President Joe Biden is “very open-minded” to psychedelic drugs being used in medical treatment, his brother Frank Biden said on Wednesday.
Frank Biden called into Michael Smerconish’s SirusXM show and talked about research that shows promise in how microdosing on certain substances such as ketamine and LSD can help people fight addiction.
Over the course of the conversation, Biden described himself as a recovering alcoholic and Smerconish observed that he has some “skin in this game.” When asked if he has discussed the issue with his brother, the president, Biden said “yes,” but stressed these were personal conversations.
Following a conversation with @KirstenGrind on psychedelics and micro-dosing today @SIRIUSXM – Frank Biden brother of @JoeBiden @POTUS called into the show to weigh in – listen: https://t.co/HitDTAvJtB
— Michael Smerconish (@smerconish) June 28, 2023
“He is very open-minded — put it that way,” Biden said of the president. “I don’t want to speak, I’m talking brother-to-brother.”
As noted by NBC News, the federal government has considered psychedelic drugs to lack an “accepted medical use” for half a century, but there has been a shift in recent years.
Following a similar trajectory with marijuana, Oregon and Colorado have voted to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, and just last week the Food and Drug Administration announced that it had issued a first draft guidance on clinical trials with psychedelic drugs.
At least five members of the Biden family, including Frank and the president’s son, Hunter, have struggled with addiction and have been to rehab for drug or alcohol abuse, the Daily Mail reported in 2021. Joe Biden himself is known to be a teetotaler, meaning he does not drink alcohol.
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Frank Biden, who is a non-attorney senior adviser for the Florida-based Berman Law Group, called into the show after Smerconish spoke with a Wall Street Journal reporter about a story on how psychedelics and similar drugs “power” Silicon Valley.
After mentioning private discussions with his brother, Frank Biden pondered the question of whether the United States is ready to embrace psychedelic drugs as a form of medical treatment.
“My opinion is that we are on the cusp of a consciousness that needs to be brought about to solve a lot of the problems in and around addiction,” he said. “But as importantly, to make us aware of the fact that we’re all one people. We’ve got to come together.”