Texas is set to become one of the biggest players in psychedelics research, as the Legislature is poised to fund the first clinical trials of a drug lawmakers hope will eventually help reduce veteran suicide rates and offer an alternative to opioid treatments. 

Both chambers of the state Legislature have approved a new state fund for research into ibogaine, a compound derived from the West African iboga plant that has been used in other countries to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and addiction. The proposed state budget allocates $50 million, though the exact number may change in ongoing negotiations. 

The plan, if signed into law, would not only make Texas the first state in the country to fund such trials but also the movement’s biggest public investor, beating even the federal government’s $10 million allocation for general psychedelics research.

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Ibogaine remains illegal nationwide as a Schedule I substance and some researchers continue to urge caution on mainstreaming their use, citing a general lack of concrete research. The state’s GOP lawmakers say they are encouraged by testimony from veterans on the miracle-like effects of the substance that they have traveled to access in Mexico. 

“Ibogaine isn’t just another drug,” said State Rep. Cody Harris, an East Texas Republican and the bill’s House sponsor. “In a single dose it can silence the screams of withdrawal, quiet the cravings that chain people to addiction, and mend the broken pieces of the mind ravaged by trauma.”

The fund would create public-private partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and state research institutions to launch the human trials. The bill won a bipartisan majority in the state Senate and was opposed by just two Republicans in the House. Lawmakers are now hashing out final details of the plan before final approvals and sending it to the governor’s desk.

The proposal comes amid a push by state lawmakers this session to invest in medical research, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority $3 billion dementia fund that was also approved by the Legislature this session. 

“The investment is historic, there’s no other way to say it,” said Logan Davidson, director of the psychedelics advocacy group Texans for Greater Mental Health. “Texas values its role as a leader in this country and is choosing to lead here.”

Lawmakers in other states have expressed interest in ibogaine but proposed funding at much lower levels. Kentucky had previously appeared set to approve $42 million for ibogaine research in 2023 but backed off after a main proponent left office. Similar ongoing efforts by lawmakers in Washington and Arizona would allocate much smaller amounts. 

Almost all psychedelics research to date has been funded philanthropically, said Baylor College of Medicine professor Lynette Averill, limiting researchers’ ability to focus resources on them. But plenty of institutions are interested in this kind of research, she said, and several trials in Austin and Houston are already underway for psilocybin, another psychedelic Texas lawmakers allowed to be researched in 2021. 

“These studies can be really cost-prohibitive with such a heavy regulatory burden,” said Averill. “And they are so intensive in terms of how much time you need to spend with the study participants, and the caliber of the people that you have to have involved in a study.”

Social stigma around psychedelics remains a factor, and there have been other setbacks. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration last year rejected a high-profile application for a PTSD therapy based on MDMA, also known as ecstasy, citing inconclusive evidence. 

But conservatives have increasingly rallied around the drugs as potentially life-saving for veterans. Kentucky’s effort gained support from former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, who is now advocating to “bring this life-saving treatment home.”

“My job, and our job, is to be able to educate the people about this psychoactive plant medicine that is absolutely showing a stunning ability to bring people back to normalcy, to literally give them their lives back,” Perry told Austin-based podcaster Joe Rogan in January. 

Veterans who have undergone the multi-hour treatment describe the experience as intense and transformative and often report life-changing changes in personality and mood. Among them is U.S. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, a Houston-area Republican and retired Navy SEAL who led the effort in Congress to fund federal psychedelic studies. Luttrell’s twin brother Marcus, who also went under ibogaine treatment, has become the effort’s public face in the Legislature. 

The suicide rate for veterans is 150% higher than those who haven’t served, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Lawmakers have also scrutinized the effectiveness of traditional PTSD treatments, especially antidepressants, saying they don’t work for all veterans.