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