By David Ovalle —
For years, people have flown to clinics in Mexico to take ibogaine, the extract of an ancient African shrub that induces mind-bending hallucinations. Under medical supervision, patients undergo psychedelic trips that can last more than a dozen hours in hopes of alleviating their struggles with addiction or brain trauma.
And while ibogaine is illegal in the United States, Texas is on the verge of spending up to $50 million to jump-start clinical trials, which advocates hope could hasten federal approval for using ibogaine as medication.
The Texas program – billed by supporters as the largest public investment in psychedelics research – is being closely watched in Washington, where top health officials under President Donald Trump have expressed interest in accelerating research into psychedelics, particularly to help military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and brain trauma.
Calley Means, a senior White House adviser on health issues, said the Texas ibogaine initiative illustrates the state’s “bold, evidence-based reforms to solve our mental health crisis.”
Texas lawmakers passed legislation creating the program in late May. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days, according to people who worked on the legislation. Abbott’s office said it is still reviewing bills passed by the legislature.
Ibogaine is less well-known than other psychedelics such as psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, and MDMA, better known as ecstasy. But it has been increasingly championed by veterans groups as biotech companies race to develop it as a salve for addiction and mental health. In recent years, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded to companies at least two grants – totaling more than $14 million – for ibogaine-related research.
Like other psychedelics in the United States, ibogaine remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance – deemed to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. No U.S. clinical trials have been completed on ibogaine, which can block a critical protein and cause a delay in electrical signals to the heart, experts warn.
The designation ofibogaine as a drug in the same tier as LSD and heroin rankles supporters who contend that ibogaine is rarely used recreationally.
Researchers say ibogaine may help promote the growth of neural networks in brains damaged by addiction, quashing cravings or the sickening symptoms of withdrawals from opioids. Supporters also point to a 2024 Stanford Medicine study that found Special Operations military veterans treated with ibogaine exhibited significant improvement in cognitive function, emotional regulation and reductions in symptoms of traumatic brain injury.
W. Bryan Hubbard, executive director of the American Ibogaine Initiative and who spearheaded the Texas bill and previous failed attempts to secure public funding in Kentucky and Ohio, said he believes ibogaine “stands alone” among other psychedelics. He said ibogaine’s ascendance could have “profound implications for how we may be able to treat addiction, trauma and other neurological conditions.”
The Texas bill would allocate up to $50 million from the state’s general fund to a consortium comprising a university, a hospital and a drug developer. The group would need to contribute a matching amount in private funds. Texas would be entitled to royalties of at least 20 percent from any successful ibogaine drug resulting from the trials, said state Sen. Tan Parker (R), a bill sponsor. He said a quarter of that money would go to an “evergreen” fund to provide services for Texas veterans.
Skeptics say the money might be better spent on proven addiction treatments or safer psychedelics already in clinical trials approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Successful ibogaine drug development could be a decade away, said Alan K. Davis, director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at Ohio State University. Because of heart risks and the lengthy psychedelic trips, patients would need to use the drug under expensive medical supervision, said Davis, who recently launched an online survey of former ibogaine patients to gauge how effective it proved over time.
“There’s far more people out there who have not had a positive experience – who have not had the therapeutic effect from ibogaine – than there are people who have,” Davis said.
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Ibogaine interest grows
Tech bros, celebrities and stay-at-home moms have all hyped psychedelics in recent years. Ibogaine has been featured on podcasts popular with right-wing audiences such as “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “The Shawn Ryan Show.” States such as Oregon and Colorado have established regulated programs for psilocybin-assisted therapy, though the drug remains illegal federally – a dynamic that mirrors how marijuana is regulated.
During the Biden administration, commercial efforts suffered a blow when the FDA rejected an application to approve MDMA for use in therapy for treating PTSD. The rejection spurred backlash from lawmakers from both parties and veterans groups.
Under Trump and Health and Human ServicesSecretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., federalofficials have embraced psychedelics research. Trump’s choice for surgeon general, Casey Means, has described her own positive experience using psilocybin.
Last month, FDA Secretary Commissioner Marty Makary told NewsNation that exploring psychedelics such as ibogaine was a “top priority” for the agency. He called for “expeditious and rapid” reviews of clinical research. “We owe it to people who are suffering to do everything we can as a government to get a decision on the results as soon as they’re available,” he said.
HHS also hired prominent attorney Matt Zorn, who has represented psychedelics researchers and successfully sued the federal government because of its refusal to release a FDA scientific analysis that underpinned the Biden administration’s decision to seek looser restrictions on marijuana.
An agency spokesperson, in a statement, said Kennedy and HHS are “committed to applying rigorous, evidence-based science to research efforts” for safe and effective treatments for PTSD, addiction and depression, especially for veterans.
The Trump administration’s positive messaging on psychedelics research “helped provide some persuasion to conservative lawmakers” in Texas on the ibogaine bill, said Logan Davidson, legislative director for VETS, a nonprofit that advocates for greater access to psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans.
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An ibogaine boom?
The Texas initiative could boost the psychedelics industry as investors are pouring tens of millions into researching ibogaine and related compounds.
Companies such as Delix Therapeutics and Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals received recent federal funding to help develop ibogaine-derived compounds that are safe for the heart and can treat addiction.
The Los Angeles investment group Helena has partnered with start-up Soneira Biotech, which is developing ibogaine-based treatments; Helena also holds shares in the company that applied for FDA approval for MDMA. (Helena counts as a member Nolan Williams, the Stanford researcher who led the veterans study and is a Soneira adviser. The Financial Times reported that Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, also invested $15 million in Soneira; his charitable foundation helped fund the Stanford study).
One clinic that specializes in ibogaine therapy in Mexico is already eyeing an expansion into Texas, although it would not be able to administer the drug until FDA approval for its use.
Beond, the ibogaine clinic in Cancún, Mexico, plans to open a center in Austin where prospective patients could learn about treatments. It would serve as a place to prep patients before treatment in Mexico, and care for them upon their return, said chief executive Tom Feegel. He said he hopes his company, which he said has treated more than 3,000 patients in Mexico, can contribute its data on safety and patient results to newly funded clinical trials.
“Many of us are delighted that Texas has the high potential to reverse the systemic underperformance of behavioral treatment in the United States,” Feegel said.