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Amazing. Some highlights:
apnews.com
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner. Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation to consider guided psilocybin-assisted therapy is notable because psilocybin is illegal under federal law. It’s listed as a Schedule 1 drug, defined as a substance “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
The surgeon general’s job is to provide Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury...Means’ nomination follows a pattern from Trump to select people known for their public personas more than their policy positions. In the case of Means, the Republican president said he chose her solely on the recommendation of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Bobby thought she was fantastic,” Trump said, adding that he did not know her.
Means, who received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University, began a medical residency in Oregon but did not complete it. Her medical license is listed as inactive. Contacted by phone, Means declined to comment on the record. She made the recommendation about psychedelics in her 2024 book, “Good Energy,” which she wrote with her brother, Calley Means, an entrepreneur who now works in the Trump administration as a health adviser and who has said he invested in biopharmaceutical companies that specialize in psychedelics....
Though there have been some studies suggesting benefits from psychedelics, it has not been shown that benefits outweigh the risks. Psilocybin can cause hours of hallucinations that can be pleasant or terrifying...Side effects can include increased heart rate, nausea and headaches. Taking it unsupervised can be dangerous. Hallucinations could cause a user to walk into traffic or take other risks..
She touted the benefits of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, for helping people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD...Means refers to psychedelics in her book as “plant medicine.” She describes how she took mushrooms for the first time around Jan. 1, 2021, after she was inspired by “an internal voice that whispered: it’s time to prepare.” “I felt myself as part of an infinite and unbroken series of cosmic nesting dolls of millions of mothers and babies before me from the beginning of life,” she wrote...
In a newsletter she published in October, Means said she had also used psychedelics to help her make “space to find love at 35.” She wrote that she “did plant medicine experiences with trusted guides” to become ready for partnership, punctuating the line with a mushroom emoji....In a post this month about her White House health policy wish list, Means said she wanted more nutritious food served in schools, suggested putting warning labels on ultra-processed foods, called for investigations into vaccine safety and said she wanted to remove conflicts of interest. She did not specifically mention psychedelics but said that researchers have little incentive to study “generic, natural, and non-patentable drugs and therapies” and that a portion of research budgets should be devoted to alternative approaches to health....
Casey Means’ confirmation hearing has not been scheduled. Trump chose Means after questions were raised about the resume of his first pick for surgeon general, former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat, and he withdrew her nomination.
- Means is an advocate for psilocybin-assisted therapy, which is illegal under federal law.
- Means refers to psychedelics in her book as “plant medicine.” She describes how she took mushrooms for the first time around Jan. 1, 2021, after she was inspired by “an internal voice that whispered: it’s time to prepare.”
- Trump chose her solely on the recommendation of RFK. “Bobby thought she was fantastic,” Trump said, adding that he did not know her.
- Means claims she used mushrooms to help her find a romantic partner.
- Means' brother works in the Trump administration and in 2022 sold all of his 401k to invest in psychedelics.
- Means completed her medical degree at Stanford. She started a residency in Oregon but never completed it. Her medical license is listed as inactive.
Trump surgeon general pick praised unproven psychedelic therapy, said mushrooms helped her find love
President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find love.
apnews.com
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner. Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation to consider guided psilocybin-assisted therapy is notable because psilocybin is illegal under federal law. It’s listed as a Schedule 1 drug, defined as a substance “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
The surgeon general’s job is to provide Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury...Means’ nomination follows a pattern from Trump to select people known for their public personas more than their policy positions. In the case of Means, the Republican president said he chose her solely on the recommendation of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Bobby thought she was fantastic,” Trump said, adding that he did not know her.
Means, who received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University, began a medical residency in Oregon but did not complete it. Her medical license is listed as inactive. Contacted by phone, Means declined to comment on the record. She made the recommendation about psychedelics in her 2024 book, “Good Energy,” which she wrote with her brother, Calley Means, an entrepreneur who now works in the Trump administration as a health adviser and who has said he invested in biopharmaceutical companies that specialize in psychedelics....
Though there have been some studies suggesting benefits from psychedelics, it has not been shown that benefits outweigh the risks. Psilocybin can cause hours of hallucinations that can be pleasant or terrifying...Side effects can include increased heart rate, nausea and headaches. Taking it unsupervised can be dangerous. Hallucinations could cause a user to walk into traffic or take other risks..
She touted the benefits of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, for helping people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD...Means refers to psychedelics in her book as “plant medicine.” She describes how she took mushrooms for the first time around Jan. 1, 2021, after she was inspired by “an internal voice that whispered: it’s time to prepare.” “I felt myself as part of an infinite and unbroken series of cosmic nesting dolls of millions of mothers and babies before me from the beginning of life,” she wrote...
In a newsletter she published in October, Means said she had also used psychedelics to help her make “space to find love at 35.” She wrote that she “did plant medicine experiences with trusted guides” to become ready for partnership, punctuating the line with a mushroom emoji....In a post this month about her White House health policy wish list, Means said she wanted more nutritious food served in schools, suggested putting warning labels on ultra-processed foods, called for investigations into vaccine safety and said she wanted to remove conflicts of interest. She did not specifically mention psychedelics but said that researchers have little incentive to study “generic, natural, and non-patentable drugs and therapies” and that a portion of research budgets should be devoted to alternative approaches to health....
Casey Means’ confirmation hearing has not been scheduled. Trump chose Means after questions were raised about the resume of his first pick for surgeon general, former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat, and he withdrew her nomination.
