Dressed in a floral shawl, Benji Dezaval carefully places hallucinogenic mushrooms on the tongues of the faithful of his Colorado "psychedelic church," as if they were communion wafers.

A fervent advocate of psychedelic therapies, Dezaval believes these fungi can help fight depression, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress.

So in theory, he might be expected to welcome the appointment of Donald Trump's new Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr -- a famously contrarian figure who has expressed enthusiasm for exploring these alternative treatments.

But Dezaval instead dismisses Kennedy's supposed interest as "a lot of lip service."

"RFK's history of misinformation, I believe, will hurt our movement more than help it," he said, using a popular nickname for Kennedy.

"If misinformation was a disease, he'd be patient zero."

A nephew of the late US president John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr is well-known for embracing conspiracy theories.

The former environmental lawyer has amplified discredited research linking vaccinations to autism, claimed Covid-19 was "ethnically targeted" to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese........

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