RFK Jr. Says Marijuana Can Have ‘Catastrophic Impacts’ On Consumers, But State-Level Legalization Can Spur Research On Its Harms And Benefits

Fresh off his Senate confirmation vote to become the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday that he is “worried about” the normalization of high-potency marijuana and that he feels its use can have “really catastrophic impacts” on people, but that state-level legalization can facilitate research into its harms and benefits.

Kennedy, who was vocal about his support for marijuana legalization when he was running for president—as well as during his time on the Trump transition team—has been notably silent on cannabis policy issues over recent months as he worked to win over senators to secure confirmation for the country’s top health role.

Now, during his first major media interview since receiving that final vote to secure the cabinet position earlier in the day, Kennedy told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that he believes cannabis does hold serious harm potential.

The HHS secretary, who personally struggled with drug addiction during his youth, was asked about his cannabis policy position and noted that he’s been in recovery for over 40 years and attends daily 12-step meetings.

“I hear stories all the time of the impacts of marijuana on people—and the really catastrophic impacts on them,” he said.

However, Kennedy said “that worry also has to be balanced [with] the impacts that we’ve had before” as it relates to criminalization.

“Twenty-five states [have] now legalized marijuana, but we had about a third of our prison population that was in jail because of marijuana offenses,” he said. “That’s something we don’t want either.”

“Because of the legalization of recreational marijuana in 25 states, we have now a capacity to really study it and to compare it to states,” he said. “We need to do studies. We need to figure it out, and then we need to we need to implement policies to address” any health concerns.

Of course, HHS has already completed a comprehensive scientific study into cannabis that led the agency under the Biden administration to recommend moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The new comments come on the same day that Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said he received a commitment from Kennedy to “follow the science on the harms of marijuana.”

Ricketts had already disclosed last week that he spoke to Kennedy about the the “importance” of “preventing the expansion of marijuana.” Now he says “RFK committed to me that he would follow the science on the harms of marijuana.”

The senator separately filed a bill last week alongside Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) that seeks to prevent the marijuana industry from taking federal tax deductions even if it’s rescheduling.

Despite Kennedy’s history of advocating for cannabis legalization, he said last month that he will defer to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on marijuana rescheduling in his new role.

That could complicate rescheduling. On Monday, Trump officially named his pick to lead DEA—selecting a decades-long agency veteran and top Virginia official who’s voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth.

Separately, anti-marijuana Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) told Marijuana Moment last week that it’s “definitely” time to have a talk with Kennedy to convince him that “marijuana is harmful” and that the way to make Americans healthy is by “limiting” its use.

Prior to Kennedy’s written responses to members of the Senate Finance Committee that gave him initial approval, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pressed him to reiterate his position on marijuana legalization amid the ongoing effort to federally reschedule cannabis.

A political action committee founded by former Vice President Mike Pence had attempted 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.

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Image element courtesy of Gage Skidmore.