[DENVER, COLORADO] — In response to President Trump’s April 18, 2026 executive order (EO) on “Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness,” the Psychedelic Bar Association (PBA) issues the following statement:
“We are encouraged by this important step and hope that it heralds a lasting shift in federal policy,” said Christian Holden, President of the Board of the PBA. “The impact test will be in what the agencies do next – and whether the legal frameworks they build are clearly-stated, culturally-considerate, and practical to implement for the patients, practitioners, and communities who will be relying on them.”
Although the EO does not legalize psychedelic drugs or directly reschedule any controlled substance, it directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop new frameworks and initiate review processes that could accelerate access to psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.
The EO does not define what psychedelics are covered, but identifies ibogaine as one substance that should be prioritized. Among its key provisions, the EO instructs the FDA to prioritize review of psychedelic drugs with Breakthrough Therapy designation; directs the FDA and DEA to establish a Right to Try pathway for eligible patients (e.g. those suffering from terminal illnesses for whom other treatment options have been unsuccessful); allocates $50 million through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for federal-state collaboration; and requires the Attorney General to initiate rescheduling review for Schedule I substances that have successfully completed Phase 3 clinical trials. The EO does not address other pathways to access, such as religious use.
The PBA Board respectfully urges the named federal agencies to coordinate together to promptly issue implementing regulations and procedures that also address vital topics, including affordable and equitable access, harm reduction, protocols to mitigate risks of corporatization and over-commodification, and reciprocity to indigenous cultures who have stewarded the psychedelic substance(s) impacted by the EO. Policy leaders must take care to ensure that the emerging legal frameworks are crafted to serve individuals and communities and are not subservient to corporate interests – ethical stewardship is essential within the psychedelic ecosystem. The decisions of the agencies will determine the practical effect of the EO.
While the EO has potential to create federally-approved medicalized pathways of access, grassroots and community-based models of healing and support services, including decriminalization models, will remain crucial access points for many individuals who cannot access these medicines through the highly-regulated medical system, whether due to cost prohibitions, historical inequities and institutional harms, or other reasons.
The PBA is closely monitoring the impacts that stem from this EO.
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