Last week's executive order made for a buzzy Bicycle Day.

In case you missed it: President Trump—flanked by podcaster Joe Rogan, Americans for Ibogaine founder Bryan Hubbard, Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and others—signed an executive order intended to accelerate psychedelic research and treatment options.

This is the most meaningful federal action on psychedelics since passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, which moved all regulated substances into five categories and placed psychedelics in Schedule I, denoting no medical use and high potential for abuse.

Decades of psychedelic research before and after the CSA's passage have proven otherwise, but governing bodies have been slow to shift. So this announcement deserves credit. It's a hugely impactful and influential statement from the highest levels of the federal government. It's also movement on an issue that has increasingly received bipartisan support thanks to powerful advocates.

What This Doesn't Mean

The executive order does not change the legal status of psychedelics at the federal level. Policy changes more slowly than the quick speed of the executive branch's whim—and there is a lot to figure out.

What's Happening Now

The federal government is making moves

So far, Commissioner's National Priority Vouchers (CNPVs) have been awarded to three psychedelics programs: Compass, Transcend (which is being acquired by Otsuka), and Usona. Vouchers dramatically reduce review and rollout timelines for drugs that align with national health priorities (from 6+ months to 1-2 months).

The FDA is also working on final guidance to provide recommendations to sponsors developing these products.

The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee just scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, April 28, on the Veterans Health administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act, which would create a dedicated Office of Novel Therapeutics inside the VA, as well as a Clinical Implementation Program for Emerging Therapeutics.

And while it's not specifically related to psychedelics, the federal government has also moved to reschedule state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III (and yes, we have questions about that too).

Cultural and spiritual uses of psychedelics have been sidelined

The executive order explicitly privileges the medical model of psychedelics, and makes no mention of these substances' uses in religious or cultural frameworks or in the psychedelic underground (though it does open the door to rescheduling reviews for Schedule I substances that have gone through Phase 3 clinical trials). That's not unexpected, but it means that critical questions about the complexity of why, how, and by whom psychedelics are used must be centered as much as possible as conversations continue.

So far, the Native American Church of North America has released a statement reiterating their stance that peyote "must be excluded from federal research and treatment frameworks."

What's Next—and Why It Matters for Appalachia

Appalachia currently lacks the infrastructure necessary to support a large-scale, effective, and sustainable rollout of psychedelic medicine and treatment options. But the order will help make space for more conversations. More questions. More interest.

That's where we come in. Appalachian Convergence Lab was born out of the urgent need to fill critical gaps in the psychedelic movement by bringing Appalachians to the tables where policy discussions, education, and training happen. By advocating for integrative solutions in mind, medicine, and law, we are helping to position Appalachia as a key player within the psychedelic movement.

Hospitals, clinics, and treatment centers need staff knowledgeable about psychedelics. Policies and procedures must be created that provide foundational support, while being flexible enough to accommodate evolving conversations and decisions.

Key movement continues to be made on the local and state level. Our Policy Report on Psychedelics in Appalachian States (available for our Community Sustainers) breaks down what's happening, giving you information, regional context, and accessible, neutral analysis and empowering Appalachian communities to engage with this topic confidently.

Wondering how psychedelic education might fit into your institution? Our Psychedelic Research Institutional Strategy Matrix (PRISM), also available for our Community Sustainers, lays out options in a clear, concise way to support your strategic planning.

Curious about how the history of psychedelics and the history of the region have intertwined? Our Historical Timeline of Psychedelics in Appalachia gives you the bigger picture.

Get In On the Conversation

This is the perfect time to join our Hollers & Horizons Town Hall series, which includes insights from a regional psychedelic leader, followed by rich discussion On Monday, we're welcoming Susan Ousterman of the Vilomah Foundation as our speaker. This month's topic: Preparing Your Family for Psychedelic Informed Healing & Recovery.

Town Halls happen the final Monday of the month from 5-6:30 p.m. ET.

​Subscribe here to get access for only $8 Month

Your subscription helps sustain our work and includes PRISM and the Policy Report.

Some Questions We'll Explore:

1. How might the executive order impact this work?
2. What do families most often misunderstand about substance use, and what kind of education actually helps them support their loved one effectively?
3. How is substance use often connected to deeper experiences like trauma, grief, or emotional pain, and why does that perspective matter?
4. What changes when families stop seeing a loved one as ‘the problem to fix’ and instead relate to them with both compassion and clear boundaries?
5. Can you clarify the differences between substance use, problematic use, and physical dependence—and why those distinctions are important?
6. Looking ahead, what would a responsible and ethical development pathway for ibogaine treatment look like, especially in regions heavily impacted by addiction?

Join our Community Sustainer Tier

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We have a lot more to share about our experiences at Psychedelic Culture and Bicycle Day, so be on the lookout for more updates soon. We feel privileged to be working at a time when so much is happening in the psychedelic space, and we hold and honor the complexity of the topic and the conversations around it.

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— Justin & Ali

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​Appalachian Convergence Lab​
Interdisciplinary Advocacy for Mind, Medicine & Law