As President Donald Trump backs efforts to advance psychedelic drugs, doctors are speaking out about how the move could impact mental health treatments.

On Friday,Trump signed an executive orderto fast-track the research, funding and potential FDA approval of psychedelics like ibogaine, psilocybin, LCD and MDMA, primarily to treat PTSD, depression and addiction.

Psychedelics, psychoactive compounds that act largely through serotonin pathways, are being studied in controlled clinical settings formental health treatment, experts say.

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Trump’s move is drawing mixed reactions, with supporters praising its potential to transform mental health treatment, particularly for veterans, while critics warn about limited evidence on safety and effectiveness.

\"The president’s action today opens a pathway to research that will further open doors to expedited approval of this life-saving medicine as a treatment for our veterans — and society — who have suffered for decades fromtreatment-resistant PTSD, TBI (traumatic brain injury) and depression,\" Jay Kopelman, former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and CEO of Mission to Live Foundation in San Diego, told Fox News Digital.

\"This act will require the VA Health System to begin psychedelics research and clinical trials, making psychedelics available to veterans for whom the traditional modalities of care (SSRIs and talk therapy) haven’t worked.\"

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, agreed that psychedelics hold \"big potential\" for severedepression and PTSD, and said he supports Trump’s commitment to funding more research.

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\"It changes brain chemistry in a way that can provide more modulation of dopamine, serotonin and other neurochemicals, making a patient less fearful,\" he told Fox News Digital.

\"At the same time, the psychiatric impact of psychedelics can be useful to change perception in a positive way.\"

Siegel emphasized, however, thatthese therapiesneed to be further researched, and that doses and exact indications must be carefully determined.

Juliana Mercer, a 16-yearMarine Corps veteranand the executive director of Healing Breakthrough, a San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD, applauded the president’s move as a \"meaningful step.\"

\"The people who need this most are those who have already tried everything and found no real relief,\" she told Fox News Digital.

\"I think aboutveterans I served with, people who have done years of therapy, cycled through medications, and are still carrying the weight of their service. Too many are still losing that fight at home.\"

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions in Washington, D.C., expressed concerns about the executive order.

\"While we support rigorous research fortreatment discovery, President Trump’s executive order on ibogaine puts politics and hype ahead of science by suggesting that a dangerous, unapproved hallucinogen can somehow be a medical treatment,\" he shared with Fox News Digital.

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\"Ibogaine remains a Schedule I substance with serious safety concerns, including documented cardiotoxicity and deaths. [The government] should not normalize unproven and risky drugs under the guise of helping those who have served our country.\"

Siegel also cautioned about the risk of improper prescribing of psychedelics by unqualified practitioners. \"Unfettered recreational use and microdosing can increase therisk of psychosisand other anxiety disorders,\" he added.

Kopelman noted that the primary risk of ibogaine is its \"cardiotoxicity properties.\"

\"It can prolong the QT interval in the heartbeat, which can lead to arrhythmia or even heart attack,\" he told Fox News Digital, noting that this risk is mitigated by \"rigorous medical examinations\" and monitoring during treatment.

Mercer agreed that these treatments aren’t appropriate for everyone.

\"They can have significantpsychological effectsand, in some cases, physiological risks, which is why they should only be administered in controlled clinical settings by trained providers,\" she told Fox News Digital.

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\"Continued research is essential to better understand who these therapies are right for, and who they’re not, before broader implementation.\"

While Trump’s order is a step toward FDA approval for psychedelics, the substances still need to go through clinical trials and the standard regulatory pathway, including rescheduling, Mercer noted.

