In what could be a pioneering move for addiction treatment, Bryan Hubbard, a Kentucky lawyer, has spotlighted the plight of middle-aged women from low-income backgrounds in the Appalachian mountains. These women, he observed, often spiral into opioid addiction following work injuries and subsequent opioid prescriptions. Hubbard suggests that their suffering is not merely physical but also emotional and spiritual. He posits that a solution may lie in a lesser-known psychedelic: ibogaine.
The Promise and Peril of Ibogaine
Derived from the African iboga plant, ibogaine is notorious for inducing intense and often unpleasant hallucinatory experiences. However, it has also garnered attention for its alleged ability to cure addictions to substances like cocaine and opioids with just a single dose. Despite such promising potential, ibogaine is marred by skepticism due to its side effects and its legal status as a Schedule I drug. The path towards FDA approval for such a controversial substance is long and fraught with challenges.
A Controversial Proposal
Undeterred by these obstacles, Hubbard, who will soon be replaced by former DEA agent Christopher Evans as the executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, has made a bold proposal. He has been advocating for a significant portion – $42 million – of a settlement fund to be diverted towards researching ibogaine’s efficacy in treating opioid-use disorder.
Future of Ibogaine Research in Jeopardy
However, with the impending change in leadership and the skepticism surrounding ibogaine, the future of this initiative hangs in the balance. There are valid concerns about the accessibility and practicality of ibogaine treatments for the general population in Kentucky. Despite these uncertainties, Hubbard remains hopeful that research into ibogaine’s use for opioid-use disorder will continue in other states, broadening our understanding of addiction and the unconventional paths towards its treatment.
Source:
Kentucky Lawyer Proposes Psychedelic Solution to Opioid Crisis
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A ‘stark’ conversation with incoming AG leads KY opioid commission chair to resign
BY ALEX ACQUISTOAND TAYLOR SIX
UPDATED DECEMBER 27, 2023 12:56 PM
Bryan Hubbard, outgoing chair of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, has proposed the state use opioid lawsuit settlement money to conduct clinical research into the psychedelic drug, ibogaine, as a potential therapeutic to treat opioid addiction. Hubbard announced his resignation after a conversation Attorney General-elect Russell Coleman, according to Hubbard’s resignation letter.
Nearly a week after the Kentucky attorney general-elect chose a new chair for the state’s commission charged with distributing opioid lawsuit settlement money, the outgoing chair said his “greatest concern” was the future of a state-funded proposal to invest in a psychedelic drug as a treatment for opioid addiction. In a resignation letter sent late Tuesday night, Bryan Hubbard, outgoing executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, said since “new leadership has been requested,” he will officially resign from his position on Sunday. Attorney General-elect Russell Coleman announced before Christmas he was appointing Chris Evans, a former chief operating officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration, in Hubbard’s place. Appointed to the post by Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Hubbard made waves during his time leading the commission for spearheading a proposal to invest up to $42 million of a nearly $900 million opioid lawsuit settlement over the next six years to conduct research by way of clinical trials using ibogaine with the goal of receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to distribute it as a medication to treat opioid addiction. Ibogaine is currently a Schedule 1 drug in the U.S. Hubbard unveiled his idea for Kentucky to become the first state to research the experimental drug in a news conference alongside Cameron in May.
Controversial in part because ibogaine is illegal, the commission has hosted multiple public hearings on the proposal since the spring, and its members have listened to several personal ibogaine success stories. “Ibogaine saved me and gave me back my life,” Dakota Meyer, a native Kentuckian, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, told the commission in September. “It offered me a true path to recovery I never even imagined was possible. It provided me with a renewed sense or purpose and strength to rebuild my life.”
Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article283553323.html#storylink=cpy
