Trump Signs Order To Speed FDA Psychedelic Reviews After Joe Rogan Lobbying
President Trump signed an executive order April 18, 2026, directing the FDA to speed reviews of certain psychedelic drugs.
Trump signed the order in the Oval Office on April 18, 2026, with podcaster Joe Rogan standing behind him after Rogan personally urged action. The order directs the Food and Drug Administration to fast-track reviews for psychedelics including ibogaine, psilocybin, MDMA and LSD and to add three psychedelics to a national priority voucher pilot. Administration officials said vouchers could cut review times from months to weeks and set aside $50 million for research, while offering a Right To Try pathway for desperately ill patients.
Advocates and some studies highlight potential mental health benefits, including a 2025 JAMA trial that found a single LSD dose eased anxiety and depression for months. But evidence for ibogaine remains thin, with small studies and one randomized trial and larger trials only beginning, doctors warned. Researchers and public health reviews have flagged ibogaine's heart risks; the drug is linked to at least 27 deaths from cardiac arrhythmias and a 2023 review called the risks 'worrying'. Officials say the FDA will begin the process to allow human ibogaine trials in the United States, even though past NIH funding was halted over cardiovascular concerns. The Department of Veterans Affairs is already participating in at least five psychedelic trials, a point officials used to justify accelerating access for veterans with PTSD.
Early coverage and administration comments emphasized rapid access and hopeful anecdotes, often spotlighting Rogan's role and veteran proponents urging swift action. Later reporting by outlets including NPR, PBS and CBS shifted tone, highlighting limited evidence, cardiotoxicity concerns, and the sparse safety data that made earlier optimism premature. The public reaction on social media focused on Rogan's presence and his direct text to the president, which drew both praise from advocates and criticism from health experts and skeptics.
📌 Key Facts
- President Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office on April 18, 2026, directing the administration to hasten FDA review of psychedelics; Joe Rogan stood behind him at the signing after personally texting and urging Trump to act (Trump replied, “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let's do it.”).
- The order explicitly directs federal support for clinical trials and accelerated review of multiple psychedelics — naming ibogaine, psilocybin, MDMA and LSD — and specifically tasks the FDA with fast-tracking psilocybin and ibogaine (ibogaine and psilocybin remain Schedule I under DEA rules).
- The administration pledged $50 million in federal research funding to make certain psychedelics more accessible, including funding directed toward ibogaine research and access.
- FDA Commissioner Makary announced that the FDA will add three psychedelics to a National Priority Voucher pilot program that will cut review times from months to weeks — the first time psychedelics have been fast-tracked in this way.
- The order opens an administrative pathway to allow 'desperately ill' patients to access ibogaine under the FDA's Right to Try framework and directs the FDA to begin the process for the first-ever ibogaine human trials in the United States.
- Scientific evidence for ibogaine is limited to small studies and one randomized trial, with only early larger trials underway; ibogaine remains a Schedule I drug and has been linked to serious cardiac risks — including at least 27 deaths from arrhythmias — prompting researchers to warn of cardiotoxicity and leading to past NIH funding halts over cardiovascular concerns.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs is participating in at least five psychedelic clinical trials in New York, California and Oregon, and veterans and advocates (including on-the-record enthusiasm from veteran Marcus Luttrell) were prominently cited as supporters of expanded access.
- Coverage placed the development in broader clinical context — citing a 2025 JAMA study that found a single LSD dose eased anxiety and depression for months and restating high national prevalence of serious mental illness, depression and anxiety as part of the administration’s rationale for accelerating psychedelic research.
📰 Source Timeline (6)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- NPR pins the signing to Saturday, April 18, 2026, and describes it as taking place in the Oval Office with specific participants present.
- The story specifies that Trump directed $50 million in federal funds to make certain psychedelics more accessible for mental health treatment.
- It clarifies that the executive order tasks FDA with fast tracking reviews of psilocybin and ibogaine and that ibogaine and psilocybin remain Schedule I drugs under DEA rules.
- FDA Commissioner Mary Makary is quoted as saying national priority vouchers for three psychedelics will allow approvals within weeks, and that this is the first time FDA has fast tracked any psychedelics.
- The article adds context on a 2025 JAMA study finding a single LSD dose eased anxiety and depression for months and restates national prevalence figures for serious mental illness, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder.
- It confirms that the Department of Veterans Affairs is participating in at least five psychedelic trials in New York, California, and Oregon.
- Trump signed the executive order in the Oval Office with Joe Rogan standing directly behind him and publicly credited Rogan's call as a catalyst, saying Rogan told him 'We have to do something about this.'
- The order explicitly lists ibogaine, psilocybin, MDMA and LSD as psychedelics the FDA is directed to support in clinical trials and speed toward approval if found safe and effective.
- Rogan said he learned about ibogaine's potential from a podcast interview with Americans for Ibogaine CEO W. Bryan Hubbard and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, both present at the signing.
- Trump joked about wanting ibogaine himself and cited a study he said showed major reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms within a month for people who took the drug.
- The article underscores that Rogan has recently criticized Trump on immigration, the Epstein files and the Iran war, yet appeared friendly with him at the signing, with Trump calling him a 'fantastic person.'
- CBS clip confirms Trump signed an executive order specifically described as easing U.S. restrictions on psychedelic research.
- CBS explicitly frames ibogaine as a psychedelic used in some countries to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Confirms the order was signed Saturday, April 18, 2026, in the Oval Office.
- Details that FDA will issue new national priority vouchers for three psychedelics, cutting review times from months to weeks, marking the first time psychedelics receive this fast-tracking.
- States FDA is taking steps to clear the way for the first-ever ibogaine human trials in the United States.
- Quotes Trump promising to "dramatically accelerate" access and saying if the drugs are as good as advocates claim they will have a "tremendous impact."
- Reports that Joe Rogan personally texted Trump about ibogaine and that Trump replied, "Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let's do it."
- Includes on-the-record enthusiasm from veteran Marcus Luttrell and explicit acknowledgment from researchers like Frederick Barrett about ibogaine's cardiotoxicity and past NIH funding being halted over cardiovascular risks.
- Executive order explicitly eases federal restrictions on ibogaine and is framed around post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, especially for veterans.
- Trump announces a $50 million federal research investment specifically for ibogaine.
- The administration will open a pathway for ibogaine use by 'desperately ill' patients under FDA's Right To Try rule.
- FDA Commissioner Marty Makary says three psychedelics will be added to the National Priority Voucher pilot program to cut review times.
- FDA will begin the process to allow human trials of ibogaine in the United States.
- Scientific evidence for ibogaine remains limited to small studies and one randomized trial, with only early larger trials underway.
- Ibogaine is a Schedule I drug associated with at least 27 deaths from cardiac arrhythmias, and a 2023 review called heart risks 'worrying.'