Health committee to discuss ibogaine as a potential treatment for opioid addiction on Aug. 27

The Interim Joint Committee on Health Services will hold an informational hearing on the potential role of ibogaine in treating substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health conditions at its Wednesday, Aug. 27, meeting at the Capitol Annex in Frankfort. The meeting starts at 9 a.m.

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychedelic drug that is found in iboga, a Western African shrub. It is illegal in the U.S., but has been anecdotally reported to stop the withdrawal symptoms of opioid dependence. And while some studies support the use of ibogaine for treating substance use disorder, it comes with heart risks in some people. So far, no placebo-controlled, double-blind trials have been conducted on the controlled substance.

According to a news release issued by Americans for Ibogaine, the hearing will include testimony from Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, a physician who will speak in support of advancing ibogaine research, Jessica Blackburn, a Kentucky resident who struggled for years with opioids and found recovery after ibogaine treatment, and Dr Jean Loftus, an Americans for Ibogaine  ambassador.

Kentucky is no stranger to the ibogaine discussion. The former Kentucky Opioid Advisory Commission director, Bryan Hubbard, held many hearings on ibogaine to gain support for his proposal to allocate $42 million from the opioid settlement money to support clinical trials that could lead to federal approval of ibogaine for the treatment of opioid-use disorder. Hubbard was appointed by then-Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

This proposal ultimately failed when Attorney General Russell Coleman took over the commission and asked it to drop the proposal, which it did.

Hubbard, as the executive director for American Ibogaine Initiative, continues his work to get funding for U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trials of ibogaine for the treatment of substance use disorder. Texas earmarked $50 million in funding toward that effort in May.

“Ibogaine is the Manhattan Project of our time,”  Hubbard, who was the architect of the Texas legislation, said in a Texas Ibogaine Initiative news release. “And mighty Texas, in all its strength and independence, is the first state to stand up and lead a revolution in the treatment of trauma and addiction.”