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The Trump administration is putting America on the fast track to a good trip.<\/p>\n
On Friday, April 24, the Food and Drug Administration granted an expedited review process to three experimental psychedelic drugs. It issued priority vouchers to three currently unnamed companies, two of which are expected to research psilocybin as a treatment for depression, and one that will study a drug called methylone, a stimulant similar to MDMA (the main ingredient in the street drug ecstasy), for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n
Those vouchers shorten the FDA\u2019s review process from its standard 10 to 12 months to just one to two months, meaning FDA-approved psychedelics could arrive as soon as this summer.\u00a0Research into psychedelics has been limited before now because the drugs have been illegal in the U.S.<\/p>\n
FDA commissioner Marty Makary said in a press release that psychedelics \u201chave the potential to address the nation\u2019s mental health crisis, including conditions like treatment-resistant depression, alcoholism, and other serious mental health and substance abuse conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forget a war on drugs: The Trump administration is making once-illicit substances its ally.<\/p>\n
The FDA\u2019s fast-track approval for new psychedelic research comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order<\/a> to the same effect. On Monday, April 18, Trump ordered the FDA commissioner to grant priority vouchers to psychedelic drugs that have received “breakthrough therapy” designations, in an effort to \u201censure that red tape does not delay the FDA\u2019s gold standard review of any potential therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond psychedelics, the Trump administration is also moving to make state-licensed marijuana safer and more accessible. On Thursday, April 23, the Justice Department announced a new hearing<\/a>, scheduled to begin June 29, to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.<\/p>\n Schedule I drugs\u2014a category that includes heroin, ecstasy, and LSD\u2014are considered to be more dangerous and require higher regulation, while Schedule III drugs are defined as \u201cdrugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” The reclassification would ease the process of new research into marijuana\u2019s medical applications, along with making its federal legalization more feasible.<\/p>\n The FDA\u2019s rapid review for psychedelics is part of the Commissioner\u2019s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program, which launched in June of 2025. <\/p>\n \u201cUsing a commonsense approach, the national priority review program will allow companies to submit the lion\u2019s share of the drug application before a clinical trial is complete so that we can reduce inefficiencies,\u201d Makary said of the new voucher program at the time<\/a>. \u201cThe ultimate goal is to bring more cures and meaningful treatments to the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n The CNPV program isn\u2019t without its critics. It was launched without approval from Congress, sparking concern that pharmaceutical companies could essentially bribe the Trump administration with financial contributions in the hopes of securing vouchers. <\/p>\n Experts emphasize that even with expedited FDA approval, rigorous research still needs to be at the forefront of any drug trial. Dr. Peg Nopoulos, chair of the University of Iowa\u2019s psychiatry department, told NBC News<\/em><\/a> that she\u2019s \u201chappy to see that the wheels are being greased\u201d on psychedelic research, but that \u201cthe science behind it has to be rock solid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a scientist, and there\u2019s no way we can approve a drug without understanding who\u2019s going to benefit from it, who\u2019s not going to benefit from it, and what the risks are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nA new era for drug approval<\/h2>\n