With a historic stroke of his pen, President Donald Trump signed what the White House is calling a “groundbreaking Executive Order” prioritizing breakthroughs in research and access to psychedelic drugs for mental health treatments earlier this month.
The order directs federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, to speed up research, fast-track reviews and expand the right for patients with life-threatening conditions to access investigational psychedelic drugs.
“A lot of veterans in particular aren’t really excited about taking medication or they’ve had experience with it, and it didn’t work,” said Derek Coy, a senior program officer with New York Health Foundation. “So, knowing that a lot of these treatments are not synthetic. They’re also an alternative to more traditional medicine; I think that’s appealing.”
Coy said while this development is promising, it’s important to know if this option is right for you.
“What we’ve seen historically is that we’re in the midst of a suicide epidemic and vets with substance abuse disorder be it opioids, alcohol, and even cannabis use disorders have disproportionately high rates of suicide,” said Coy. “So, this could be very promising for a lot of folks, but things like ibogaine that are part of the Executive Order they could be very dangerous as well for folks with cardiac issues. So, really understanding that this could be a great treatment option, but we really need to understand how safe it can be and who it’s right for.”
Back in March, the 2025 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report revealed there were 44 fewer deaths nationwide in 2023 with 6,398 veterans dying by suicide compared to 2022.
In New York, the Empire State is experiencing its highest level in more than 20 years.
According to the New York Health Foundation, the rate rose to 24.9 per 100,000 in 2023 – a 25.8% increase from the previous year.
While firearms remain the leading cause of death, supporters of psychedelic drug use believe this executive order could potentially lead to a breakthrough to help drive down rates for veterans who struggle with mental health issues.
“People who are using that who are not sellers, were not dealers, but are using it for their own therapeutic means should not be criminalized because of that use,” said New York state Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal.
Rosenthal is currently sponsoring a proposal in her chamber she said calls for the “decriminalization” of adults using and possessing psychedelics and grants certain protections for lawful use.
“It’s in committee, it’s something that people have to get used to,” said Rosenthal. “You know we just fought the battles of legalizing marijuana which took 20 plus years for recreational use. So, I thought I’d introduce it to open up a bigger audience to the issue and the subject.”
Rosenthal said feedback is a “mixed bag” with some lawmakers expressing concern about misuse and others offering support.