With the help of Joe Rogan, Donald Trump has accelerated the research on psychedelic drugs to help aid Americans with mental health and addiction, also hoping to help the country’s veterans.
When used in controlled settings, psychedelic drugs have produced significant benefits for treating depression and neurological conditions. The United States is in the midst of a severe opioid crisis that is being considered one of the deadliest public health disasters in American history, causing the death of close to 600,000 people in the past two decades.
To combat the crisis and help millions, Donald Trump held a small ceremony at the White House. Trump sat in the Oval Office, accompanied by Joe Rogan, as he signed an executive order to push forward with the research into psychedelic drugs and the advantages they could give to the general public. Having raised concerns on his podcast, Rogan brought the issue to Trump’s attention, resulting in the president springing into action.
“I want to tell everybody how this happened,” Rogan said during his speech on the signing of the executive order. “I sent President Trump some information. We have a gigantic opiate problem in this country, obviously. In 2024, more than 80,000 people died of overdoses. It’s a horrible number. And there are more than five million people that are addicted to opiates right now in this country. With one dose of ibagane, more than 80% of people are free of that addiction. With two doses, it’s more than 90%.”
“I sent him that information. The text message came back, ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’ It was literally that quick. These drugs are illegal, not because they’re harmful. 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 and the anti-war movement. It’s not because these drugs harm people. And for 56 years, we’ve lived under those terrible conditions. We’re free of that now. We’re free of that now. Thanks to all these people that you see next to me, and thanks to President Trump.”
Joe Rogan has often discussed the matter on his podcast, delving into the possibility that some psychedelics could be beneficial. Alongside the epidemic that has taken the lives of many, mental health struggles are prevalent in the country.
After taking some time to research the true advantages psychedelics provide in their fight toward the psychological well-being of U.S. nationals, Donald Trump has acted. He thanked Rogan for highlighting the problem and credited Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and others for their input before signing the executive order.
“We all respect Joe, and he’s a little bit more liberal than I am, but that’s okay,” Trump responded. “I have a lot of friends that are liberal. But Joe is an amazing guy, and he wrote me a little note about this and I had it checked out. I didn’t just do it. I had it checked out. I went to [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] and [Dr. Mehmet Oz]. I went to some of the people that work for you, real pros. And everybody came back with the same answer…”
“I told [Kennedy Jr.], I said, ‘Bobby, let’s just do it and get Oz involved and it’s going to get done so quickly.’ And you guys did a great job.”
The initiative aims to deliver a quicker solution for the government to check if mind-altering drugs can safely help people with mental issues, like PTSD, depression, or traumatic injuries to the brain, or those suffering from addiction.
