive order directing the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite review of drugs such as ibogaine, which US military veteran groups have said can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as conditions such as depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.
‘Life-changing potential’
“In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans,” the president added. “Our veterans are having a tremendous hard time. You know, the suicide rate, we have it down a little bit, but they are having a hard time.”
In the Oval Office event, US federal officials, including US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, said that the reforms would pave the way for the drugs, which can cause hallucinations and are largely illegal, to be reclassified after successful clinical trials. Trump also said the US would dedicate $50m to federal research into ibogaine in particular, a drug which is made from a central African shrub root.
“If these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it’s going to have a tremendous impact on this country and other countries, too,” Trump said.
A study on veterans with brain injuries
The US President went on to cite a 2024 study from Stanford University, noting that 30 special operations veterans with traumatic brain injuries underwent “ibogaine treatment.” He said they experienced an 80 to 90 percent reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety within one month.
Researchers have also said that ibogaine has shown the potential to treat opioid and other substance abuse problems.
Critics, however, raised safety and oversight concerns over the fast-tracking approval, stressing the need for rigorous clinical trials before widespread use.
Until now, no psychedelic has been approved in the US, but a number of them are being studied in large trials for various mental health conditions, including psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD. All those drugs remain illegal, classified as Schedule I substances.
The US health secretary, before joining Trump’s administration, had criticized the FDA for what he called its “aggressive suppression of psychedelics”.
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