Trump backs psychedelic drug treatments
4/21/202618 min
President Trump signed an executive order to fast-track medical research into psychedelic drugs, following a push by podcaster and influencer Joe Rogan. We discuss what the research says and how the push fits into the Make America Healthy Again agenda.
This episode: senior political correspondent Tamara Keith, health correspondent Will Stone, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.
This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
Support for NPR and the following message come from HX Expeditions, offering immersive voyages to Antarctica, Galapagos, and beyond. HX Journeys are designed for curious travelers who wanna learn more about the natural world. Information at travelhx.com.
Tamara Keith· Host0:17
[upbeat music] Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith, I cover politics.
Domenico Montanaro· Co-host0:27
And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.
Tamara Keith· Host0:30
And NPR health correspondent Will Stone is back with us. Hello, Will.
Will Stone0:33
Hey there.
Tamara Keith· Host0:35
Today on the show, President Trump signed an executive order to fast-track medical research into psychedelic drugs after a push by podcaster and influencer Joe Rogan. This is what Rogan said during the signing ceremony in the Oval Office this past weekend.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:51
I sent him that information. The text message b- came back, "Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let's do it." [laughing] It was literally that quick.
Tamara Keith· Host1:02
Uh, we will get to the Rogan of it all in a moment, but Will, what kind of drugs are we talking about here, and, and why is this something that would rise to the level of the president?
Will Stone1:14
Sure. I mean, we're talking about MDMA, uh, psilocybin, LSD, other kinds of psychedelics. We've seen this real revival, a renaissance of research into these compounds, you know, after many years when that was shut down because