Trump turns over new leaf in GOP drug policy with marijuana, psychedelics orders

The Trump administration’s moves on marijuana and psychedelics signal the start of a new era in Republican drug policy. 

The orders to fast-track reviews of psychedelic drugs and reschedule medical marijuana are a far cry from the party of “just say no” and former Republican President Richard Nixon’s war on drugs. 

“Regardless of what one may think of the president … he seems to be someone who is open to innovation and is not imprisoned by dogmatic viewpoints,” said Bryan Hubbard, CEO of the advocacy group Americans for Ibogaine, a psychoactive compound that shows promise for addiction treatment. 

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order to loosen research restrictions on psychedelic drugs as medicine to treat mental conditions like depression and substance abuse disorder.  

“Can I have some please?” Trump joked to the group that included administration officials, veterans, GOP lawmakers and podcaster Joe Rogan.  

The order came with $50 million to boost states’ efforts and a directive for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fast-track reviews that could ultimately lead to the approval of psychedelic medicines. 

Days later, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered the reclassification of state-licensed medical marijuana as less dangerous. Blanche said the Justice Department “is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options.”  

Individually, the orders did not do much to change the status quo. 

Psychedelics are still illegal, and Trump did not endorse their use recreationally. Similarly, recreational marijuana was not legalized. It remains a Schedule I drug under federal law, akin to heroin or LSD. 

But together, the moves reflect changing public perception on “softer” drugs like cannabis and LSD. It also reflects the influence of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which together with Trump’s populist tendencies has helped jump-start a desire for drug experimentation and health freedom.  

Hubbard, the ibogaine advocate who spoke in the Oval Office during last weekend’s event, credited veterans for helping to change the perception of psychedelics among some of the most socially conservative lawmakers. 

Indeed, many of the growing number of Republican lawmakers who are making the case for psychedelics are veterans themselves.  

Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), and his brother Marcus, both retired Navy SEALs, stood behind Trump at the signing ceremony.   

Luttrell, along with Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and Lou Correa (D-Calif.), lead the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus, pushing for “rigorous and urgent clinical research” on psychedelics. 

“The warfighter messengers around psychedelics are able to eventually reverse the stigma that has long been associated with the countercultural left,” Hubbard said. “They have been able to demonstrate, hey, this it’s real, it’s legitimate, and it’s to be taken seriously.”  

Denise Gitsham, Republican strategist and former George W. Bush aide, said the Trump administration “wants to actually deliver results for veterans and those who suffer from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder].” 

Psychedelics have also become more mainstream, especially among some of Trump’s unconventional allies like Elon Musk, Rogan, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who made easing access to psychedelic drugs one of his top priorities at the department.  

Notably, Trump said the issue of psychedelics was only recently put on his radar by Rogan, saying the podcaster texted him about the research around ibogaine, to which he sent a quick response: “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.”   

While Trump signed the order to reschedule marijuana last year, there had been little movement on it until he publicly complained to Rogan during the psychedelic event. 

“I think he wants to follow through on not only what RFK Jr. promised in his campaign about psychedelics, but also what he thinks is right,” Grisham said. “And I think there’s definitely a political element to it too. I think Joe Rogan helped flag the issue, but it wasn’t out of step with what he was really planning to do.” 

Adam Rosenberg, chair of the board for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said he wasn’t surprised that Trump went from supporting marijuana reclassification to supporting psychedelic drug research. 

“My hope and hypothesis was that cannabis would serve as an icebreaker in helping our lawmakers recognize that the approach to these entheogenic plants and fungi has failed to this point, and cannabis has really opened the door toward reevaluating these Schedule I controlled substances and acknowledging that there is therapeutic potential,” he said. 

Advocates for marijuana and psychedelics said they have noticed a shift in how the Trump administration approached both issues. 

When Joe Biden was president, for example, agencies studied the medical potential of psychedelics. But his administration’s FDA rejected a drugmaker’s application to offer ecstasy, alongside talk therapy, as a treatment for PTSD. 

Biden also began the process of marijuana rescheduling, but it wasn’t completed before the end of his term. 

“With the Biden administration, there was an extra layer of political cautiousness that … doesn’t really exist with the Trump administration,” said Melissa Lavasani, founder of the advocacy group Psychedelic Medicine Coalition. 

“The dialogue with federal government has been much more open, and there has been a lot of creative thinking around how we move this forward,” Lavasani said. 

Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, noted Trump’s White House isn’t bound by the same political worries as Biden’s was. 

“I think sometimes there’s been a sort of a reluctance among Democrat administrations not to seem too progressive,” Doblin said. “I think it’s kind of like the Nixon goes to China story, that that could only have been done by a Republican administration … then with the advance of the research, the incredible amount of need, the bipartisan support, sometimes it’s easier for this particular Republican administration to be more bold.” 

But not everyone in the party is convinced of the upside. Hard-line critics of marijuana reform are sounding the alarm. 

“Trump is famous for not doing anything more than Diet Coke, so all I can think of is that he doesn’t realize the dangers that he is unleashing,” said Anne Schlafly Cori, chair of the Eagle Forum, a conservative, pro-family advocacy group. 

On the eve of Trump’s initial announcement in December about rescheduling marijuana, 22 Senate Republicans urged him in a letter not to go ahead with it, citing economic consequences and health issues like addiction linked to the drug’s use. 

Following the newest development, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) again warned about the dangers of marijuana.  

“Marijuana today is much more potent than just ten or twenty years ago, leading to increased psychosis, anti-social behavior, and fatal car crashes,” he wrote on social platform X, adding that the change is a “step in the wrong direction.”

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