President Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to ease research restrictions on psychedelics, including ibogaine, a compound used in some countries to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and podcaster Joe Rogan were among those who joined Trump in the Oval Office for the signing Saturday.
Trump said the order will “dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs,” which he described as showing “life-changing potential.” He announced a $50 million federal research investment into psychedelic studies and said the administration would open a pathway for ibogaine to be administered to “desperately ill patients” under the Food and Drug Administration’s Right To Try rule.
“Everybody is so strongly in favor of this. It’s for a lot of people, but it’s for our veterans in particular,” Trump said, citing veteran suicide rates. “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.”
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said three psychedelics will be added to the National Priority Voucher pilot program, a pathway designed to shorten review times for drugs and biologics that align with U.S. health priorities. Makary added that the FDA will begin the process to allow researchers to conduct human trials of ibogaine. “This is an unmet public health need and there are potentially promising treatments,” he said. “That’s why there is a sense of urgency around this.”
CBS News first reported earlier in the week that Trump was expected to sign the order. Ibogaine is a naturally occurring compound found in a shrub native to Africa and has been used experimentally to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and brain trauma. Researchers say it could eventually help fill gaps in addiction treatment, particularly for opioid dependence, but larger, well-controlled clinical trials are needed before its safety and efficacy can be established.
Most existing ibogaine evidence comes from small observational studies and open-label trials. Only one double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial has been completed. More advanced trials have recently begun, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill last year approving $50 million for state research into the compound. It remains unclear exactly how the federal funds and new pathways will be deployed; sources told CBS News that implementation strategies were still being worked out.
Ibogaine is currently classified as a Schedule I substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, alongside drugs such as heroin and ecstasy. Because of its legal status in the U.S., some Americans have traveled to unregulated clinics abroad, commonly in Mexico or the Caribbean, to receive ibogaine treatments. Scientific studies have shown that ibogaine can cause dangerous heart rhythm disturbances that in some cases are fatal. A 2023 review of 24 studies including 705 people described the risk of death from heart problems as “worrying,” and at least 27 deaths have been linked to ibogaine use.