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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Stands On Marijuana And Psychedelics

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democratic presidential candidate for 2024, is attempting to win the White House. While his record on drug policy is scant, Kennedy has supported bold reforms in marijuana and psychedelics since entering this race.

He has also taken aim at Florida Governor Rick Scott. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, has opposed marijuana decriminalization.

Although his candidacy was met with skepticism due to his doubts about vaccine effectiveness and his apparent appeal with some conservative groups of voters, he has brought drug policy reform into the spotlight several times since he announced that he would be challenging incumbent president Joe Biden.

Kennedy’s stance on this issue is also more in line with Marianne Williamson who supports reform of cannabis and psychedelics.


Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democratic candidate for president, has a position on marijuana.

Legislation and Policy Actions

Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and writer. However, he has never held elected office, so his legislative record does not include drug policy.

On the Campaign Trail

Kennedy, who joined the race in April of 2023 has been a proponent of comprehensive marijuana and psychedelics legislation.

Kennedy shared an article from Marijuana Moment about DeSantis’s comments, and contrasted it with his own agenda.

In June 2023, he stated: “I will decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.” The current situation of contradictory laws at the state and federal level is absurd. States should have the right to make decisions without interference from federal authorities.

In the same month, he discussed his 40-year sobriety in an interview with Bill Maher on “Club Random” as he refused Maher’s invitation to smoke with him on the show. He did not seem to mind that the host indulged him during the conversation.

Kennedy stated a few days later that if elected, he would legalize marijuana and psychoedelics. He also said he was going to tax the substances to use revenue to fund “healing centres” where drug addicts could learn organic gardening as a therapy tool. He also expressed support for opening up banking services to the cannabis industry.

During a town hall with NewsNation the candidate spoke about his struggles with addiction in his youth, and the lessons he has learned from his years of recovery. He said that he doesn’t recommend drugs to treat drug abuse, but he has seen how psychedelics have helped his family to heal psychologically.

He said that “I would legalize the psychedelics–some sort of legalization.” He added that he didn’t necessarily see a commercial market, where anyone could go to a shop and buy substances such as psilocybin or LSD, but that access should be regulated.

He said: “I will decriminalize cannabis on a federal level, let the states regulate it and continue to tax marijuana federally, using those taxes to finance recovery programs.” “And I’d do the same for psychedelics, which I don’t think should be criminalized,” he said.

His cannabis and psychedelic tax funded recovery program is inspired by the Italian treatment center San Patrignano. It takes people who are struggling with addiction or at risk and supports them through an agriculturally centered method. Residents are involved in gardening, forestry, and animal care.

He said, “That’s the kind of society we need here.” As president, I would decriminalize cannabis. I’ll make sure that people who sell it are protected by safe banking laws, and I’ll tax it at the federal level. I’ll use this money to build healing centers for kids in rural, depressed areas of the country where they can grow organic foods, eat healthy, and heal themselves physically, spiritually and emotionally.

The reference to “safe banking laws,” seems to refer to the bipartisan Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE), which protects financial institutions who work with state-legal marijuana businesses from being penalized federal regulators. The proposal to impose federal taxes on marijuana sales goes much further than this incremental reform.

He also criticised the current approach to drug treatment in America.

Kennedy stated, “I have an idea of what is effective and what we should do in this nation–and I think we need addiction treatment to be simple, easy, and cheap.” “The [drug treatment] business has become a predatory one, due to a number of factors.”

The candidate stated that he had reviewed studies about psychedelics and “there are so many people who benefit from them in different ways, and we need to make it easier – maybe to prescribe them or give them therapeutically.”

I don’t think you can buy them at the store. “I have to take a look at everything,” he said. “But we have to make sure that people can use them easily in a way that benefits our children, and everyone else. “I’ve seen the benefits in my family.”

He claimed that he has “seen miracle recoveries from psychedelic drug use from PTSD in veterans who used it, and from people who suffered severe depression, OCD, and many other injuries.”

Kennedy stated that “I am not advocating blanket legalization, but we should make it easier for psychiatrists and psychotherapists to experiment with this drug on their patients and to see if they get positive results.”

When asked about the stigmatizing ways in which some have characterized the struggles of the son of the current president with substance abuse, he said that addiction is “a tragedy, and it’s cunning. It’s incomprehensible. It’s baffling. And it’s very difficult to deal.” I wish him and the family all the best.”

In May, he blamed U.S. policy, including the drug war, for exacerbating immigration problems and promised to “change federal laws” accordingly.

In a tweet, he asked: “Why do so many people feel the need to flee their home and country for an uncertain future?” “The answer is uncomfortable. It is largely U.S. policy that has created the desperate conditions south of border. One of them is the War on Drugs. “U.S.-funded juntas and dictators in Latin America, as well as paramilitaries and death squads.”

In an interview with Reason in the same month he repeated that he “would decriminalize marijuana federally and allow the state to regulate it.”

He said he would impose a federal income tax and use the tax to build rehabilitation centers across the country for drug rehabilitation.

In July 2023 he gave an Interview to Fox News in which he defended his position on the drug war and stressed the importance of treating addiction as a matter of public health, not criminal justice.

We need to put more emphasis on mental health. “We need to heal our country,” said he. “That’s my priority–not locking people up for drugs.”

The campaign website of Kennedy says he will “end the failed War on Drugs” and grant amnesty for nonviolent drug users.

In August 2023, he stated: “When I become President, I’ll secure the border to end the cartels drug trafficking industry.” “I will open wide doors to those who want to enter legally, so that the U.S. continues to be a beacon in the world of diversity and culture.”

Kennedy criticized the first GOP presidential debate of 2024 in August 2023. He said that candidates relied on “recycled Reagan era cliches”, such as “being tough” on drugs.

Previous Quotes and Social Media Posts

Kennedy did not publicly comment before entering the presidential campaign on marijuana or psychedelics. He has posted dozens of posts on social media criticizing the pharmaceuticals industry, including conspiracy theories about vaccines.

The cannabis platform that he has built since would probably earn the support of Robert Kennedy’s late father, the former U.S. attorney general, who fought punitive marijuana penalization policies, and argued marijuana was safer than cigarettes over 50 years ago.

Marijuana: My Personal Experience

In the 1980s Kennedy was detained for cannabis possession, and he struggled with heroin addiction. He has been in active recovery from substance abuse for several decades. This was evident during his interview with Maher, where he refused to smoke a joint.

Marijuana Under A Kennedy Presidency

Kennedy’s proposal for drug policy reform is one of the most ambitious among the presidential candidates running in 2024. Kennedy has not only backed legalization, but also condemned the war on drugs. He’s even crafted a detailed plan to use the tax revenue generated by legal cannabis and psychedelics.

His views on vaccines may have alienated some Democratic voters. However, his drug reform agenda is largely in line with the primary Democratic electorate, at least as it relates to marijuana.


Will Hurd’s Position on Marijuana

Image element by Gage Skidmore.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The post Where Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Stands on Marijuana and Psychedelics first appeared on Marijuana Moment.

Kyle Jaeger
Author: Kyle Jaeger

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