WASHINGTON—Podcaster Joe Rogan joined President Donald Trump on Saturday for the signing of an executive order to, as the president said, fast-track “access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs.”
Trump signed the order, Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness in the Oval Office while flanked by Rogan, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and others.
“I’m pleased to announce historic reforms to dramatically accelerate access to new medical research and treatments based on psychedelic drugs,” the president said ahead of the signing.
“In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans,” he added.
Trump said he ordered his deputies to look into fast-tracking treatments and research after receiving a call from “the great Joe Rogan” and others.
Rogan later noted he texted Trump about Ibogaine and studies Rogan says show over 80 percent of people addicted to opioids who take one dose of Ibogaine “are free of that addiction.”
“I sent him that information. The text message that came back: ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’ Literally that quick,” Rogan said.
Trump said he instructed Kennedy Jr., Oz, Makary, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya to look into it.
“It was uniform support, and I said, ‘So why would we wait three or four years to get it done or ten years, frankly? Let’s get it done immediately.’ And that’s what happened,” Trump said.
“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,” he added.
Rogan said the psychedelic drugs advanced for treatment and research on Saturday “are illegal not because they’re harmful,” but because of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which he claimed was meant to “target” the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.
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