Psychedelic therapy and the politics that keep it out of reach
October 5, 2026 · 13 min read
Across three Joe Rogan conversations, Michael Shellenberger, the Triggernometry hosts and attorney Josh Dubin discuss psychedelics for mental illness and for veterans and the drug politics that surround them. The recurring complaint that the rules lack logic makes this a useful case of how drug law can restrict access to a treatment people are asking for.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Psychedelics are in Schedule I, the category for drugs said to have no medical use.
- Rogan: veterans' accounts contradict the no-medical-use claim.
- Rogan: soldiers he knows sought treatment in Mexico because it is illegal at home.
- Rogan: a fatal psilocybin overdose is virtually impossible, by the figures read on air.
- Rogan: it is not a free ride; mentally fragile people should not use it.
- A low overdose risk says nothing about psychological risk.
- Foster relays trial claims on psilocybin and depression, without figures.
- Dubin: extend therapy to prisoners; tribal thinking drives the resistance.
- Shellenberger: open for veterans, wary of quick fixes; daily work remains.
- Shellenberger: keep meth, heroin and fentanyl illegal; availability drives addiction.
- No trial data on PTSD is presented; the strongest claims rest on the speakers' word.
- Therapy for veterans, legal marijuana and legal hard drugs are three separate debates.
- Talk to a qualified medical professional before considering a psychedelic.
- These substances remain illegal under United States federal law.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.