Politics
There Will Be ‘Enormous Demand’ For Psychedelic Treatments, RFK Says, Praising Trump’s Action On The Issue
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes there will be an “enormous demand” for psychedelic therapies as they become legally available, and he thinks President Donald Trump is unique among his predecessors in championing the issue.
The secretary was speaking on the latest episode of a podcast he hosts for HHS in which he interviewed Bryan Hubbard, the CEO of Americans for Ibogaine.
“One of the challenges that we will also face in the federal government [is] there’s going to be a demand for it,” Kennedy said of psychedelics. “If we do get it to the point where where it becomes available for veterans, there’s going to be an enormous demand for it and you need for every veteran treated approximately more than 100 hours of support staff. So there’s an expense attached to it.”
The secretary also cited an executive order that Trump signed earlier this year to streamline research and access into psychedelic medicine.
“I can’t picture any other president in American history who would have done what he did. He turned on a dime,” Kennedy said. “He got it in his head that this was something that he wanted to do.”
“He talked to some of the veterans who you met in the Oval Office during the executive order signing. And Joe Rogan introduced him to some of those veterans and he just became convinced,” he said, referring to the popular podcaster who texted the president about psychedelics just days before he decided to sign the order. “I think he broke down a lot of barriers in doing that.”
The president’s move “opens up all kinds of possibilities or and pathways for evidence-based research into psychedelics,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy, who once said he had a “wonderful experience” on LSD while trying to see dinosaurs as a teenager, said he thinks that “most Americans” view psychedelics with a kind of negative bias.
“This was hippie stuff from back in the 60s and that it was recreational,” he said of their view. “And it’s not really kind of a legitimate therapeutic treatment.”
The secretary admitted that he himself is surprised to hear stories of people taking ibogaine once and changing their lives without having to use it again.
“It’s hard for me to believe that you can do something once and…that you can then live off the laurels of that kind of spiritual realignment, that you don’t have to do something you know renew it on a daily basis,” he said.
Kennedy said earlier this year that the Trump administration is “very anxious” to create a pathway for access to psychedelics therapy and that top officials across federal agencies want to “get it out to the public as quickly as possible.”
In an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience in February, Kennedy said he’s confident “we’re going to get it done,” with plans to develop and finalize rules that would enable patients with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression to access psychedelic substances like psilocybin and MDMA in a “very controlled setting.”
“Everybody in my agency…is very anxious to get a rule out there that will allow these kind of studies and will allow access under therapeutic settings, particularly [for] the military soldiers who have suffered these injuries to get access to these products,” the HHS secretary said. “We’re working through that process now. We’re all working on it and trying to make it happen.”
“I think that we’re going to get it done,” he said.
Last June, Kennedy said his agency is “absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of FDA, is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans “within 12 months.”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with Kennedy about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And he said he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.
Last month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration issued a report on recent advances in psychedelic medicine, along with recommendations for state policymakers on how to prepare for formal approval of drugs like psilocybin and MDMA. It also noted how the Schedule I status of many psychedelics has hampered scientific studies on their effects for decades.
HHS and VA recently announced a partnership to collaborate on research and development of psychedelic medicines to treat people struggling with serious mental health conditions.
Separately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued finalized guidance to help researchers studying the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics navigate the “unique challenges” of such investigations. The agency also announced it will be holding a public hearing on psychedelic therapy issues in September.
Previously, FDA and HHS in April announced steps that they say will help with “accelerating” therapeutic access to psychedelics for patients dealing with serious mental health conditions.
In May, a bipartisan coalition of 32 members of Congress sent a letter urging FDA to expedite ongoing reviews of psychedelic therapies.
Lawmakers recently filed a new bill that would require the Department of Defense (DOD) to evaluate how ongoing research on the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin could help members of the military.
A separate recently introduced bipartisan measure is intended to codify Trump’s psychedelics executive order into law.
An amendment adopted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act would extend a psychedelics research effort at DOD for an additional six years.
