Seeing President Trump sign a decree to accelerate federal research on the therapeutic use of hallucinogens during a ceremony at the White House on April 18th, “I felt like I was floating,” recounts Dimitri Mugianis to the New York Times, a practitioner who has been working with these substances for a long time, despite their illegality.
And for good reason, points out the newspaper: “Here is a republican hardliner, who has always abstained from drinking, promoting these hallucinogenic substances that a former president of his party, Richard Nixon, condemned as the number one public enemy.”
Joe Rogan’s take
Trump’s shift – whose Justice Department has also relaxed regulations on marijuana – is not entirely surprising. Nixon’s ‘war on drugs’, in which he classified psychedelic substances as the most heavily repressed category, is now seen as a failure, explains the New York Times. Public opinion has evolved with research showing the potential of certain hallucinogens to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
Furthermore, prominent figures “have openly discussed their psychedelic experiences,” including Trump allies: billionaire Elon Musk and his Health Minister, Robert F. Kennedy.
