A surprising change is happening in the Republican Party as more of its members, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are supporting research into psychedelic drugs, especially for treating mental health problems in military veterans.
This shift is a big change from traditional conservative views, putting the GOP in favor of treatments that were once seen as part of counterculture, while Democrats are becoming more cautious about medical treatments that lack strong proof.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who serves as Donald Trump’s health secretary, is leading this change. He has long supported the idea that psychedelic drugs could help with conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and he continues to push for this despite past government doubts about the evidence. Kennedy is speeding up government-funded clinical trials and has told interested lawmakers that he believes these drugs will soon be available for doctors to prescribe.
According to Politico, he has publicly suggested that such treatments could be approved for medical use within the next year. His work is closely tied to the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, which promotes natural medicine and aligns with a libertarian push for exploring drug treatments.
RFK Jr doesn’t trust vaccines but trust drugs
The Republican Party’s growing support for psychedelics is a clear example of how populist politics can drive cultural change. Veterans struggling with mental health issues from combat, along with a rising interest in alternative medicine, have strengthened a libertarian streak in conservative thinking that favors drug experimentation. Meanwhile, the political left, once linked to countercultural movements, has moved toward a more technocratic approach, showing more skepticism toward medical treatments without solid proof.
For example, under the Biden administration, federal agencies looked into the medical use of psychedelics but remained doubtful. A top official at the National Institute on Drug Abuse even compared the excitement around psychedelics as a mental health cure to believing in “fairy tales.”
Dr. Scott Gottlieb says if RFK Jr forces vaccine manufacturers to remove their aluminum adjuvants, “you'd see a lot of vaccines potentially come off the market because there is no good alternative” pic.twitter.com/veCaXUVTzV
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) June 26, 2025
These government doubts were highlighted last August when the Food and Drug Administration rejected an application from Lykos Therapeutics, a drug company seeking approval to use ecstasy as a PTSD treatment alongside therapy. FDA advisors worried that the company’s researchers were more focused on advocacy than strict science and concluded that the treatment’s safety and effectiveness had not been proven well enough.
RFK Jr said, “These are people who badly need some kind of therapy, nothing else is working for them. This line of therapeutics has tremendous advantage if given in a clinical setting. And we are working very hard to make sure that that happens within 12 months.” The strongest criticism of this decision came from Republicans.
Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who was injured in Afghanistan, expressed frustration, suggesting that bureaucratic “technocrats” were blocking progress and protecting the status quo. Crenshaw, who has previously secured funding for psychedelic research in the Defense Department, got a supportive response from Secretary Kennedy during a budget discussion. This comes after Texas blocked its own anti-hemp bills and banned Manga.
Kennedy said early government study results from both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the FDA looked very promising and added that his FDA commissioner shared this optimism and wanted to move quickly. Despite these concerns, Kennedy’s advisor sees these changes as positive. He notes that ten years ago, few would have expected the Republican Party to become associated with promoting healthy eating, exercise, skepticism of big drug companies, and support for psychedelic research.
