Global Ganja Report

President Donlad Trump on April 18 signed an executive order calling on the DEA and FDA to open legal pathways for research into the therapeutic benefits of certain Schedule I psychedelic drugs—prominently inlcuding ibogaine, with an emphasis on its potential to treat PTSD in military veterans. The order instructs the FDA to collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the private sector "to increase clinical trial participation and evidence generation surrounding experimental psychedelic therapies." 

The measure also provides $50 million for state-level research into ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic derived from the root of a Central African shrub that has been drawing interest from researchers for its potential to treat opioid addiction. The funding will most immediately benefit Texas, which has already committed $50 million to studying ibogaine.

Also named in the order are LSD, MDMA (ecstasy) and psilocybin. The order foreses eventual re-scheduling of these substances after clinical trials.

On hand for the Oval Office signing, along with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, was podcaster Joe Rogan, who is said to have influenced Trump on the matter. (NYT, AP)

It's an irony, however, that one of ibogaine's most dogged longtime proponents, veteran activist Dana Beal, is currently in prison in Idaho on a cannabis charge.