A former US senator says he has personally spoken with the heads of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as ibogaine, and both members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet welcomed reform on the issue.

Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who was a Democrat for most of her career in Congress before becoming an independent, said there is a great opportunity under the Trump administration to free up access to psychedelics for therapeutic purposes, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His “close” relationship with the HHS secretary and swinging around alternative political views.

In an interview with Politico, Sinema spoke about the country’s “magical and unique time” for psychedelic reform at a recent event hosted by Americans for Ibogaine, the advocacy organization co-founded by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

“Is there an opportunity to do this in this administration? Hell, yes,” he said, adding that Kennedy “is disruptive and supports psychedelic medicine.”

“The opportunity is ripe in this administration, and we should strike while the iron is hot,” said the former lawmaker, who has publicized the therapeutic use of the psychedelic ibogaine.

In addition to Kennedy, Sinema said he advised VA Secretary Doug Collins about the potential of psychedelics to help veterans with serious mental health issues.

“He hadn’t heard of it. He hadn’t even heard of psychedelic medicine,” she said. “He was skeptical at first. He’s a conservative pastor in Georgia. Then he got together with some veterans and saw the science and as you’ve heard, he’s the most prominent proponent of psychedelic medicine in the administration.”

“Historically, I think you’ve seen psychedelics — not necessarily psychedelic medicine — but psychedelics, left-wing hippies dominated,” he said. say Political “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 they are psychedelics, but 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-wing psychedelic movement, they’re seen as a drug. That drug has medicinal properties, but it also has other non-medicinal properties that they celebrate,” he said. “I think what you’re seeing from the mainstream blue community is a concern that if they accept psychedelics they’ll look like left-wing weirdos and hippies. It could also be a commitment to mainstream medicine. Politically speaking, it could also be skepticism if conservatives like it.”

As the Arizona legislature advanced an ibogaine research project earlier this year, the former senator—who also championed psychedelic legislation while serving in Congress—.he gathered support for the reformWhile pledging to personally raise $5 million in philanthropic donations to support psychedelic research, if it ultimately materializes.

Last year, a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official, who has since moved into an advisory role, praised Sinema. his “knowledge of psychedelic literature and all related subjects” while praising the agency’s work to advance research into novel therapies.

For his part, Kennedy, the health secretary, he is believed to still use psychedelics, although he is otherwise soberThe following book by a journalist who allegedly had a romantic relationship with her states.

Last month, Kennedy, Vice President JD Vance, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and other Trump administration officials attended the “Make America Healthy Again” summit. it was a session dedicated to studying psychedelic medicine.

While Sinema noted that Collins was not particularly familiar with psychedelic therapy before joining the Trump administration, the secretary has become one of the most vocal advocates for advancing reform to ease access for veterans.

In July, for example, VA Secretary He proclaimed his mission to promote access to psychedelics for veterans with serious mental health conditions, it was possible to say that it “opened that door wider than most probably thought”.

“I’m the first secretary of the VA—actually, in a cabinet about a month and a half ago— really brought psychedelics to a Cabinet meeting” Collins said at the time. “I think what we need to look at is we need to put the alternatives on the map. The VA will do our job. We will do it within the law and we will do what we have to do.”

The secretary also said in the summer “very open” to expanding access to psychedelic therapy for veterans-he emphasized that he intends to find ways to “cure” people with serious mental illnesses and not just to treat superficial symptoms.

Collins noted that the VA is actively conducting a dozen or so clinical trials either internally or through private partnerships “on a number of different substances where we’re seeing really good results,” among others. One based at VA Bronx Health Care researching MDMA-assisted therapy “Actually, with very good results.”

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In June, Kennedy said that his agency “Fully committed” to expanding research into the benefits of psychedelic therapy. and, along with the head of the FDA, aims to give military veterans legal access to these substances “within 12 months.”

The secretary also said that in April He had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at the age of 15He took it because he thought they would be able to see dinosaurs, as depicted in a comic he was a fan of.

Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized the FDA under the previous administration for the agency’s “eradication of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said was a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.

Photo elements courtesy of the user carlosemmaskype and Apollo.