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“This bill is more than a policy change—it offers real hope to so many people who desperately need it.”
By Jack Gorsline, Filter
The Oklahoma State Senate voted on April 29 to pass the Oklahoma Breakthrough Therapy Act. Formally known as House Bill 3834, the measure authorizes the use of state funds to support trials focused on ibogaine—the powerful, naturally occurring psychedelic compound.
The bill passed the House in March. If signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt (R), it will mark a significant shift in Oklahoma’s approach to the ongoing crises around mental health and substance use disorders.
It would authorize the State Department of Health to enter into contracts with drug developers to conduct extensive, state-monitored clinical trials for ibogaine-based therapeutics. Lawmakers who championed the bill argue that traditional treatment methods have consistently fallen short, necessitating a research-driven exploration of breakthrough therapies.
The legislation is also designed to facilitate collaboration with other states currently conducting similar clinical research, creating a multistate consortium aimed at securing federal regulatory approval.
Ibogaine is derived from the root bark of the iboga shrub. For decades, the compound has shown observational promise in interrupting severe substance use disorders—particularly opioids—and alleviating post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.
However, because ibogaine is federally classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, it remains illegal to possess, distribute or administer outside of highly restricted research settings. This has seen desperate patients seek unregulated and costly treatments abroad.
Ibogaine use for these purposes is not without controversy or risk. There are well-documented medical hazards, most notably the potential for severe cardiac complications, which have led to efforts to develop safer versions of the compound. There are also risks around resumed opioid use with lowered tolerance if ibogaine is used for withdrawal and abstinence.
Recognizing these issues, proponents of the Oklahoma bill stress that state-sponsored clinical trials would bring the treatment out of the unregulated shadows and into highly controlled medical environments. Under the proposed framework, patients would undergo rigorous pre-treatment medical evaluations and receive the drug under continuous monitoring by medical professionals.
To mitigate financial risk to the state and seek a high standard of research, the bill imposes requirements on participating drug developers. Any drug developer contracting with the health department would have to match the state’s financial investment in the trials dollar-for-dollar
Developers would additionally be required to submit a detailed plan for obtaining approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with protocols for trial participant recruitment, patient screening criteria, safety and post-acute treatment support.
The bill also mandates that drug developers prioritize treatment access for Oklahoma residents once FDA approval is secured. And the legislation requires a plan to protect the state’s economic interest in any intellectual property generated. The idea is that if the trials yield a profitable, FDA-approved therapeutic, funds will come back to the state.
The legislation establishes a dedicated revolving fund to capture any proceeds. By law, this money could only be utilized for programs or further research that directly benefit at-risk Oklahomans with conditions treatable by ibogaine. The bill grants medical professionals professional immunity too, shielding them from adverse licensing actions by state medical boards for recommending these trials to their patients.
The passage of House Bill 3834 through the Senate represents a major victory for a coalition of patient advocates, veterans and others. These groups have spent months sharing deeply personal stories of addiction, trauma and recovery with state lawmakers, aiming to demystify ibogaine and highlight its potential.
“Oklahoma for Ibogaine is celebrating the passing of HB 3834 through the Senate,” Nate Morgans, an Oklahoma-based psychedelics advocate and CEO of the Casey Skudin 343 Fund, told Filter. “Our team has worked tirelessly since December to educate, inform, and persuade Oklahoma legislators on the importance of authorizing and funding FDA clinical trials of Ibogaine. This initiative was led by a grassroots effort, employed no lobbyists, and focused on education through truly lived experiences. Our success today serves as a testament to what can be accomplished with determined hearts.”
In recent months, other state legislatures have begun viewing ibogaine research as a pragmatic health care response.
In March, for instance, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed similar legislation. The Mississippi law authorizes the state to form a consortium to conduct ibogaine clinical trials in direct coordination with other participating states—most notably neighboring Texas, which has already committed substantial funding to psychedelic research.
While Mississippi’s new law establishes the legal and administrative framework for the clinical trials, the new law does not currently appropriate state general funds toward the program. However, state lawmakers have indicated their intent to allocate a portion of the state’s federal opioid settlement funds to support the initiative. Advocates are divided over such uses of money that could otherwise be funding under-resourced harm reduction efforts.
State efforts to establish ibogaine clinical trials have not been uniformly successful. In April, a similar bill in West Virginia was derailed, after Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) vetoed it.
The bill would have established a state grant program to fund ibogaine drug development trials. It passed the state legislature, but Morrisey cited fiscal concerns in his veto message. Before killing the bill in the hours leading up to the state’s legislative deadline, he said that while he supports this medical innovation in principle, “we should do so without requiring the state to award grants of undefined and unfunded amounts.”
Despite such setbacks and controversies, advocates for ibogaine access and development remain optimistic about growing national momentum.
“This bill is more than a policy change—it offers real hope to so many people who desperately need it,” Chase Rowan told Filter of the Oklahoma bill. A US Army Ranger veteran, Rowan serves as both the veteran coordinator for Texans for Greater Mental Health and the director of Community Engagement & Advocacy for Americans for Ibogaine.
It’s a development that will “offer hope” to veterans and their families, including those impacted by substance use disorders, he said, and who have “tried every conventional method known to man, with no success.”
“Hello, Ibogaine, now we have an answer,” Rowan continued, “a real legitimate answer, something we can study, a medicine that will help so many people find true healing. Exciting things to come in the world of healing.”
The Oklahoma Breakthrough Therapy Act now heads to Stitt’s desk, where it remains to be seen if it will be signed into law.
This article was originally published by Filter, an online magazine covering drug use, drug policy and human rights through a harm reduction lens. Follow Filter on Bluesky, X or Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.
Photo courtesy of Flickr/Scamperdale.
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