If confirmed to lead the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a unique chance to advance major drug reforms, say some advocates, adding that he has previously endorsed expanding access to psychedelic therapies for military veterans and creating a pathway toward legalizing the use of psilocybin and ibogaine.
Still, some advocates say Kennedy’s lack of scientific credentials and his use of anti-vaccine rhetoric on the campaign trail could hinder his ability to build consensus around legalizing psychedelic medicines.
“It’s promising for the movement because of his support for alternative health and him being open about his struggle with addiction as well as his son’s, and how they were helped with at least some of the psychedelics,” said Erin Witter, director of the Colorado Psychedelic Society.
Trump’s nomination of Kennedy to lead HHS could lead to a significant shift in how the federal government is approaching psychedelic therapies. People close to President Joe Biden have said the president is “open-minded” about legalizing psychedelics. In December 2023, the president signed a defense bill that authorized the federal government to spend $10 million studying the impact of psychedelic therapies on military veterans suffering from PTSD.
Despite the president’s support, federal regulators with the Food and Drug Administration in August denied an application by drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics to legalize MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for PTSD treatments. Lykos told the agency that the treatment would have been used in concert with talk therapy. Even so, the FDA said it did not see enough evidence to suggest the treatment is safe and effective.
Kennedy has said he does not support the “blanket legalization” of psychedelics but does support making it easier for therapists and healing centers to provide treatments. He has also said he supports increasing access to psychedelic therapies for military veterans who suffer from PTSD and other service-related trauma.
“My inclination would be to make [psychedelics] available, at least in therapeutic settings and maybe more generally, but in ways that would discourage the corporate control and exploitation of it,” Kennedy said during an interview last December with a business networking organization called Genius Network.
Kennedy is also not the only potential member of the incoming Trump administration to support legalizing psychedelic medicine. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been asked to join a new advisory board known as the Department of Government Efficiency (despite its name it would not be an actual federal department), has said he supports removing the federal prohibitions on marijuana and psychedelics. Tulsi Gabbard, nominated as the next Director of National Intelligence, has said she wants to make magic mushrooms “more freely available.” Elon Musk, an advisor to the Trump team, has also admitted that he uses psychedelics like ketamine to manage depressive episodes and told podcaster Joe Rogan in November 2024 that he supports legalizing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.
Those in the Trump orbit who support legalizing psychedelics also mirror Kennedy’s stance toward removing “Big Pharma” from the equation, which has earned Kennedy praise from people like Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. The governor said he is eager to work with Kennedy to “truly make America healthy again.” But, Polis has questioned whether Kennedy would separate his anti-scientific beliefs from the work he would be asked to do at HHS.
Polis’s cautious optimism about Kennedy’s commitment to reforming America’s drug policies speaks to the broader skepticism surrounding his nomination. Members of Kennedy’s family have said they do not want him in government because of his sometimes erratic behavior. U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy told CNBC that her cousin’s views on vaccines are “dangerous.” His sister, Rory Kennedy, told Vanity Fair that Kennedy can be “fast and loose with the facts.” Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of Kennedy’s uncle John F. Kennedy, also shared a statement on X (formerly Twitter) where he claimed Kennedy is “for sale.”
As Colorado Times Recorder columnist Ari Armstrong recently pointed out, Kennedy also has a long history of spreading health-related misinformation and conspiracy theories. Kennedy has accused the pharmaceutical industry of “poisoning a generation of American children.” He has also spread lies about vaccines causing autism and described the COVID-19 pandemic as a “plandemic,” as if to say that world leaders, specifically the Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews, planned for the release of the disease. He implied that
“RFK is a dangerous conspiracy monger who has no proper business serving as dog catcher, much less as the head of HHS,” Armstrong wrote. “Even if RFK is incidentally right about some health-related matters, we should turn to qualified experts, not to the delusional RFK, for health-related advice and policy recommendations.”
Kennedy has also expressed support for the conspiracy theory known as “chemtrails” that jet plane contrails contain chemicals intended to poison the general population.
The disparity between Kennedy’s words and actions has also made some advocates hesitant to say whether they support his nomination. A spokesperson for The Nowak Society noted that “there is a lot to consider” with his nomination, and the organization doesn’t want to “hastily offer comments” about potential policies.
Even without blanket legalization, Witter said there are some important steps Kennedy could take while at HHS that would benefit Colorado’s psychedelic movement. For instance, he would have the opportunity to influence legislation to create taxes on psychedelics and help create a national distribution model that is similar to the one used for medical cannabis. This legislation could provide a pathway for psychedelic companies to access the banking system, which is one way to provide long-term stability.
Other advocates like Joe Caltabiano, CEO of Healing Realty Trust, a real estate investment company, support Kennedy’s focus on making psychedelic medicines part of the mainstream healthcare system.
“[Kennedy] has been refreshingly clear in his advocacy for significant federal change,” Caltabiano told Colorado Times Recorder in an email. “With plans to bust the corrupt alliance between major pharmaceutical companies and the agencies that regulate them, while supporting transformative treatments such as psychedelic-assisted therapies, we expect RFK to usher in a new era of U.S. healthcare – one that encourages innovation, addresses patient demand, and puts the health of Americans first.”
Kennedy has previously voiced support for taxing psychedelics and using the revenue to support healing centers. However, his vision of healing centers differs significantly from more traditional concepts. While running for president, Kennedy said he wanted to use tax revenue from decriminalized marijuana to create “healing centers” where patients would learn organic farming techniques as a therapeutic tool.
“I will tax it federally and I will use that money to build these healing centers in rural areas — depressed rural areas — all over the country, where kids can grow organic food and eat well and heal themselves spiritually, physically and emotionally,” he said during a town hall with NewsNation.
Witter added that Kennedy’s past experiences with addiction, as well as his son’s struggles, could go a long way toward ending the stigma surrounding psychedelic therapies. An unauthorized biography of his life called “RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream” details how he turned to alcohol, drugs, and womanizing to cope with the trauma inflicted after his father, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968.
Kennedy’s early experiments involved drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. As a 16-year-old in 1970, Kennedy was arrested in New York for marijuana possession with his cousin Robert Shriver. His drug use escalated over the next decade to include cocaine and heroin, according to the book. In 1984, RFK Jr. was arrested for possessing heroin on a flight to Rapid City, South Dakota, the New York Times reported.
Witter said Kennedy’s willingness to talk about his struggles could be a significant benefit as he tries to build consensus to legalize psychedelic medicines at the federal level.
“Everyone has their perception of him as a politician and legislator, and I think his own experience with addiction is important for him to share in the context of these conversations at the federal level,” he said.
The question of whether advocates align Kennedy, despite his record of partial misinformation, mirrors a broader question of whether progressive politicians should work with Trump, despite his record of election denial and lies.
Trump’s embrace of conspiracies and falsehoods isn’t stopping some advocates from working with the president-elect if his policies overlap with their goals.
“If Trump for example follows through on his proposal to limit interest rates on credit cards to 10% which is what he campaigned on, absolutely, I’ll be there. I think that’s a very good idea,” said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during an appearance on The Daily, a New York Times podcast, Nov. 15. “I think it’s time we told the people on Wall Street they cannot charge desperate working-class people, who have a hard time paying their bills, 25, 30, 40 percent interest rates. That’s usurious. That’s immoral.”