Poacher Turned Gamekeeper: HHS’ Matt Zorn on Ibogaine, Right to Try and the Psychedelics Executive Order

Matt Zorn, Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, discusses his transition from suing federal agencies over drug policy to helping shape psychedelics policy from inside government. In an interview with Psychedelic Alpha editor Josh Hardman, Zorn describes HHS as more bureaucratic than he expected but says officials across political divisions recognize the mental health crisis and see psychedelics as one possible tool. He connects the administration’s approach to questioning status quo assumptions and the April 2026 psychedelics executive order, while stressing that current HHS work is orderly rather than chaotic. The conversation also touches on his earlier legal work involving patient access to psilocybin under Right to Try, challenges to proposed scheduling of psychedelic tryptamines, bifurcated scheduling, and concerns about potential closeness between government officials and psychedelic industry participants.