Trump order could fast-track review of psychedelic ibogaine. What is it?

(NewsNation) — President Trump signed an executive order Saturday for a speedy review of psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine.

Psychedelics like ibogaine are banned under the federal government’s most restrictive category for illegal, high-risk drugs. But the executive order could pave the way for restrictions to ease and research on using the drugs for medical purposes to move forward.

Podcaster Joe Rogan joined the president in the Oval Office alongside his top health officials and Marcus Luttrell, the former Navy SEAL whose memoir about a deadly mission in Afghanistan was the basis of the film “Lone Survivor.”

Rogan said he texted Trump information on ibogaine, and Trump responded: “Sounds great. Do you want FDA [Food and Drug Administration] approval? Let’s do it.”

Ibogaine is a psychoactive compound from the African Tabernanthe iboga shrub.

Veteran organizations and psychedelic advocates have long contended that ibogaine has great promise for hard-to-treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), and opioid addiction.

“A 2024 Stanford-led open-label trial (n=30 US special operations veterans with TBI) found magnesium-ibogaine treatment led to 88% average reduction in PTSD symptoms (e.g., CAPS-5 scores), 87% in depression, and 81% in anxiety one month post-treatment,” Rogan wrote in a post to Instagram over the weekend, citing the findings from the study.

“One dose of ibogaine has an 80% rate of freeing these people from addiction, and with two doses it’s over 90%. And that’s just addiction,” he further claimed. “It also has fantastic results for treating PTSD and traumatic brain injuries in veterans.”

“It was not fun, it was not recreational,” former U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot Matthew “Whiz” Buckley told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, recounting his experience of traveling to Mexico to undergo ibogaine treatment. “I’ve done some challenging things in my life. This was,........

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