'Healing power' in magic mushrooms

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.

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Colorado Springs - 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 the fungi can help fight depression, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress.

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

However, Dezaval 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.

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