Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is giving some across-the-aisle credit to President Donald Trump for his administration’s moves to federally reschedule marijuana and accelerate therapeutic access to psychedelics.
“I think we could all agree [on] everything that President Trump has done about liberalizing marijuana and psychedelics and now too,” Fetterman said in an interview published by Reason on Wednesday.
“I really am very, very libertarian in a lot of ways and for those circumstances,” the senator said. “If you check my record, I’ve been for legal weed for forever in that. Politically, that was toxic or certainly not popular. And also psychedelics too.”
“As a libertarian I don’t judge or knock anyone for whatever that they knock their edge off to just make it through in this world,” he said, pointing to his opposition to a crackdown on the nicotine product Zyn, an issue on which he has clashed with other Democrats.
“I absolutely support Zyn and those things as long as it’s legal, safe too,” Fetterman said. “I think that’s important. That’s a choice that every American of legal age deserves to have, and to participate in a way that doesn’t turn them into a criminal or judge [them] for those things—make it as safe as possible.”
The senator said the right to choose to relax with whatever substances one wants, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else, is “sacred.”
“Whatever that is. A glass of wine or scotch or sip a little weed, whatever, sitting in front of the fire pit in your backyard.” he said. “Whatever that is. I think your path for wellness, psychedelics, whatever. I think it all should be legal without judgment and without punishment or a criminal record.”
“I’ve been very consistent about that and sharing those things,” Fetterman, who has championed cannabis reform since he served as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, said. “So I do hope it continues to liberalize for that, overall.”
The Department of Justice last month formally moved state-regulated medical marijuana products from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III. A hearing scheduled to begin next month will consider the issue of broader cannabis rescheduling.
Also last month, Trump signed executive order aimed at expanding and expediting research on the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.
Shortly thereafter, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced steps that they say will help with “accelerating” therapeutic access to psychedelics for patients dealing with serious mental health conditions.
Fetterman, for his part, has criticized Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers for holding up marijuana legalization as neighboring states like Ohio move forward with the policy change.
Last year, the senator’s campaign launched a petition supporting federal marijuana legalization.
He previously criticized President Joe Biden for excluding military-level cannabis policy violations from his mass marijuana pardons.
