Mississippi lawmakers hear veterans and providers urge joining multistate Ibogaine trials

Jackson — Mississippi lawmakers on a joint House and Senate public health committee heard hours of testimony on Ibogaine on Monday, as veterans, clinicians and advocacy groups urged the state to help fund FDA‑supervised clinical trials and to develop tightly controlled treatment capacity in state.

"We're here to consider Ibogaine," Representative Sam Creekmore, chairing the joint hearing, said as he opened the session and asked witnesses to present evidence and personal experience. Witnesses described Ibogaine as a plant‑derived medicine administered under medical supervision abroad and argued it may interrupt addiction and aid recovery from trauma.

Trevor Miller, who said he operates clinics under the name Ambeo in Baja California, described Ibogaine as an "addiction interrupter" and said his programs have treated roughly 2,500 people in four years, of whom about 1,500 were veterans. Miller said clinics perform pre‑treatment EKGs and blood work and provide continuous bedside monitoring during sessions. "If you do that, the chances of adverse events go down to next to nothing," he said.

Several veterans gave personal testimony. Miles Grantham told the committee a single session in Mexico relieved chronic migraines and depression and that he had referred dozens of veterans who reported similar benefits. Ben Bush recounted a difficult post‑service transition and said his Ibogaine experience led him to stop daily tobacco use and curb alcohol.

Clinicians and researchers at the hearing emphasized both the early signals and the limits of the evidence. Dr. Tom Recor, a psychiatrist, said small open‑label studies and case series suggest potential benefits but stressed the need for blinded, controlled trials to separate the medicine's effects from supportive care and placebo effects. "The question is whether there's enough of a signal for us to pursue research," Recor said.

Speakers repeatedly raised cardiac safety as a top concern. Claire Durst, a trauma nurse who said she runs clinical operations at an Ibogaine clinic, detailed screening and monitoring protocols and warned the drug can prolong QT intervals; she and others urged standardized cardiac screening and structured aftercare if trials proceed.

Advocates and policy experts urged a coordinated funding approach. Jeffrey Lawrence of the Reason Foundation and Brian Hubbard of Americans for Ibogaine described a multistate consortium model aimed at producing FDA‑acceptable trial data. Lawrence noted that Texas has appropriated $50 million and Arizona $10 million toward coordinated trials; Hubbard urged Mississippi to consider a multi‑million dollar commitment so the state could participate in a single, geographically diverse FDA trial.

Witnesses also described promising but limited clinical findings. Miller and others cited a Stanford‑linked study of 30 veterans treated at a clinic affiliated with Miller that reported structural brain changes and large reductions in PTSD and depression scores; at the same time multiple presenters acknowledged these are small samples and open‑label designs. "So far, these are small sample studies to this point," Lawrence said, urging formal, coordinated trials.

Committee members repeatedly asked for concrete, long‑term outcome data and for clarity about who would pay and who would oversee research. Some members stressed the regulatory complications of a Schedule I substance that remains illegal federally but can be used in supervised clinical trials under FDA investigational procedures. Representative questions also probed whether state dollars should be committed if private sponsors might otherwise underwrite trials.

The hearing closed without a vote. Chairman Creekmore thanked witnesses and said the committee had more work ahead to weigh scientific evidence, safety protocols and budgetary tradeoffs before recommending any appropriation or legislative action.