Kentucky will 'explore the possibility' of funding research to make psychedelic drug ibogaine legal for drug treatment

Hubbard announced his plan as his boss, Attorney General
Daniel Cameron, sat behind him.(Photo by Melissa Patrick, KHN)

The head of Kentucky's Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission announced that the panel is considering using "no less than $42 million" to develop a treatment of opioid-use disorder with the psychedelic drug ibogaine, which is not legal in the United States, reports Melissa Patrick of Kentucky Health News. Bryan Hubbard told reporters, "It is our hope that we can achieve approval within six years" from the Food and Drug Administration for ibogaine. . . . This is the first time an effort like this has ever been undertaken by an individual state in history. . . . So we are in uncharted territory by even discussing the possibility of executing this project."

"Ibogaine is a powerful psychedelic that comes from a plant mainly found in Africa. It is anecdotally reported to stop the withdrawal symptoms of opioid dependence," Patrick explains. Hubbard told Patrick: "Anecdotal evidence that is a mountain high and decades wide suggests that ibogaine, within 48 to 72 hours of administration in safe, clinically controlled conditions, resolves opioid withdrawal syndrome. . . . It appears to do so by clearing and resetting the brain's opioid receptors while also restoring the brain's organic dopamine and serotonin production to pre-opioid exposure levels. If this anecdotal evidence can be clinically validated, ibogaine would represent a transformative therapeutic for the treatment of opioid-use disorder."

Shredded bark containing ibogaine (Wikipedia photo)

"Representatives from several organizations were on hand to support the initiative, including the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, Reason for Hope, Heroic Hearts Project, Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky," Patrick reports. Retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Martin Steele, CEO of Reason for Hope, told the group, "I am so excited to support Kentucky in this innovative ibogaine research initiative; it's second to none. The existing clinical research and the growing body of personal anecdotes suggest that ibogaine, when used with careful medical screening, treatment protocols, and oversight, has incredible promise for treating veterans and all others struggling with opioid addiction."

"The money would come from the $842 million the state is getting from settlements with drug manufacturers and distributors," Patrick reports. Hubbard said, "I want to emphasize that this is preliminary and we are going to explore that possibility. Given the expense – and it is a significant expense of developing any therapeutic to go through the FDA process – we want to make sure that the money we put up to be matched by clinical research teams will be an adequate sum to get us across the finish line."

Kentucky is among the national leaders in overdose deaths. Ben Chandler, president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, and a former Democratic attorney general and congressman, "applauded the effort, saying the foundation is hopeful for the health benefits this new initiative could bring to Kentucky." Hubbard works for Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who questioned the "psychedelic research" and complained that his appointees on the commission hadn't been informed of the plan, Patrick reports. Hubbard said the commission would discuss the plan June 12.