Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expressed concern that President Biden might obstruct a bipartisan push to allow psychedelics research.
Ocasio-Cortez introduced a psychedelics-related bill four years ago but now admits she’s worried that the president will backpedal on his commitment to permit psychedelics research.
“I am concerned about the president,” Ocasio-Cortez said as reported The Washington Post. “I believe the president has displayed a regressiveness for cannabis policy. And if there’s a regressiveness toward cannabis policy, it’s likely to be worse on anything else.”
Why it matters: In March, Senators Cory Booker (D), Rand Paul (R) and Reps. Madeleine Dean (D) and Nancy Mace (R) filed a revised bill requesting an update on the federal scheduling of “breakthrough therapies,” which is an FDA designation for certain treatments involving psilocybin and MDMA towards advancing R&D and improving access for those in need.
Attitudes Are Changing
Ocasio-Cortez said that when she first presented her bill in 2019, a senior member of her own party mocked her. “Oh, is this your little ‘shrooms bill?”
But, things have changed since then. Some of the very lawmakers who previously opposed psychedelics reform now support it, having admitted that they didn’t fully understand what psychedelics were all about.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fears Biden Will Obstruct Bipartisan Push To Research Psychedelics
