Jon Stewart to Trump: 'You did a good thing' on veteran PTSD treatments



Jon Stewart routinely derides President Donald Trump on his Comedy Central infotainment show. This week, however, the cynical liberal found himself reluctantly celebrating the president over a new mental health initiative that could greatly impact afflicted veterans.

Trump signed an executive order on Saturday aimed at accelerating research and removing barriers to psychedelic drugs — including hallucinogenic ibogaine compounds, psilocybin, and LSD — as potential treatments for serious mental illnesses, including PTSD and depression.

'Credit where credit is due.'

In addition to tasking Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary with reducing product application review times for psychedelic drugs that have received breakthrough therapy designations for treating mental illnesses, Trump ordered the FDA and Drug Enforcement Agency to create a pathway for eligible patients to access investigational psychedelic drugs.

Per the order, the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA must also work with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the private sector "to increase clinical trial participation, data sharing, and real-world evidence generation regarding psychedelic drugs, and shall prioritize drugs that have received a Breakthrough Therapy designation." Fifty million dollars will also be provided for state-level research into ibogaine.

The White House noted in a fact sheet that over 14 million American adults suffer from a serious mental illness; suicide rates remain alarmingly high; and the suicide rate among veterans is more than double that of the nonveteran adult population.

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Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Afforded an opportunity to speak at the signing ceremony on Saturday, podcaster Joe Rogan revealed that the ball got rolling on the executive order after he "sent President Donald Trump some information" about ibogaine.

Trump confirmed the genesis of the initiative, noting that Rogan "wrote me a little note about this, and I had it checked out. I didn't just do it. ... I went to [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] and [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz] and went to some of the people that work for you, real pros, and everybody came back with the same answer."

"Everybody thought it was incredible, and I told Bobby, I said, 'Bobby, let's just do it, and get Oz involved," added Trump.

The president noted at the EO signing that "these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans."

On the April 20 episode of his show, Jon Stewart alerted his liberal audience that he wanted to "give credit where credit is due. We don't, obviously, often do this."

"The president did a solid over the weekend," said Stewart. "President Trump signed an executive order in front of his fraternity brothers fast-tracking the FDA process for novel psychedelic drug treatments for veterans suffering from all forms of PTSD and other psychiatric conditions, including addiction."

After playing tape from the EO signing and reflexively attacking the president over his unscripted remarks, Stewart stopped himself and said, "I'm sorry. I'm falling into old habits. It's good. You did a good thing. I'm nitpicking. I apologize."

Stewart noted further, "A lot of the people are going to get the help they need."

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Chad Chronister doesn't belong anywhere near a position of power.

Alleged would-be carjacker gets tables violently turned on him; motorist is DEA agent who pulls gun, wallops suspect in face, tackles and handcuffs him



An alleged would-be carjacker got the tables violently turned on him in Manhattan last week, as the individual the suspect approached turned out to be a federal Drug Enforcement Agency veteran who wasn't having a bit of it.

What are the details?

The DEA agent had finished a shift and was in his government-issued Jeep at a red light at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue just after midnight Dec. 9 when Zachary Bell approached, authorities told the New York Post.

“Get the f*** out of the car,” Bell, 32, screamed at the agent, the paper said, citing a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Federal Court.

Prosecutors said Bell then reached toward his waistband as if he had a gun, the Post reported.

But the agent — who's been with the DEA for seven years and is assigned to the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, the paper said — flipped the script in hurry.

The agent activated the vehicle’s police lights, pulled out his gun, hit Bell in the face, tackled him to the ground, handcuffed him, and called police, the Post said, citing court papers.

\u201cWorld's most clueless carjacker Zachary Bell tries to steal DEA agent's car: cops https://t.co/JOavIkcnGP\u201d
— New York Post (@New York Post) 1671298513

The paper added that the agent sometimes does undercover work and was not publicly identified. The DEA considers agents on duty even when traveling to and from the job, the Post noted.

What else?

Authorities said responding officers found a gravity knife on Bell, who was charged with attempted carjacking and assaulting a federal officer, the paper said.

Bell — who works at Hudson Yards and lives in Maplewood, New Jersey — has never been convicted of a crime, the Post said.

Suspect's attorney tells different story

Ariel Werner, the attorney for Bell, said during a bail hearing last week that Bell was taken to a hospital and suffered “severe” facial injuries that require surgery, the paper said.

Werner added to the judge that the prosecutor described to her surveillance video of the incident showing Bell approaching the driver-side door of Jeep and waving his arms before walking after the car, the Post reported.

“I think that we will come to find that this was a misunderstanding with very severe consequences,” Werner said, according the paper.

“Based on what I have learned so far, I do not believe that the complaint is an accurate statement of what occurred,” Werner also said without elaboration, the Post reported.

Bell was released Tuesday on a $30,000 bond, and as a condition of his release must undergo drug testing, refrain from alcohol, and travel only in New York and New Jersey, the paper said, citing court documents.