Why Trump encourages psychedelics for mental health

Marie Phelan said she had never heard of MDMA before spotting a flyer seeking veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Today, she says the psychoactive drug, more commonly known as ecstasy or molly, changed the trajectory of her life.

“My experience with MDMA broke my heart,” said Phelan, who enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1999 and was deployed to Iraq in 2003.

“I was carrying this big, heavy backpack and I just put it down on the beach and started unpacking it one little thing at a time and exposing every little thing to the waves,” Phelan said of releasing the treatment.

Phelan is not alone in turning to alternative treatments for trauma. She is one of a small group of Americans who have undergone psychedelic-assisted therapy as part of clinical trials studying new approaches to mental health treatment.

Today, access to these therapies is closer than ever to being expanded more widely, providing new options for patients and opportunities for businesses – but also new control over safety and effectiveness.

In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at accelerating research into psychedelic medications for the treatment of mental illness. The move comes as his administration issued priority review vouchers to three companies developing psychedelic or MDMA-type therapies: Compass WaysUsona Institute and Transcend Therapeutics – aimed at expediting parts of the FDA review process.

The order marks a notable change in tone from Trump’s first term, when his administration took a tougher stance on cannabis and other controlled substances. This time, the White House said psychedelic compounds “show potential in clinical studies to treat serious mental illnesses in patients whose condition persists after completing standard treatment.”

Investors quickly flocked to the sector. Shares of psychedelic drug developers such as Compass Pathways and other space-related rivals rallied after the announcement, with Wall Street analysts saying the order could legitimize an industry long considered fringe.

The science, however, remains deeply debated, raising questions about how much room for growth this segment has.

Historically, research on psychedelics has focused more narrowly on certain conditions. Psilocybin – the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms – has been linked to the treatment of depression, MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, and LSD for anxiety.

While drugs like psilocybin and ibogaine — a psychoactive compound derived from a West African shrub that some advocates say could help treat addiction and head trauma — are considered classic psychedelics, MDMA is technically classified as an empathogen.

Yet researchers and regulators often group MDMA-assisted therapy within the broader field of psychedelic medicine because the treatments involve supervised therapeutic sessions designed to treat conditions such as PTSD, depression and addiction.

“One of the things that’s important to recognize is that these are very different drugs,” said Brandon Weiss, a researcher at the Center for Research on Psychedelics and Consciousness at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Ibogaine and other psychedelic compounds have different safety profiles and risks.”

Clinical research around some of these compounds has yielded promising results. In late-stage trials sponsored by the nonprofit psychedelic research advocacy group According to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, approximately 71% of participants with severe PTSD no longer met diagnostic criteria for the disorder after MDMA-assisted therapy sessions.

The FDA rejected a previous application for MDMA-assisted therapy in 2024, citing concerns about the design of that same late-stage study. and the need for additional data. Some psychedelic researchers saw the move as evidence that the agency remains cautious despite growing public enthusiasm.

Countries outside the United States have already started easing restrictions. Australia became the first country to allow licensed psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin for certain mental health conditions in 2023. Researchers in Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom have also expanded clinical studies examining psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Still, Weiss cautions that not all psychedelic compounds carry the same risks — nor the same amount of evidence supporting their use.

“Psychedelic compounds have different safety profiles, different risks,” Weiss said. “Ibogaine poses particularly high cardiovascular risks, and so what needs to be done is a very measured and methodical weighing of safety and effectiveness between ibogaine and other compounds.”

The White House executive order specifically referenced accelerating ibogaine research. But unlike psilocybin or MDMA-assisted therapy, ibogaine has not been the subject of large-scale clinical trials in the United States and has been associated with potentially serious cardiovascular side effects.

Weiss said the real concern among some researchers is not that psychedelic therapies are ineffective, but that political dynamics could override the scientific process.

“My biggest concern would be if FDA standards were relaxed for political reasons,” he said. “It’s not clear that this is the case, but what is needed is a lot more scientific research and a very objective interpretation of the risks and benefits.”

Kabir Nath, CEO of Compass Pathways, said his company adheres to the same standards as the FDA for all drugs. He said the company would not have started the process of submitting its drug, COMP360 Psilocybin, for approval if it had felt the data was insufficient.

Even proponents of psychedelics used as treatment acknowledge that the therapies are far more complex than taking a prescription pill at home. Most psychedelic-assisted therapy trials involve hours of preparation with clinicians, supervised treatment sessions, and follow-up integrative therapy afterward.

Treatments also carry risks. Patients may experience panic attacks, paranoia, elevated heart rate, or psychological distress during sessions. In some clinical settings, doctors use so-called “rescue medications” like benzodiazepines or antipsychotics to calm patients experiencing serious adverse reactions or overwhelming hallucinations.

Phelan said his own experience with MDMA-assisted therapy was less like intoxication and more like confronting years of trauma in a controlled environment.

For veteran advocates like Juliana Mercer, executive director of Healing Breakthrough, a nonprofit, the administration’s order represents validation for patients who have spent years pushing for broader access to alternative mental health treatments. Mercer, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said psychedelic-assisted therapy “completely changed” his life after struggling with trauma.

“One of the things this experience was able to give me was permission to heal,” Mercer said.

As the Trump administration continues its troop reductions and deeper military engagement in Iran, some veterans are increasingly questioning the prioritization of their care.

So some critics of the Trump administration said the timing of the executive order was particularly important as the president tries to regain veterans’ support ahead of the midterm elections.

Phelan, however, rejected the idea that support for psychedelic therapies translates into political support for Trump.

“They made so many cuts to veterans benefits and medical services,” Phelan said. “Great, you did a good thing. You did a good thing…I can’t speak to the reaction of others, but if that’s the intention, I doubt it would be effective.”

Some industry executives also say the executive order may have less immediate impact than headlines suggest. Companies like Compass Pathways were already nearing the final stage of Phase 3 trials before the White House announcement, meaning approval submissions to the FDA were likely coming anyway.

Nath, CEO of Compass Pathways, said the order signals, above all, broader political acceptance of the field.

“It certainly gives a significant tailwind, encouragement and validation,” Nath said.

— CNBC’s Ryan Baker contributed to this report