The White House Just Went All-In on Magic Mushrooms

Second, it opens a Right to Try pathway for psychedelics. The 2018 Right to Try Act lets terminally ill patients access experimental drugs. The EO extends that logic to psychedelics, including ibogaine compounds, for patients with serious mental illness who've exhausted other options. FDA and DEA are directed to make it actually workable by cutting the Schedule I red tape that has made these pathways theoretical at best.

Third, it tells the DEA to get out of the way after approval. Historically, even after the FDA approves a drug, it can take years for the DEA to reschedule it. The order instructs the Attorney General to begin rescheduling reviews as soon as Phase 3 trials succeed, so there's no gap between FDA approval and a doctor's ability to prescribe.

The Surprise Snub

Here's where it gets interesting. Most observers expected one of those priority vouchers to go to Lykos Therapeutics (formerly MAPS Public Benefit Corporation), the group that has spent decades developing MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. They're the poster child of the psychedelic medicine movement.

They didn't get one.

The FDA rejected Lykos's MDMA application back in August 2024, citing concerns about functional unblinding (patients can easily tell if they got the real drug), therapist standardization, and abuse potential. As of mid-2026, there's no public indication that FDA is ready to reverse course without additional data. Instead, the third voucher went to Transcend's methylone program for PTSD, a newer entrant with no prior rejection baggage. It was a clear signal: the FDA wants options in the PTSD psychedelic space, and it's not waiting around for MDMA to sort itself out.

Follow the Money (and the Politics)

Let's be honest about what's driving this. The executive order didn't emerge from a vacuum of pure scientific enthusiasm.

Analysts at STAT and elsewhere have connected the timing to midterm-year health policy positioning. The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and high-profile advocates like Joe Rogan pushed psychedelics as a centerpiece of a "wellness populism" agenda. Veterans' groups provided the moral authority; libertarian-leaning conservatives provided the deregulatory energy. The result is a coalition that probably couldn't agree on pizza toppings but found common ground on psilocybin.

The $50 million in ARPA-H funding, directed toward state-federal partnerships for psychedelic research, adds real dollars to the rhetoric. Texas, which has already launched an ibogaine research consortium, is a likely early beneficiary.

For biotech investors, the signal is unmistakable. COMPASS Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS), Cybin (Nasdaq: HELP), and Atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI) are the most direct public plays. AbbVie's $1.2 billion acquisition of Gilgamesh's psilocybin-like compound in 2025 already validated big-pharma interest. This EO could accelerate the next wave of deals.

The Catch (There's Always a Catch)

Before anyone starts planning their victory lap, a few caveats.

The executive order does not approve any psychedelic drug. It doesn't override safety and efficacy standards. It doesn't legalize recreational use. And it doesn't force insurance companies to cover these therapies. Clinical experts warn that without standardized therapist training, facility requirements, and follow-up care protocols, rushing access could produce bad outcomes and a public backlash that sets the field back a decade.

There's also the durability question. This is an executive order, not legislation. A different administration could reverse it with a pen stroke. And analysts note that this same administration previously blocked fast-track status for a COMPASS psilocybin treatment earlier in its term, suggesting the policy environment can be "idiosyncratic and erratic," as one legal analysis put it.

What This Really Means

Zoom out, and the picture is striking. For fifty years, the federal government treated psychedelics like contraband. Now it's treating them like a priority. The path from Schedule I pariah to FDA-fast-tracked therapy isn't complete yet; psilocybin and MDMA still aren't approved drugs. But the regulatory architecture is being rebuilt in real time.

Psilocybin is closest to the finish line, with late-stage trial data accumulating. MDMA faces a longer road after the 2024 rejection, though the broader policy environment has never been friendlier. Methylone is the dark horse, entering Phase 3 with a pending acquisition by Otsuka.

The biggest shift isn't any single provision in the executive order. It's the fact that the conversation has moved from "should we study these drugs?" to "how fast can we get them to patients?" That's a different question entirely. And for millions of Americans with treatment-resistant mental illness, it might be the most important question Washington has asked in years.

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