Trump fast-tracks review of psychedelic drugs to treat depression, PTSD

Trump signs executive order from White House

President Trump on Saturday signed an executive order for the expedited review of psychedelics. ""Since 9/11, we've lost over 21x more veteran lives to suicide than on the battlefield... and today, we're bringing them new hope," said Trump. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday morning to fast-track the study of using psychedelics to treat Americans – and veterans in particular – living with depression, PTSD, addiction and other conditions. 

Trump was joined by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, podcaster Joe Rogan and other officials. Here’s the latest: 

Trump signs executive order on psychedelics

What they're saying:

"Today I'm pleased to announce historic reforms to dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs," Trump said. "In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans, our veterans having a tremendous hard time. 

"It directs the FDA to expedite their review of certain psychedelics already designated as breakthrough therapy drugs," Trump continued. "If these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it's going to have a tremendous impact on this country and other countries, too.

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"Everybody is so strongly in favor of this. It's for a lot of people, but it's for our military in particular. The suicide epidemic among veterans is a national tragedy. Since 9/11, we've lost over 21 times more veteran lives to suicide than on the battlefield."

President Trump signs executive order to accelerate study of psychedelic drugs for treating mental health disorders (Getty Images)

‘Pathway for Ibogaine’

Big picture view:

Trump and Kennedy said the Department of Health and Human Services will invest $50 million to research psychedelic therapies, including Ibogaine, a naturally occurring substance that comes from an African shrub. It’s used to treat depression and anxiety in other parts of the world, but currently it's illegal in the U.S. 

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"We're also opening a pathway for ibogaine to be administered to desperately ill patients under the right to try law," Trump said. 

By the numbers:

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said more than 6,000 veterans die by suicide each year. 

"At the same time, millions of Americans living with depression, PTSD, addiction and other conditions do not respond to existing treatments," Kennedy said. "We owe it to our warfighters and veterans to turn over every stone to alleviate the emotional and mental health blowback from their deployments. It's disturbing to me and to the president that hundreds, in fact, thousands of veterans are having to travel to Mexico or other countries to experiment with interventions that hold great promise, but for which our knowledge is still insufficient."

Kennedy said HHS will use the $50 million to "partner with states that are advancing these therapies."

"We will support those efforts with funding, with technical assistance and data sharing consistent with applicable law," he said. Researchers at Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Harvard and other leading institutions have reported meaningful and in some cases, extraordinary clinical improvements. If these results continue, these therapies could offer longer-lasting relief … as well as create a strict science-based pathway for FDA approval and controlled medical use."

Rogan pointed to Ibogaine’s benefits of helping people overcome opioid addiction. 

"These drugs are illegal not because they're harmful," Rogan said. "They're illegal because of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that was passed by the Richard Nixon administration. They did it to target the civil rights movement in the antiwar movement. It's not because these drugs harm people."