{"id":84300,"date":"2026-04-20T21:18:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T21:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/04\/20\/trump-clears-path-for-expanded-psychedelic-research-to-treat-veterans-ptsd\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:16:23","slug":"trump-clears-path-for-expanded-psychedelic-research-to-treat-veterans-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2026\/04\/20\/trump-clears-path-for-expanded-psychedelic-research-to-treat-veterans-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump clears path for expanded psychedelic research to treat veterans\u2019 PTSD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office on Saturday, President Donald Trump described the quieter tolls of wars \u2014 one that follows veterans home and lingers long after the fighting ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince 9\/11, we\u2019ve lost over 21 times more veteran lives to suicide than on the battlefield,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, we\u2019re bringing them new hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump, in a declaration suffused with urgency, signed an executive order<\/a> directing the Food and Drug Administration to accelerate the review of certain psychedelic therapies to treat mental illnesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, the order commits at least $50 million in federal funds to boost research on ibogaine<\/a>, a powerful hallucinogen derived from the African shrub iboga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ibogaine is classified as a Schedule 1 substance in the United States \u2014 the same category as heroin \u2014 which means the Drug Enforcement Administration<\/a> considers it to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Yet it has drawn mounting scientific attention in recent years for its potential to ameliorate conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much about the treatment remains opaque, but researchers argue the magnitude of the benefits observed in small, controlled trials merits further investigation. A 2024 Stanford University study<\/a> of 30 special operations veterans with traumatic brain injury and repeated blast exposure found significant improvement in functioning, as well as an easing of PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms after a single ibogaine session. No serious adverse side effects were reported, and no cardiac complications of the kind occasionally associated with the drug were observed. The authors cautioned, however, that larger studies were needed to better understand its safety and efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it\u2019s going to have a tremendous impact on this country, and other countries, too,\u201d Trump emphasized. \u201cIt\u2019s for a lot of people, but it\u2019s for our military in particular. The suicide epidemic among veterans is a national tragedy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a>, appearing alongside Trump on Saturday, said, \u201cWe owe it to our war fighters and veterans to turn over every stone\u201d to alleviate the mental health challenges stemming from their deployments. He acknowledged that the Schedule 1 restriction has caused veterans to seek treatment abroad, where ibogaine is legal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Kennedy added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s directive would not immediately change the categorization of any substance. Instead, it aims to ease the regulatory constraints that have long stymied research, including for therapies already well advanced along the FDA\u2019s approval process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration will also create a pathway for ibogaine to be \u201cadministered to desperately ill patients under the \u2018Right to Try\u2019 law.\u201d This would permit patients with life-threatening conditions \u2014 who have exhausted all approved care \u2014 to access experimental medicine not yet fully supported by the FDA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed in ensuring that the American patients have access to breakthrough treatments and therapies with love for our veterans, and I have a real love for our veterans,\u201d the president concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\t