Trump accelerates research on psychedelic treatments and asks, ‘Can I have some?’

By Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an executive order aimed at encouraging expanded research into psychedelic drugs, part of a broader push to explore emerging mental health treatments.

“In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans,” Trump said during a signing event in the Oval Office.

The president also announced that the federal government is making a $50 million investment for further research into the psychedelic drug ibogaine.

Trump, ahead of signing the order, pointed to initial research he said demonstrates the drug’s potential and quipped that he wanted some himself.

“Can I have some, please? I’ll take some,” Trump said, adding that he would “take whatever it takes,” prompting laughter in the Oval. “I don’t have time to be depressed. You know, if you stay busy enough, maybe that works, too. That’s what I do.”

The president invited Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others, including podcast host Joe Rogan, a supporter of ibogaine, to speak about the initiative.

Rogan, who backed Trump in 2024 but has recently made headlines for his opposition to some of the president’s policies, including his handling of the Iran war, said his outreach to the president helped spark the policy move.

“I want to tell everybody how this happened,” Rogan said from the Oval Office. “I sent President Trump some information.”

“The text message that came back,” Rogan said, “’sounds great, do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it,’” he added that it was “literally that quick.”

Kennedy said the move is part of a broader effort to address the nation’s mental health crisis.

“HHS will accelerate research approval and access to new mental health treatments, including psychedelic therapies, such as for taking this decision, this decisive step to confront one of the most urgent public health challenges facing our nation, the mental health crisis,” Kennedy said.

“This executive order for most legal impediments that block American researchers, scientists, physicians and clinicians improperly studying these medicines and, where appropriate, establishing protocols for their safe therapeutic use,” he added.

The order also aims to accelerate the approval timeline for certain psychedelic-based treatments, with US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary saying the process could move far faster under the new initiative.

“Drugs can get approved in weeks, not a year or a year-plus but in weeks, if they are in line with our national priorities,” Makary said in the Oval Office.

Ibogaine lacks FDA approval

On the campaign trail in 2024, Kennedy said his son and several friends used psychedelic drugs to deal with trauma and depression. He told Congress in July that psychedelics have “tremendous advantage if given in a clinical setting, and we are working very hard to make sure that happens within 12 months.”

However, scientists have expressed concern that the administration will bypass the rigorous benchmarks of medical research and potentially put patients at risk.

Ibogaine has not been approved by the FDA, but it’s used in some countries to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms. It’s been classified as a Schedule I substance, a designation for substances with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, for decades.

The compound — extracted from the iboga plant in Central Africa — has been used to decrease opioid cravings and treat depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in veterans.

Early research suggests that ibogaine may alter certain neural pathways, potentially leading to improvements in some mental health conditions.

The hallucinogen is known to raise the risk of abnormal heart rhythms and rates and could cause vomiting. Several deaths have been associated with the ingestion of ibogaine, though it’s not always clear whether the drug itself, underlying health conditions or other factors were the direct cause.

Ibogaine is the only psychedelic mentioned by name in the executive order, but LSD, MDMA and psilocybin – the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” – have also been studied in the US as treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Small clinical trials have shown that one or two doses of psilocybin, given in a therapeutic setting, can make dramatic and long-lasting changes in people with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, which typically does not respond to traditional antidepressants. Based on this research, the FDA has designated psilocybin as a breakthrough medicine, a category created to speed the process for reviewing not-yet-approved experimental medicines intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions.

A formulation of LSD to treat generalized anxiety disorder received breakthrough therapy status in 2024 and is undergoing further trial.

Also in 2024, the FDA declined to approve MDMA as a treatment for PTSD, requesting additional clinical trials from the drug’s sponsor. An agency advisory committee expressed concerns about the integrity of the trials that had been previously conducted and said it was hard to tell how much the accompanying talk therapy had influenced the participants’ outcomes.

CNN’s Katherine Dillinger, Kaanita Iyer, Sandee LaMotte and Michal Ruprecht contributed to this report.

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