A former U.S. senator says she’s personally spoken to the heads of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like ibogaine—and both members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet were receptive to reform on the issue.
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who served as a Democrat for most of her career in Congress before becoming an independent, said there’s a unique opportunity under the Trump administration to free up access to psychedelics for therapeutic purposes, citing her “close” relationship to the HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and shifting political views around the alternative therapies.
Sinema spoke in an interview with Politico about the “magical, unique time” the country is at with respect to psychedelics reform during a recent event organized by Americans for Ibogaine, an advocacy organization co-founded by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).
“Is there an opportunity to get this done in this administration? Heck, yeah,” she said, adding that Kennedy “is a disruptor and he supports psychedelic medicine.”
“The possibility is ripe in this administration, and we should strike while the iron is hot,” the former lawmaker, who’s disclosed her own therapeutic use of the psychedelic ibogaine, said.
In addition to Kennedy, Sinema said she advised VA Secretary Doug Collins about the potential of psychedelics to help veterans with serious mental health conditions.
“He’d not heard of it. He’d not even heard of psychedelic medicine,” she said. “He was skeptical at first. He’s a conservative pastor from Georgia. Then he met with some veterans and he saw the science and as you’ve heard, he’s the most vocal person in the administration in favor of psychedelic medicine.”
“Historically, I think you saw psychedelics—not necessarily psychedelic medicine—but psychedelics, dominated by the hippie left,” she said, told Politico. “Psychedelic medicine as a treatment for disorders is important to many people on the right. I want to be clear: The reason is not because it’s psychedelics—it’s because nothing else works.”
The former senator said that “in a conservative’s brain, psychedelics are not a drug. They are a medicine.”
“In the old-school left psychedelic movement, they’re seen as a drug. That drug has healing properties, but it also has other properties that they celebrate that are not just medicine,” she said. “I think what you might be seeing from mainstream blue communities is concern about looking like weirdo, hippie lefties if they support psychedelics. It also might be a commitment to mainstream medicine. It also could be, politically speaking, skepticism if conservatives like it.”
As the Arizona legislature advanced a ibogaine research bill earlier this year, the former senator—who also championed psychedelics legislation while serving in Congress—rallied support for the reform, while pledging to personally raise $5 million in philanthropic donations to support the psychedelic research if it was ultimately enacted.
Last year, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official who’s since transitioned into an advisory role applauded Sinema for her “knowledge of the psychedelic literature and all of the relevant issues,” while touting the agency’s work advancing research into the novel therapies.
For his part, Kennedy, the health secretary, reportedly still uses psychedelics despite being otherwise sober, a forthcoming book from a journalist who allegedly had a romantic relationship with him implies.
Last month, Kennedy, Vice President JD Vance, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and other Trump administration officials attended a “Make America Healthy Again” summit that featured a session dedicated to exploring psychedelic medicine.
While Sinema mentioned that Collins wasn’t especially familiar with psychedelics therapy before joining the Trump administration, the secretary has since become one of the most vocal proponents of advancing reform to facilitate access for veterans.
In July, for example, the VA secretary touted his role in promoting psychedelics access for veterans with serious mental health conditions, saying he “opened that door probably wider than most ever thought” was possible.
“I’m the first VA secretary—actually, in a Cabinet meeting about a month and a half ago—to actually bring up psychedelics in a Cabinet meeting,” Collins said at the time. “I think what we got to look at is we’ve got to put alternatives on the map. The VA is going to do our job. We’re going to do within the law and do what we have to do.”
The secretary also said over the summer that he’s “very open” to expanding access to psychedelics therapy for veterans—emphasizing that he’s intent on finding ways to “cure” people with serious mental health conditions and not just treat their surface-level symptoms.
Collins noted that VA either internally or through private partnerships is actively conducting about a dozen clinical trials into “various different substances that we’re seeing actually really good results on,” including one based at VA Bronx Health Care that’s investigating MDMA-assisted therapy with “actually really, really good results.”
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
In 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.”
The secretary also said in April that he had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at 15 years old, which he took because he thought he’d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.
Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized FDA under the prior administration over the agency’s “suppression of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.
Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.
