The recent executive order signed by the President to accelerate the review of psychedelic compounds, including the controversial West African shrub-derived drug Ibogaine, has ignited a national conversation about the future of addiction and mental health treatment.
In this 105.5 WERC News Spot, our very own addiction expert Shane Leonard cuts through the sensationalism, separating the perception of “miracle drugs” from the reality of evidence-based recovery, discussing the true intent and potential impact of this decision.
Transcript: WERC News Spot – April 20, 2026
WERC: Joining us now to talk about what the president is now doing and signing an executive order to speed up the review of psychedelics, including a controversial drug, Ibogaine, which is, I guess, a drug that comes from a shrub in West Africa. And it’s supposed to have some pretty good benefits. I don’t know if that music comes with it, but joining us now to talk a little bit more about this is Shane Leonard, who’s an addiction expert. Shane, when I saw this, I thought, okay, RFK Jr. is probably involved with this, and they’re going to try and find the good in these psychedelics to help people with medical issues.
But the first glance at this, I’m thinking, what is the president doing? We’re going back to, you know, Jefferson Starship and the airplane, Grace Slick and One Pill. You know, go ask Alice. Good morning. Welcome, and thanks for being here.
SHANE LEONARD: Yeah. You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.
WERC: So please, let’s clarify the perception versus the reality. Please tell me it’s different, and there’s benefit in all of this. What’s happening?
SHANE: Well, I think that it’s a little dubious that such a big deal would happen right now. If you read the executive order that was written, it’s very specific as to the restrictions put on it. But the signaling is, you know, how many interview requests I got yesterday? Just yesterday. And they were all over the place when it comes to, okay.
Well, when are you gonna start? When are you gonna deploy Ibogaine? And when are you gonna start offering this therapy? And we’re not. We’re just not gonna do that.
WERC: So what what is what is the what is the benefit of Ibogaine? And what is the function and the potential reason to even consider doing this? Will it help with addiction?
SHANE: Well, you have to prove that to me. I mean, if you prove that to me with evidence-based results and outcomes, then I’m willing to look at it. But it’s just not what we do. We work with evidence-based, proven modalities of treatment. The outcomes are extremely high if people follow the program and take the time to put some work in.
I think it goes back to my ultimate feeling about all these diagnoses that we pass out. Now listen. Trauma is a real thing, particularly for veterans. So if there’s some benefit for them in that, I’m talking about for mental health issues, not addiction. You can’t treat addiction with an addictive substance.
It’s like saying you can’t come to treatment for alcohol, and you’re gonna drink your way out of it. It’s just that it doesn’t work like that.
WERC: Yeah. So when you talk to folks that are going through the trauma, I’m sure we have seen other drugs that have come to market that have been approved by the FDA and are prescribed now that, you know, opioids, I mean, good and addictions there, but there are drugs that are derived from nature and plants that are beneficial in pharmaceutical practice. Correct?
SHANE: Absolutely. Highly successful drugs. I mean, opiates have their proper place. There is absolutely no substitute for it when you’re having a major invasive surgery and recovery from that, and it’s plant-based. Penicillin is nature-based.
WERC: So is that the intention of the president and RFK Jr. to start looking at some of these things and maybe derive the benefits out of them, just like those drugs you just discussed?
SHANE: Absolutely. I think that’s a reality of it. I don’t think that was the intent of it. I think the intent of it was to kinda grandstand a little bit and get everyone excited about another drug, the miracle pill that everybody in addiction is looking for. Yeah.
And it again, it it’s more there’s more to it than that. It’s a very nuanced, terrible illness, and it requires the person to take some accountability at some point.
WERC: So, are you on board with this decision by the president and RFK Jr. to explore the potential good out of it?
SHANE: You know, here’s what we do. When people come to us, and they wanna stay on medically assisted treatment as maintenance, we just refer them to somebody who does that well. We don’t do it at all. We use medically assisted treatment for detox purposes. So, you know, it just seems a little dubious to me, and the timing of it is just if you again, if you read the order, nothing’s gonna happen today, and nothing may ever happen.
WERC: Right.
SHANE: So people had already jumped ahead to the conclusion that all these clinics were gonna open up and these psychedelic fantasy rehab centers were gonna be built everywhere, and that is the dangerous part about doing things like that.
WERC: Yeah.
SHANE: That kind of announcement with as much media around it as there was.
WERC: Well, it’s obviously a lightning rod for sure, and people have opinions about this type of thing right out of the gate. And I don’t think, you know, anybody was really considering, you know, having to go buy another black light for a velvet poster of Jimi Hendrix to hang on their wall. I don’t think that, you know, that is gonna happen here. But I’m with you. I think there can be a benefit from, you know, exploration in areas that, you know, could produce some help for some people. So well, I really appreciate your insight on this, Shane Leonard. You make some great points, too. Yeah. Let’s not jump into, and just jump into another drug to take care of my drug addiction.
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