\"Veterans and others will still be waiting unless we also build the systems to provide this safely at scale, trained providers, reimbursement pathways andclinical care models,\" she said. \"This is the gap we’ve been highlighting for years, and it still needs to be closed.\"

Kopelman agreed that while the legislation paves a path for expedited study of these medications, it’s important to \"do it the right way,\" warning that \"one misstep could overturn and sink this entire effort.\"

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\"Most important is the post-medicine integration work that requires multiple therapy sessions overseen by a trauma-informed psychedelic therapist,\" he told Fox News Digital. \"It’s not likeprescribing someone a Tylenoland sending them home — these medicines require medical oversight.\"

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\"Psychedelics are not a panacea,\" Kopelman added. \"They are a gateway to healing — but the real work begins after treatment.\"

",{"_310":254,"_311":389,"_313":390},"62fcd7c9-174e-4a3b-808b-70d8faaad5b4",{"_27":389,"_40":391,"_256":392,"_42":393,"_281":394,"_319":394,"_29":288,"_320":395,"_322":396,"_274":39,"_80":-5,"_82":121,"_235":397,"_310":254,"_341":409},"Trump signs executive order directing FDA to review psychedelics designated as breakthrough therapy drugs","President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to expedite the FDA's review of psychedelic drugs designated as breakthrough therapies, aiming to accelerate access to treatments for severe mental illness. The order seeks to remove bureaucratic hurdles, improve data sharing, and facilitate the rescheduling of approved psychedelic drugs. This initiative includes a $50 million federal investment in research, alongside Texas's commitment, to explore the potential of treatments like ibogaine, particularly for veterans and individuals with PTSD and substance-use disorders.","President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs the FDA to accelerate their review of \"psychedelics already designated as breakthrough therapy drugs.\"","https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/931/523/trump-signs-executive-order.jpg?ve=1&tl=1","2026-04-18T13:25:04","https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-directing-fda-review-psychedelics-designated-breakthrough-therapy-drugs",{"_27":398,"_238":399,"_137":328,"_80":400,"_268":384,"_269":407,"_271":408},"d58c27f742f439332cc509d13a0e56148229d4c0745fe5012daeedcb32ff27b3","57ab7bfb6e513d9b14b3ca9ba0fc8a78dcd1d37e2e5bb342b3d27ecd2f39497cb93c5d95ab657575d456c2c010eff533b377b781cbf9909842567c3bcb5bf0d1",[401,402,403,405,406],[274,391],[44,394],[333,404,39,335],"30023:d9ce26dad2db27b53683a9e9b339de47f4fb926ca550b089e5192b46334fbaaf:62fcd7c9-174e-4a3b-808b-70d8faaad5b4",[265,266],[140,384,39],"Trump signs executive order directing FDA to review psychedelics designated as breakthrough therapy drugs\nPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs the FDA to accelerate their review of \"psychedelics already designated as breakthrough therapy drugs.\"\n\n\nnostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpkwwymdd9ke8k5mg820fkvuau3l5lwfxef2skzy72xftgce5lw40qqjrvvnxvdjrwcee95cnwdr9956xzvmz95urqwrz95mnqepcveskzctyx43rgl0q6wa ",1776518704,"

President Donald Trumpsigned an executive order Saturday that he said \"directs the FDA to expedite their review of certain psychedelics already designated as breakthrough therapy drugs.\"

\"The executive order I'm signing, we're actually signing theexecutive ordertoday, is really a moment,\" Trump said. \"These treatments are currently in the advanced stages of clinical trials to ensure that they're both safe and effective for the American patients.\"

The president said the executive order would implement \"historic reforms to dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs.\"

\"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, citing the veteran suicide rate.

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\"And the nice part is we're actually doing this early, but it has been going on. Research has been going on for quite some time. But, you know, usually with things like this, nothing ever happens, no matter how the research ends up, but we're changing that. This order will clear away unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, improve data sharing among the FDA and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and facilitate fast rescheduling of any psychedelic drugs that become FDA approved,\" Trump continued.

The president said \"in 2024, a study from Stanford University, 30 special operation veterans with traumatic brain injuries underwent -- it's calledibogaine treatment-- ibogaine, remember the name,\" noting that they \"experienced an 80 to 90% reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety within one month.\"

\"In Texas, Republican leaders have already committed $50 million to the ibogaine research. And today, the federal government is making a $50 million research investment in its own. And so that was just approved just last night,\" Trump announced.

\"We're also opening a pathway for ibogaine to be administered to desperately ill patients under the right to try law,\" Trump said.

\"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, just lead a happier life,\" he added.

