Colorado Springs (United States) (AFP) – Dressed in a floral shawl, Benji Dezaval carefully places hallucinogenic mushrooms on the tongues of the faithful of his Colorado "psychedelic church," as if they were communion wafers. Long associated with hippie counter-culture, ‘magic mushrooms’ remain illegal in the United States A fervent advocate of psychedelic therapies, Dezaval believes these fungi can help fight depression, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress.
So in theory, he might be expected to welcome the appointment of Donald Trump’s new Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr — a famously contrarian figure who has expressed enthusiasm for exploring these alternative treatments.
But Dezaval instead dismisses Kennedy’s supposed interest as "a lot of lip service."
"RFK’s history of misinformation, I believe, will hurt our movement more than help it," he said, using a popular nickname for Kennedy.
"If misinformation was a disease, he’d be patient zero." Surrounded by plastic plants and wearing circular blue sunglasses, Benji Dezaval distributes ‘magic mushrooms’ during group and individual sessions that he supervises A nephew of the late US president John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr is well-known for embracing conspiracy theories.
The former environmental lawyer has amplified discredited research linking vaccinations to autism, claimed Covid-19 was "ethnically targeted" to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, and alleged that HIV does not cause AIDS.
None of which prevented his confirmation as health secretary last month by the Republican-controlled US Senate.
A strong critic of the pharmaceutical industry, the former Democrat also advocates the legalization of psychedelics.
"My inclination would be to make this available, at least in therapeutic settings and maybe more generally, but in ways that would discourage the corporate control and exploitation of it," he said in a late 2023 interview.- ‘Eye-opening experience’ -Long associated with hippie counter-culture, magic mushrooms remain illegal in much of the United States. Donald Trump’s new Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr — a famously contrarian figure who has expressed enthusiasm for exploring these alternative treatments But in recent years, major US universities and the government have revived research into their active ingredient, psilocybin.It shows promising potential for treatment of certain forms of depression and addiction. But the consequences […]
Legalizing magic mushrooms under Trump? Psychedelic fans remain skeptical
