Trump's psychedelics executive order could accelerate new treatments—even for children

Trump's psychedelics executive order could accelerate new treatments—including for children

The Trump administration has fast-tracked research into psychedelics, and experts say it is likely a matter of time before the drugs are used to treat minors

President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at fast-tracking research into the medical use of psychedelics will almost certainly open the door to experimenting with psychedelic therapies for children and eventually prescribing them, experts say.

Flanked by podcaster Joe Rogan and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. , Trump signed the order on April 18. The text of the order mentions federally banned psychedelics as promising options for the concerning number of Americans who are struggling with mental, behavioral and emotional disorders. And it points specifically to the roughly 6,000 military veterans who die by suicide every year. There is no mention of minors.

At least one company is already seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a treatment involving psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, and the agency has also issued priority vouchers to companies investigating the compound’s effectiveness in treating depression. But if these drugs are ultimately approved for use in adults in the U.S., clinicians and pharmaceutical companies could, at some point, target them to people under the age of 18.

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“It’s inevitable, because once the drug gets approved, then you start moving down that age timeline and testing kids,” says Dominic Sisti, an associate professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The FDA requires more guardrails for drug trials in children than it does for those in adults. Psychoactive drug testing in kids garners even more ethical scrutiny; and because psychedelics affect the brain , which is still developing in children, these potential therapies would prompt more questions. The history of medicine shows why: The discovery and synthesis of psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD prompted a flurry of research into their possible therapeutic benefits. That included controversial experiments such as the infamous and illegal CIA-led MKUltra brainwashing program, in which participants were unknowingly given large doses of LSD. That program ran from 1953 to 1973.