The person Donald Trump chose to be the new surgeon general said in a book that people might want to try psychedelic drugs that haven't been proven to work, as a way to feel better. She also wrote in a newsletter that using mushrooms helped her find someone to date.

Dr. Casey Means suggests thinking about therapy with psilocybin, which is interesting because it's against the law in the US. It's called a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it's not seen as a medicine and people could use it in a bad way. But, in Oregon and Colorado, this type of therapy is legal, even though some cities in Oregon have stopped it.

The main job of the surgeon general is to give Americans good science-based information. This information helps them be healthier and avoid getting sick or hurt. In the past, surgeons general have taught people about health issues like AIDS and stopping suicide. In 1964, the surgeon general warned people about the dangers of smoking, and this helped improve America's health.

Some people, like Dr. C. Everett Koop, who was a top doctor under President Ronald Reagan, became famous and changed policies a lot. Others were easily forgotten.

Means was chosen like others Trump picked before. He often chooses people who are famous, not just good at the job. Trump said he picked Means because the Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., liked her a lot. Trump said, "Bobby thought she was great," and that he didn't know her himself.

Means went to Stanford University to study and become a doctor. She started working as a doctor in Oregon but stopped before finishing. Her medical license is not active now. When we called her, she didn't want to talk about it.

In her 2024 book, "Good Energy," she suggested looking into psychedelics. She wrote the book with her brother, Calley Means, who is a businessman now working as a health advisor for the Trump administration. He has said that he put money into medicine companies that work with psychedelics.

This book talks a lot about metabolic health, which Casey Means calls "good energy". She gives some ideas to help people deal with things that cause stress and bad thoughts that stop us from being healthy and happy.

One idea is to "think about therapy with psilocybin," which is a substance in magic mushrooms. She writes about her thoughts on this in a long piece of writing.

She said, "If you want to, I think you should try psilocybin therapy with a guide. Studies show that this therapy can be a very important experience for some people, like it has been for me."

Some studies say psychedelics might be helpful, but we don't know if the good things are more important than the bad things. Psilocybin can make you see things for hours, and it can be nice or scary. It has been tested with talking to a therapist to help people with mental problems or drinking too much, but not much research has been done on healthy people. You might get a fast heart rate, feel sick, or have a headache. It can be dangerous to take it without someone watching you. The things you see could make you walk into the road or do other risky things.

Means said that psilocybin and other similar drugs have been seen in a negative way. She said that MDMA, also called ecstasy, can help people who have PTSD. But last year, the FDA did not agree to use MDMA as a treatment for PTSD because some experts thought the research was not good and it could be dangerous.

In her book, Means calls psychedelics "plant medicine." She writes about trying mushrooms for the first time around January 1, 2021. She says she felt like she should do it after "an inner voice" told her it was time to get ready.

She wrote that she felt like she belonged to a very long line of mothers and babies from the start of life. She also said that, for her, magic mushrooms could open a path to a different world where she wasn't limited by her own thoughts, feelings, and past.

In a newsletter from October, Means said she used psychedelics to help her be ready to find love at 35. She said she "tried plant medicine with people she trusted" to get ready for a relationship, and added a mushroom picture. She also said she wasn't telling other people to do the same thing.

This month, Means wrote about what she wants for health policies. She wants better food in schools and thinks ultra-processed foods should have warning labels. She also wants people to check if vaccines are safe and to stop conflicts of interest. She didn't talk about psychedelics, but said that researchers don't want to study "natural drugs and therapies" that everyone can use. She thinks some research money should go to other ways to improve health.

Calley Means has also said he supports using psychedelic drugs. In a blog post from 2021, he wrote that he tried psilocybin when he was having a difficult time. He said it was the most important thing that ever happened to him, in his personal life, his job, and his beliefs. In 2022, he said he used all the money from his retirement fund to buy shares in two companies that are working on psychedelic drugs. He did not reply to messages asking for his opinion.

Casey Means still doesn't have a date for her hearing. Trump picked Means because people had questions about Janette Nesheiwat's work history. Nesheiwat used to talk about health on Fox News, and Trump first wanted her for the job, but he took back his offer.