Benzinga - by Lara Goldstein, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared his views and standpoint on psychedelics as a mental health treatment during a recent podcast interview.
The news comes at the same time as President Joe Biden’s imminent call on whether to pass a large-scale defense bill that would fund studies with psychedelics on active duty service members.
The independent presidential candidate said an ayahuasca experience helped his son process the death of his mother, Kennedy's ex-wife Mary Richardson Kennedy, and how that opened his own mind to considering legalization of these substances.
“My inclination would be to make them available, at least in therapeutic settings and maybe more generally, but in ways that would discourage the corporate control and exploitation of it,” he told the Genius Network.
Richardson took her own life in 2012. Kennedy's son tried ayahuasca some five years ago in Patagonia and had a full-body immersion that gave him the possibility to experience forgiveness, love, understanding, comprehension, empathy and compassion, according to the presidential candidate.
“When he came back from that trip, he was completely changed. He was very open about talking about his feelings.”
The presidential candidate also mentioned other acquaintances who underwent ayahuasca experiences, including a Navy SEAL with severe PTSD and NFL players with severe brain injuries and depression, and obtained the same results as his son.
“So, my mind is open to the idea that there may be things that I don’t know about and that people ought to have the freedom and liberty to experiment with these things.”
Since announcing he would be running for the White House in 2024 elections, Kennedy has also discussed cannabis reform and recently referred to marijuana legalization as a means to solve the country’s drug addiction crisis. Kennedy had a heroin addiction when he was younger.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
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