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<\/div>\nPresident Donald Trump on Saturday directed his administration to speed up reviews of certain psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, which recently has been embraced by combat veterans and conservative lawmakers despite having serious safety risks.<\/p>\n
Ibogaine and other psychedelics remain banned under the federal government\u2019s most restrictive category for illegal, high-risk drugs. But the administration is taking steps to ease restrictions and spur research on using the drugs for medical purposes, including conditions like severe depression.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,\u201d Trump said as he signed an executive order on the drugs. The Republican president said his directive will help \u201cdramatically accelerate\u201d access to potential treatments. \u201cIf these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it\u2019s going to have a tremendous impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Veteran organizations and psychedelic advocates have long contended that ibogaine, which is made from a shrub native to West Africa, has great promise for hard-to-treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid addiction.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s announcement follows pledges by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other administration officials to ease access to psychedelics for medical use, an issue that has won rare bipartisan support.<\/p>\n
Joining Trump in the Oval Office were his top health officials, conservative podcaster Joe Rogan and Marcus Luttrell, the former Navy SEAL whose memoir about a deadly mission in Afghanistan was the basis of the film \u201cLone Survivor.\u201d Rogan said he texted Trump information on ibogaine and the president responded: \u201cSounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let\u2019s do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to save a lot of lives through it,\u201d Luttrell told Trump during the ceremony. \u201cIt absolutely changed my life for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Food and Drug Administration next week will issue national priority vouchers for three psychedelics, which the agency\u2019s commissioner, Marty Makary, said will allow certain drugs to be approved quickly \u201cif they are in line with our national priorities.\u201d The vouchers can cut review times from several months to a period of weeks. It is the first time the FDA has offered that fast-tracking to any psychedelics.<\/p>\n
The FDA is also taking steps to clear the way for the first-ever human trials of ibogaine in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s action surprised many longtime advocates and researchers in the psychedelic field, given that ibogaine is known to sometimes trigger potentially fatal heart problems. The National Institutes of Health briefly funded research on the drug in the 1990s, but discontinued the work due to ibogaine\u2019s \u201ccardiovascular toxicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been incredibly difficult to study ibogaine in the U.S. because of its known cardiotoxicity,\u201d said Frederick Barrett, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. \u201cIf the executive order can pave the way for doing objective, scientific research with this compound, it would help us understand whether it is truly a better psychedelic therapy than others.\u201d<\/p>\n
No psychedelic has been approved in the United States, 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 alongside drugs such as heroin. Two states \u2014 Oregon and Colorado \u2014 have legalized psychedelic therapy with psilocybin.<\/p>\n
Ibogaine was first used by members of the Bwiti religion in African nations like Gabon during their religious ceremonies.<\/p>\n
In recent years, U.S. veterans have reported benefiting from the drug after traveling to clinics in Mexico that administer it.<\/p>\n
Backing from veterans groups and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry led to a law last year providing $50 million for ibogaine research in that state. Perry, who co-founded a group called Americans for Ibogaine, recently appeared on Rogan\u2019s podcast, making the case for reducing federal limits on the drug. It was his second time talking about ibogaine on the popular podcast in the past two years.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s order calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to direct at least $50 million to states that have enacted or are developing programs to advance psychedelic drugs for serious mental illness. It\u2019s described as a federal-state partnership to provide funding, technical assistance and data sharing.<\/p>\n
Ibogaine is known to cause irregular heart rhythms and has been linked to more than 30 deaths in the medical literature, according to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit that conducted some early studies in patients outside the U.S.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s co-executive director, Ismail Lourido Ali, said Trump\u2019s order might encourage other states to follow the Texas model.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stigma around Schedule I drugs is significant,\u201d Ali said. \u201cIt feels like this would give pretty substantial cover for Republican governors and legislatures to step into the ring in terms of funding research programs at their universities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owners of ibogaine clinics said the impact of the order will not be immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be no insurance coverage, it will still be considered unapproved and non-covered care,\u201d said Tom Feegel of Beond Ibogaine, which operates a clinic in Cancun, Mexico. \u201cBut what it does mean is that ibogaine shifts from being fringe and underground to being federally acknowledged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feegel says his clinic treated 2,000 people with ibogaine last year for between $15,000 and $20,000 per person. The company also gave free treatment to about 100 veterans.<\/p>\n
Clinics that use the drug typically monitor patients\u2019 heart readings and have emergency medical equipment on hand.<\/p>\n
One of the only recent studies conducted by U.S. researchers found that veterans treated with ibogaine showed improvements in symptoms of traumatic brain injury, including PTSD, depression and anxiety. The Stanford University study was small \u2014 enrolling 30 veterans who received the drug in Mexico. It did not include a placebo group for comparison, an essential feature of rigorous medical research. Patients in the study received a combination of ibogaine mixed with magnesium intended to reduce heart risks.<\/p>\n
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n
Photo: President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/em><\/p>\n Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n