GOP Congressman Wants To Talk With RFK Jr. About How ‘Marijuana Is Harmful’ As Trump’s Cabinet Pick Heads To Confirmation Vote

A GOP congressman says it’s “definitely” time to have a talk with President Donald Trump’s pick for head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convince him that “marijuana is harmful” and that the way to make Americans healthy is by “limiting” its use.

After Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was cleared in an initial confirmation vote in the Senate Finance Committee, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) told Marijuana Moment that he wanted to have a chat with the potential HHS secretary, who has previously voiced support for cannabis legalization prior to being selected for the top federal health role by Trump.

“Marijuana is harmful,” Harris said in an interview at the Capitol on Wednesday. “We should definitely have a talk with RFK Jr. I mean, the bottom line is: We should keep Americans healthy by limiting the use of marijuana.”

But Harris—a staunchly anti-cannabis lawmaker who has championed legislation to block adult-use marijuana sales in Washington, D.C.—expressed a softer tone when asked about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, which is another issue that Kennedy has pushed.

The congressman said it “might be possible” that psychedelics could be used in the treatment of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“We may want to do some more research, but we don’t want to do what D.C. did, which is just make them widely available,” he said, referencing a voter-approved initiative to decriminalize certain psychedelics—which would not inherently increase availability given the lack of any regulated sales component of the reform.

Meanwhile, despite Harris’s apparent concerns about Kennedy’s history of advocating for cannabis legalization, the nominee said last week that he will defer to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on marijuana rescheduling if confirmed.

That could complicate rescheduling given the fact that the current acting administrator of DEA, Derek Maltz, has made multiple comments expressing hostility to cannabis reform.

Relatedly, prior to Kennedy’s written responses to the Finance Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently pressed Kennedy to reiterate his position on marijuana legalization amid the ongoing effort to federally reschedule cannabis.

Meanwhile, a political action committee founded by former Vice President Mike Pence has been gunning to undermine the confirmation Kennedy as HHS secretary—in part by drawing attention to his support for marijuana and psychedelics reform, as well as his personal history with substance misuse.

Kennedy followed a dizzying path to the Trump administration, entering the 2024 presidential election as a Democratic candidate before switching to independent as he lagged in the polls and then eventually endorsing the GOP nominee.

In October, Kennedy specifically criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agency’s “suppression of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, a top U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official recently said it’s “very encouraging” that Kennedy supports psychedelics reform—and he hopes to work with him on the issue if he stays on for the next administration.

Not everyone shares VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal’s enthusiasm for Kennedy as the potential HHS secretary, however. Author Michael Pollan, for example, said that Trump’s pick could prove “very dangerous” to the psychedelics movement—even though he is a supporter of reform.

He said the prospective nominee might pursue federal reform in a way that delegitimizes the science behind substances such as psilocybin.

By contrast, Rick Perry—a former governor of Texas who also served in the first Trump administration—recently said the president-elect’s choices for key health policy positions, including Kennedy, are a “great gift” for the psychedelics reform movement, particularly as it concerns access to ibogaine as a treatment option for serious mental health conditions.

The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. 

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Image element courtesy of Gage Skidmore.