On April 18, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order directing federal agencies to accelerate access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for serious mental illness. The order directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite review of psychedelic compounds with Breakthrough Therapy designation, instructs the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to establish access pathways for eligible patients to investigational psychedelic drugs including ibogaine, and allocates at least $50 million through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to partner with states that have enacted programs to advance psychedelic research.

Texans for Greater Mental Health celebrates this historic federal action – and notes that Texas has been building towards this moment for years.

In 2021, Texas Representative Alex Dominguez authored House Bill 1802, the first psychedelic research legislation to be signed into law anywhere in the United States. That same year, the Charmaine and Gordon McGill Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy opened at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. The first center of its kind in Texas bringing rigorous clinical science to bear on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for PTSD, depression, addiction, and traumatic brain injury, with a particular focus on military veterans. Co-directed by Dr. Greg Fonzo and Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff, and made possible by a landmark philanthropic commitment from Charmaine and Gordon McGill and the Cain Foundation, the McGill Center has provided the scientific backbone that Texas policymakers and advocates needed to build a credible, research-first case at the state and federal level.

In 2025, Senator Tan Parker and Representative Cody Harris built on that foundation with Senate Bill 2308, which created the Texas Ibogaine Initiative – the largest publicly funded psychedelic research program in the history of any government worldwide – with a $100 million investment to fund FDA-approved clinical trials of ibogaine. The White House fact sheet accompanying the executive order explicitly cited the Texas program as a national model.

The executive order's federal-state partnership provision now positions Texas to be among the first states to receive additional federal funding and technical assistance as implementation gets underway. Texans for Greater Mental Health has been a central advocate across all of these efforts and will continue working to ensure effective implementation at both the state and federal levels.

"Texas didn't wait for Washington – and Washington has noticed," said Logan Davidson, Senior Advisor for Texans for Greater Mental Health. "HB 1802 started this, the McGill Center built the science behind it, SB 2308 put real money behind it, and now the federal government is following the trail we blazed. This executive order is a validation of years of work by Texas legislators, researchers, veterans, advocates, and families who refused to accept the status quo. Our job now is to make sure the promise of this moment is met with real action."

"When we founded Texans for Greater Mental Health, we believed that Texas could change the national conversation on psychedelic-assisted therapies – and that is exactly what has happened," said Eric Khozindar, Founder and Board President of Texans for Greater Mental Health. "The McGill Center at Dell Medical School gave us the scientific credibility to make that case. Seeing the President of the United States sign an executive order that draws directly on the Texas model is a profound affirmation of this work. We are proud of what this state has accomplished and committed to seeing it through."

"House Bill 1802 was a first step taken when this issue had no political cover and no federal momentum," said former Texas Representative Alex Dominguez, member of the Texans for Greater Mental Health Board of Directors and author of HB 1802. "We passed it because the science was compelling and veterans were suffering. Everything that has followed – the McGill Center, the Texas Ibogaine Initiative, and now this executive order – traces back to that foundational decision to act. Texas led, and the nation is following."

Texans for Greater Mental Health will continue to monitor implementation of the executive order and advocate for policies that ensure safe, evidence-based, and equitable access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for all Texans – especially veterans and first responders.