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A paperpublished in the journal Chronic Stresssaid ibogaine is a \"psychoactive indole alkaloid which is extracted from theTabernanthe ibogarainforest shrub and has been used for centuries in Central Africa for initiatory rituals.\"

\"Ibogaine treatment is reported to alleviate a spectrum of mood and anxiety symptoms and is associated with self-reported improvements in cognitive functioning in individuals with substance-use disorders. During treatment, ibogaine allows the evocation and reprocessing of traumatic memories and occasions therapeutic and meaningful visions of spiritual and autobiographical content, which are of central relevance in addressing PTSD-related psychological content,\" it added.

\"Under the executive order, HHS will accelerate research approval and access tonew mental health treatments,including psychedelic therapies such as ibogaine. 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,\" Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. \"More than 14 million Americans live with serious mental illness, and 1 in 4 adults experiences a diagnosable disorder each year. Suicide has risen by more than 30% over the past two decades, with another peak in recent years. Among veterans, more than 6,000 died by suicide each year since 2001. We have lost far more veterans to suicide than to combat.\"

\"At the same time, millions of Americans living with depression, PTSD, addiction and other conditions do not respond to existing treatments. We owe it to our warfighters and veterans to turn over every stone to alleviate the emotional and mental health blowback from their deployments,\" he added.

Podcaster Joe Rogan, who was in the Oval Office with Trump on Saturday, also said \"I want to say that I'm here because of the man to my left, Bryan Hubbard [CEO of nonprofit Americans for Ibogaine] and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry came on my podcast.\"

\"They told me how impactful this medicine is. And having that conversation with them, millions of people got a chance to hear their story, hear the stories of all the different people that have had life-changing experiences from it,\" Rogan said.

