The psychedelic revolution is leaving behind people of color

Flanked by one of psychedelics’ biggest celebrity cheerleaders, Joe Rogan, and a troupe of MAHA loyalists, President Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at accelerating psychedelic access for clinical research and treatment. Use of naturally occurring and synthetic hallucinogens traces back to the Neanderthals. Yet these substances have long been a pariah in mainstream medicine, written off as “club drugs” with little to no clinical value (or worse, downright negative effects). But they no longer sit on the fringes of medicine. In August, for instance, pharmaceutical giant AbbVie inked a billion-dollar deal, the first of its kind, to acquire Bretisilocin, a psychedelic compound used to treat major depressive disorder. Now Trump is directing federal agencies to streamline regulatory pathways, expand clinical trials, and explore mechanisms for broader therapeutic use. With the federal government formally throwing its hat in the ring, this is likely just the start of a much broader trend of Big Pharma investing heavily in the drugs. As researchers who focus on mental illness and addiction, we see psychedelics’ potential as a form of treatment as virtually unmatched. But their promise faces both scientific uncertainty and thorny political questions — especially when it comes to their benefits