Marijuana Moment: Bipartisan Congressional Bill Would Codify Trump’s Psychedelics Order Into Law

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Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have filed a bill they say is intended to codify into law an executive order President Donald Trump issued to streamline research and access into psychedelic medicine.

Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Lou Correa (D-CA), Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced the Initiating Biomedical Outcomes to Garner Advancements into Innovative Neuroplastogen Efficacy (IBOGAINE) Act on Tuesday.

The legislation would direct the attorney general to “take all necessary steps to determine whether to transfer ibogaine and ibogaine compounds” from schedule I to schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) within 60 days. It also says that the attorney general and the health and human services secretary would need to initiate proceedings to reschedule any other Schedule I substances that complete Phase 3 clinical trials.

“Last month, President Trump ushered in a new era of treatment options for our veterans with his executive order accelerating medical treatments for serious mental illness. Now we must codify it into law and ensure this progress is not lost,” Luttrell said in a press release. “Psychedelic therapy has helped me and countless other veterans, improving our lives for the better. As we fight to combat our veteran suicide crisis, this breakthrough must be available to the men and women who served our nation.”

The new measure would create a definition under federal law for ibogaine, to include “all parts of the plant Tabernanthe iboga” as well as any similar compound or analog that “acts on neuroplasticity, opioid receptors, or serotonergic pathways” that interrupt addiction cycles and restore neurological function disrupted by trauma, chronic substance use or traumatic brain injury.

It would further codify a national priority voucher program to support development of psychedelic and other therapies that can treat widespread maladies.

“Our veterans put their lives on the line to defend our country, and far too many come home with invisible wounds. They deserve access to every effective resource available to help treat PTSD and support their recovery,” Correa said. “Psychedelic-assisted therapy has shown promising results, but we need more research and funding in order for this treatment to become a reality.”

The Democratic congressman added that “President Trump’s support has been a gamechanger for our effort” in support of psychedelics reform.

The legislation would additionally clarify that the federal Right to Try law provides exemptions from the CSA for seriously ill patients to access psychedelics and other Schedule I drugs in accordance with new special registration requirements it would create.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would also have to revise its quotas for the amount of a controlled substance that can be legally produced if it is rescheduled, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or designated as a breakthrough therapy.

“Our veterans and special operators have willingly put themselves in unimaginable danger to defend our freedoms,” McCaul said. “We have a profound moral obligation to help these heroes heal from their wounds, both seen and unseen. As his executive order made clear, President Trump deeply understands our duty to care for them and the potential of treatments like Ibogaine to provide lasting healing.”

The bill also creates a process for federal agencies to partner with states to “advance research on, and development of, psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, for treating serious mental illnesses” as well as a framework for health agencies and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to “collaborate with the private sector to increase clinical trial participation, data sharing, and real-world evidence generation regarding psychedelic drugs.”

“President Trump’s Executive Order sent a strong and long-overdue message to the federal bureaucracy: the days of slow-walking progress are over,” Bergman said. “Agencies now have clear direction from the top to move forward and deliver for our veterans and families who have been waiting far too long.”

“However, executive action alone is not enough. An Executive Order cannot rewrite federal law, and it can be reversed by a future administration,” he said. “That’s why I’m proud to support this legislation that codifies these directives into law and ensures lasting change. Congress must continue to act to streamline FDA approvals, address outdated restrictions, and guarantee the VA fully implements these policies so Veterans have access to the treatment options they deserve as soon as they become available.”

Luttrell and some of the cosponsors of the new bill are also behind a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would extend a psychedelics research effort at the Department of Defense (DOD) for an additional six years. That proposal was cleared this week for floor action by the House Rules Committee.

Correa and Bergman—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—both recently spoke about the need to enact into law provisions to protect the intent of the executive action to ensure ongoing support for psychedelics research for military veterans and people with certain mental health conditions even under future presidents.

Correa said they are “working jointly to make sure we put this into legislation—to move forward permanently, finding a solution for PTSD, every day in America,” adding that he the novel therapy “will revolutionize the way we treat mental health in America” and potentially “lead to helping us with” addressing homelessness.

Bergman, for his part, said that “when you got the top cover of the executive order and the executive order will only last, you know, as long as President Trump is in office and then the next president, we don’t know, could they rescind it?”

“That’s why the time is now to get the ball rolling—to see some breakthroughs,” he said. “It’s not the time to sit around and, ‘Well, no, we can just delay a little longer. We won’t have to deal with this.’ If you’re that person, we’re coming after you. OK, you need to be doing something else for a living.”

Correa and Bergman have been consistently advocating for continued support for psychedelics reform in the weeks since Trump signed the executive order.

The two lawmakers also sponsored an amendment to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding bill on the House floor that sought to raise awareness about the benefits of psychedelic and other therapies for military veterans.

They additionally led a bipartisan coalition of 32 members of Congress in sending a letter urging federal health officials to expedite ongoing reviews of psychedelic therapies.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) also recently gave some across-the-aisle credit to Trump for his administration’s moves to accelerate therapeutic access to psychedelics and also federally reschedule marijuana.

Shortly after Trump signed the executive order, FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced steps that they say will help with “accelerating” therapeutic access to psychedelics for patients dealing with serious mental health conditions.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said recently that the Trump administration is “very anxious” to create a pathway for access to psychedelics therapy and that top officials across federal agencies want to “get it out to the public as quickly as possible.”

In an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience in February, Kennedy said he’s confident “we’re going to get it done,” with plans to develop and finalize rules that would enable patients with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression to access psychedelic substances like psilocybin and MDMA in a “very controlled setting.”

“Everybody in my agency…is very anxious to get a rule out there that will allow these kind of studies and will allow access under therapeutic settings, particularly [for] the military soldiers who have suffered these injuries to get access to these products,” the HHS secretary said. “We’re working through that process now. We’re all working on it and trying to make it happen.”

“I think that we’re going to get it done,” he said.

Last June, Kennedy said his agency is “absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of FDA, is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans “within 12 months.”

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with Kennedy about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And he said he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers introduced legislation this session to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelic-focused “centers for excellence” at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

A U.S. Senate committee held a hearing last month on a bipartisan bill to promote research into the therapeutic potential psychedelics by creating a new office at VA that would advance the development innovative treatments for serious mental health conditions and assist in reviewing the scheduling status of drugs like psilocybin, ibogaine and MDMA.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) has said ibogaine represents an “astonishing breakthrough” in the nation’s current “sick care system” that’s left people with serious mental health conditions without access to promising alternative treatment options.

Photo courtesy of Scamperdale.

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