Rogan flanks Trump for new order promoting psychedelics research

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to speed up research on the therapeutic effects of psychedelics like LSD and ibogaine.

“Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives,” Trump said in the Oval Office, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other public health officials, as well as podcaster Joe Rogan, a longtime proponent of expanded therapeutic use of psychedelics.

While proponents of the order have pushed the Trump administration for months, Rogan — who endorsed Trump in 2024 but has since criticized the Iran war as “terrifying” — said he helped set the order in motion by texting Trump statistics on ibogaine’s use to treat addiction. Trump then called Rogan on Saturday and the executive order was drafted Sunday, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Mehmet Oz said.

“This was an unimaginable task in one week,” Oz said. “This is an entire paradigm shift.”

Rogan recounted Trump’s reply to his text: “‘Sounds great. You want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’ Literally, that quick.” Trump joked that the podcaster is “a little bit more liberal than I am,” which is “OK.”

Military veterans who had used ibogaine also attended Saturday’s event, alongside Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, who stood in the room behind members of the press. Kennedy has touted psychedelic drugs’ potential to treat conditions like depression, addiction and PTSD, long before his 2024 presidential campaign.

“I have no doubt it’s going to be working,” Trump said later of the order.

It specifically directs the FDA to provide National Priority Vouchers to qualifying psychedelics and allow terminally ill patients to take them under the Right to Try Act, which permits access for those patients to drugs that have not yet completed a full FDA review.

The order also allocates $50 million for HHS to partner with state governments that have psychedelics programs and directs HHS, plus the Department of Veterans Affairs, to work with the private sector to boost clinical trial participation and data sharing.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency is expecting three applications for clinical trials and plans to issue National Priority Vouchers next week. Decisions will come “later this summer,” he said.

The vast majority of psychedelics will remain illegal, currently classified as Schedule 1 substances by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Many, like ibogaine, are hallucinogens that come with cardiovascular risks.

But the executive order directs the US attorney general to review the drugs for rescheduling “as quickly as practicable” once they become FDA-approved.