MEDCAN24 learned that an attorney who has a long history of suing federal agencies to reform marijuana and psychedelics and improve government transparency will join the Trump Administration as Deputy General Counsel, working under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Matthew Zorn—who is well known for taking HHS and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to court under both the Biden and Trump administrations while representing scientists, military veterans and others to advance reform issues—will now be uniquely positioned to promote key policy changes, including those that align with what other top administration officials have recently advocated for within agencies such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Two people familiar with the matter confirmed Zorn’s appointment to MEDCAN24. According to one source, Zorn has been referred internally as HHS’ “psychedelics czar”.
Zorn will be assuming a critical role—and he was specifically recruited with the intent to have him spearhead the agency’s psychedelics policy work, the sources said. Kennedy, as an individual advocate for reforms related to plant medicine and at one stage, as a Democratic candidate for president calling for the legalization of psychoactive therapy.
Zorn is a highly-respected attorney in the world of drug policy for his persistent and often successful efforts to hold HHS and previous administrations responsible on issues like marijuana rescheduling, and psychedelic therapy access.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), lawsuit was used to extract the HHS scientific review of marijuana as well as its recommendation of reclassifying cannabis.
Zorn, a Washington State lawyer who specializes in psychedelics, has been representing doctors for decades. They have sought to legalize the use of psilocybin as a treatment option to end-of-life cancer patients. A federal appeals court sided against the plaintiffs in February and rejected their latest arguments.
Zorn is also a major figure behind the campaign to shift cannabis from Schedule I (the current status) to Schedule III, under the Controlled Substances Act. Zorn represents a coalition doctors seeking to suspend the hearings administratively on the already stalled Biden-era process.
In November last year, he filed a lawsuit separately against DEA. Allegedly, the agency violated federal records laws. His request was that a court order DEA to reveal communications it had with a pro-prohibitionist group while the cannabis rescheduling procedure was ongoing. Questions regarding DEA’s actual stance towards the proposed rule has been a major source of controversy throughout the proceedings.
The new role of the federal attorney is a little ironic. Zorn may be receiving more requests for greater transparency regarding the Trump Administration’s cannabis and psychoactive drug policies.
The elevation of Mr. Trump to a position within the Administration is a part of a recurring theme in President Donald Trump’s second term. Several high-ranking officials are openly advocating research and access for psychedelic drugs, especially as they relate to veterans who suffer from mental illnesses such as post-traumatic anxiety disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries (TBI) or those with severe mental disorders.
As an example, the director of HHS’ Food and Drug Administration said, “Exploring the therapeutic potential” of psychedelics, such as psilocybin and isobogaine, was a top priority for the Trump Administration. This includes helping combat veterans deal with their trauma after being sent off to “unnecessary conflicts.”
Under the Biden administration, there was stepped-up interest in examining certain psychedelics, with novel guidance for researchers from FDA in the pursuit of potential approvals, but the agency ultimately rejected an application to make MDMA-assisted therapy available for the treatment of PTSD.
Last week, VA secretary Doug Collins proudly announced that he is “one of first” Secretaries to have a strong commitment towards exploring psychedelics for potential treatment options.
“What we’re seeing so far in some of the studies that are related to VA, and also outside of VA as well,” he told lawmakers during a House committee hearing, “is that there has been—especially when it comes to PTSD and also traumatic brain injury and others—we’re seeing some actual positive outcomes there, especially when it is coupled with intense counseling. It’s one thing that I look forward to.
Trump’s pick to serve as the next surgeon general, Casey Means, has been public about her own experience benefiting from psilocybin.
Collins also recently met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.
Earlier this month, the secretary separately informed Trump during a Cabinet meeting that his agency is “opening up the possibility of psychedelic treatment” for veterans.
Collins disclosed last month that he had an “eye-opening” talk with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the medical potential of psychedelic medicine. Collins also said that he is open to having vouchers provided by the government to pay for psychedelic therapies for veterans receiving services from outside the VA, as Congress looks at pathways to access.
Kennedy himself said during his presidential campaign that he would legalize marijuana and psychedelics if elected to the White House—and he’d tax both substances, using revenue to create “healing centers” where people recovering from drug addiction could learn organic farming as a therapeutic tool. He has also spoken out in favor of allowing the cannabis sector to use banking services.
In the Town Hall, the candidate spoke about the struggles he had with addiction in his childhood and the lessons he learned over the years of his recovery. Although he generally does not recommend any drug for treating substance abuse, he saw in his own family that psychedelics could facilitate long-term healing.
“I would legalize psychedelic drugs—some form of legalization,” he said, adding that he doesn’t necessarily envision a commercial market where anyone could visit a shop to buy substances like psilocybin, LSD and MDMA, but that there should be regulated access.
“I’m going to decriminalize marijuana on a federal basis, allow the states to regulate it, continue to tax it federally and use those taxes to fund the recovery programs,” he said. I’d do the same for psychedelics, because I don’t think they should be illegalized.
In 2023, Kennedy said that he was moved to embrace the therapeutic potential of psychedelics by his son’s experience with ayahuasca.
I would like to see them made available at least for therapeutic purposes and possibly more broadly, and in ways which would deter corporate control and exploitation, he stated.
He added that he knows Navy SEALs and NFL players that had psychedelic encounters that helped them cope with conditions like PTSD or traumatic brain injury.
Last month, the secretary of health and human service spoke of a “wonderful adventure” that he had as an adolescent when taking LSD to try and see dinosaurs.
The Trump Executive Order will close the USDA Trade Committee that promotes hemp internationally.
Images courtesy of Yetter LLP.