Donald Trump signed an executive order last Saturday to boost research into psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and ibogaine as new forms of treatment for people with serious mental health conditions. LSD is one of the most potent hallucinogenic substances and has shown efficacy in controlling anxiety in preliminary trials.
For its part, psilocybin is a compound present in hallucinogenic mushrooms and is also being studied for behavioral disorders.
Regarding ibogaine, it is an alkaloid extracted from the root of an African plant that has shown efficacy in treating addictions, although it causes a great cardiac risk, so it must be administered under medical supervision. Furthermore, research is deepening into chemical-pharmaceutical strategies to avoid this side effect.
The directive signed by President Trump establishes new guidelines for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand researchers' access to these substances, currently classified as illegal drugs in both the U.S. and Europe, in strictly controlled therapeutic settings.
Trump congratulated himself on announcing these reforms, which he considered "historic" before signing the document in a ceremony in the Oval Office. He did so surrounded by figures as controversial as his Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the famous comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan, who have promoted the initiative.
The US president stressed that if these substances prove to have as many benefits "as people claim, they will have a tremendous impact on the country and others," with the potential to transform patients' lives. According to data from Mental Health America, one in five adults in the country - nearly 60 million people - will have a diagnosable mental illness this year. Furthermore, 46% of Americans will have a mental illness at some point in their lives.
But the measure signed on Saturday is especially aimed at promoting effective treatments for army veterans, who suffer from major depression, substance abuse such as alcohol or drugs, post-traumatic stress, and suicide at a higher percentage than the general population.
The recently signed initiative has the final objective of boosting fast tracks for the evaluation, approval, and clinical use of these substances. It also aims to enhance coordination between the FDA and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to grant special permits to both doctors and researchers for the use of these substances in their trials. It is endowed with 50 million dollars, from existing Department of Health funds, to support the different states that develop programs with psychedelic substances for severe mental illnesses.
Finally, the attorney general and the Department of Health are ordered to quickly review the regulatory status of psychedelic substances that successfully complete phase III trials, in order to reclassify them and allow their medical use as soon as possible.
In the presentation to the media of the initiative, Trump could not avoid the quip and stated that these substances could reduce depression rates by 80-90%, so he asked please to "try a little," to add that he would take "whatever was necessary" and that he does not have time to be depressed.