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The order also opens a pathway for ibogaine to be administered to critically ill patients under the FDA's Right To Try rule and adds three psychedelics to a pilot program to reduce review times.","Updated on: April 18, 2026 / 11:54 AM EDT / CBS News","https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2026/04/18/dc6c6cd9-7477-4f0d-8fbf-76bfe250b2f8/thumbnail/1200x630/e4d20272ded66ee2a87b393b5a710840/gettyimages-2271352855.jpg","2026-04-18T15:54:05","https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-executive-order-psychedelic-drug-ibogaine/",{"_27":420,"_238":421,"_137":328,"_80":422,"_268":429,"_269":430,"_271":431},"193f4554964566c6073cb869d79f8293fb27d337e36998b4e9be9191694991d2","8ad9d6c9c68de720c43b0f8edfdca2cbe702072beb8b405fa84d04772518830cca2e632c0881f75c6c214cb8a15608f20fb0b5b3d249dd7d3809548b42637a7e",[423,424,425,427,428],[274,413],[44,416],[333,426,39,335],"30023:6759f7a309cd07f7abfe0c57ab4e0ff30ffcd68d9c744d403f22e2428df23738:73400121-1b2c-462b-aab4-d5c32f11724e",[265,266],[140,429,39],"6759f7a309cd07f7abfe0c57ab4e0ff30ffcd68d9c744d403f22e2428df23738","Trump Signs Executive Order to Research Psychedelics, Including Ibogaine, for Mental Health Treatment\nUpdated on: April 18, 2026 / 11:54 AM EDT / CBS News\n\n\nnostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqe6e773snng8774lurzh4d8qluc0lntgm8r5f4qr7ghzg2xlydecqqjrwve5xqcrzv3395ckyvnr956rvvnz94skzc3594jr2cenxfnrzvfhxg6x2qlw8nf ",1776528895,"President Trump has signed an executive order to ease research restrictions on psychedelics, including the drug ibogaine, which is used in some countries to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.\n\nHealth officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and podcaster Joe Rogan joined Mr. Trump in the Oval Office for the signing Saturday.\n\nMr. Trump said the order will \"dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs,\" which he said have shown \"life-changing potential.\"\n\nMr. Trump said that the federal government will make a $50 million research investment into psychedelic research. He said the federal government was also opening a pathway for ibogaine to be administered to \"desperately ill patients\" under the Food and Drug Administration's Right To Try rule.\n\n\"Everybody is so strongly in favor of this. It's for a lot of people, but it's for our veterans in particular,\" Mr. Trump said, highlighting veteran suicide rates.\n\n\"If these turn out to be as good as people are saying it's going to have a tremendous impact on this country and in other countries too,\" Mr. Trump added.\n\nFood and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary said that three psychedelics would be added to the National Priority Voucher pilot program, which is a pathway meant to dramatically reduce review times for drug and biological products that align with U.S. national health priorities. The FDA will also begin the process to allow for researchers to conduct human trials into ibogaine's use, he said.\n\n\"This is an unmet public health need and there are potentially promising treatments,\" Makary said. \"That's why there is a sense of urgency around this.\"\n\nCBS News first reported that Mr. Trump was expected to sign the order earlier this week.\n\nIbogaine is a naturally occurring compound found in a shrub native to Africa. It has been used to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder and brain trauma. Researchers say ibogaine could eventually fill a gap in addiction treatment, particularly for opioid dependence, but more large-scale clinical trials are needed before it can be considered safe or effective for any condition.\n\nThe scientific evidence behind the drug so far consists mostly of small observational studies and open-label trials. Only one double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial has been completed. More advanced trials have been started recently, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill approving $50 million for research last year. It is unclear how the federal government will help facilitate further research. Sources told CBS News that strategies were still being hammered out in internal discussions this week.\n\nAs a Schedule I substance, ibogaine is currently grouped by the Drug Enforcement Administration alongside substances including heroin and ecstacy. Americans have traveled to unregulated clinics, often in Mexico or the Caribbean, to take the drug. Studies show that ibogaine can cause dangerous heart rhythm disturbances, which can be fatal. A 2023 review of 24 studies including 705 people called the risk of death from heart problems \"worrying,\" and showed that at least 27 people have died after taking ibogaine.",{"_310":254,"_311":277,"_313":434},{"_27":277,"_40":435,"_256":436,"_42":437,"_281":251,"_319":251,"_29":288,"_320":438,"_322":439,"_274":39,"_80":-5,"_82":121,"_235":440,"_310":254,"_341":-5},"Trump signs order to expedite medical psychedelic drug treatment, research","President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at accelerating the availability of medical psychedelic drugs. This order focuses on speeding up both the research into these substances and the treatment options they may provide. The move indicates a significant shift in policy regarding psychedelic compounds for therapeutic purposes.","President Trump signed an executive order Saturday to fast-track access to medical psychedelic drug research and treatment.","2026-04-18T14:54:31","https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/apr/18/donald-trump-signs-order-expedite-medical-psychedelic-drug-treatment/",{"_27":441,"_238":442,"_137":328,"_80":443,"_268":450,"_269":451,"_271":452},"bcc1bfc859508a2ac56d4c82fcab583bd227b6faf156095e4b6def35cf90dbb8","6fdaa558b2de178f12e033b9585387394fa4e0c4ffce495ae60da2052ae3712d1682d6203eb40eac99a7c9b1d091579172755333a8fd74cb047886d0918d6677",[444,445,446,448,449],[274,435],[44,251],[333,447,39,335],"30023:df280c155aaf9ef6d87135ea08453842ba3911d3054bbb9dc8321dcc530e9569:c6ea98ca-9747-43ab-aeb4-23eee9e60791",[265,266],[140,450,39],"df280c155aaf9ef6d87135ea08453842ba3911d3054bbb9dc8321dcc530e9569","Trump signs order to expedite medical psychedelic drug treatment, research\nPresident Trump signed an executive order Saturday to fast-track access to medical psychedelic drug research and treatment.\n\n\nnostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzphegps244tu77mv8zd02ppznss468ygaxp2thwwusvsae3fsa9tfqqjxxdn9vyunscmp95unwdph956rxctz94sk2c3595erxet9v5uk2d3sxuunz84zaa4 ",1776524071,[],"selectedArticleImage","rootArticleImageUrl","consensusHtml","tweets",[],"userSchema","relatedArticles",[345,412,367,314,434,390],"actionData","errors"]

Trump Signs Executive Order to Fast-Track Psychedelic Drug Research

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