A Mississippi legislator recently proposed that the state research a drug called ibogaine, which appears to show promise in treating both opioid addicts and military veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
The medicine deserves further study, though it may be better for Mississippi to watch the results from other programs before committing its own money.
Ibogaine certainly has an interesting story. Derived from the iboga tree in central Africa, Wikipedia says the drug is a highly regulated Schedule I narcotic in the United States, and with good reason.
Wikipedia described psychedelic effects in those who use it, starting with a dreamlike but conscious “visionary phase,” and followed by an “introspective phase” that can include insomnia, irritability, mood changes, depression and mania. That doesn’t sound so wonderful, but opioid addicts easily could see it as a small price to pay if the medicine helps them stay clean.
In 2024, a Stanford University study reported that ibogaine, when combined with magnesium to protect the heart, “safely and effectively reduces PTSD, anxiety and depression and improves functioning in veterans with TBI.”
A Stanford researcher said the results of ibogaine among 30 U.S. special forces veterans with PTSD were dramatic. “No other drug has ever been able to alleviate the functional and neuropsychiatric symptoms of traumatic brain injury,” wrote Dr. Nolan Williams.
Enter state Rep. Sam Creekmore, a Mississippi Republican who is chairman of the House Public Health Committee. His column on the Magnolia Tribune website accurately described both opioid addiction and PTSD as “life-threatening public health emergencies, and they are devastating families in every corner of Mississippi.”
Several hundred Mississippi residents are dying every year from drug overdoses, mostly opioids, Creekmore noted. And the state has plenty of military veterans, which guarantees that a certain percentage of them suffer from PTSD or similar issues.
Conventional treatment, he added, is not helping enough of these people. For example, national opioid relapse rates are 60% to 90% within one year. While ibogaine is not approved for use in the United States, it is showing promise in other countries, specifically Mexico.
Creekmore wrote that only 30% to 50% of addicts treated with ibogaine relapse. If true, it is giving them a better chance of getting back their life.
There are similar results for former soldiers. A group called Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions has helped more than 1,300 U.S. veterans get ibogaine treatment in Mexico. Soldiers wouldn’t go there unless it showed results.
“Our veterans shouldn’t have to leave the country to find healing,” Creekmore wrote. “They shouldn’t be forced to choose between silence and suicide. Mississippi has over 153,000 veterans. We lose an estimated 60 to 65 of those veterans to suicide each year. That’s unacceptable and preventable.”
He believes Mississippi should follow the lead of Texas, which has put up $50 million for ibogaine clinical trials in that state, run by universities, hospitals and biotech firms. Creekmore wants Mississippi to fund its own trials, but it may be more efficient to partner with Texas or other states for such research.
Either way, the research is needed. Mississippi, which has legalized the use of medical marijuana, should not ignore a product that shows promise of helping veterans and opioid addicts.
— Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
