Psychedelics Policy Newsletter: RFK Jr. gives hopeful approval timeline, Arizona advances ibogaine, and more

Welcome to Reason Foundation’s newsletter on psychedelics policy. This edition covers:

• The Trump administration’s psychedelics push
• Arizona’s ibogaine funding law
• Gov. Perry’s op-ed offering support for ibogaine

The Trump administration’s push for psychedelics

During a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that he hopes that a psychedelic pharmaceutical is approved within the next 12 months. However, he did not specify which drug or how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would make this determination. “This line of therapeutics has tremendous advantage if given in a clinical setting, and we are working very hard to make sure that happens within 12 months,” RKF Jr. said.

“These are all very promising signs that the administration is aware of the potential of psychedelics and is trying to make overtures that they’re ready to approve them,” Reason Foundation’s Greg Ferenstein told the Associated Press.

HHS also made a key new hire who could help spur positive reforms. Mike Davis, who previously served as chief medical officer of the psychedelics research organization Usona Institute, is now the deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which evaluates drug applications and reviews standards for clinical trials.

Arizona funds ibogaine

The psychedelic compound ibogaine is a promising potential treatment for opioid addiction and brain disorders. Arizona lawmakers recently budgeted $5 million toward a public-private partnership that will perform clinical trials to determine the safety and efficacy of the treatment. Arizona becomes the second state, following Texas, to allocate funding for this purpose. “Arizona is showing the nation how to solve real problems by putting cutting-edge science first,” former U.S. Senator Krysten Sinema told Reason Foundation about the program. For more on Arizona and other developments, visit our most recent state psychedelics legalization and policy roundup.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry supports psychedelics

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry penned an op-ed in The Washington Post about his commitment to advancing ibogaine as a treatment. Perry concludes the op-ed with a personal note:

“I traveled to see ibogaine clinics in Mexico myself. I met the doctors and researchers. I listened to the patients. I studied the clinical data. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. Every one of us knows someone who’s struggling, whether with addiction, trauma or mental health. This is the cause I will dedicate the rest of my life to fighting for, because too many lives hang in the balance to do anything less.”

Perry’s column links to recent Reason Foundation research by Madison Carlino examining the potential for psychedelics to allay the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Perry has co-founded a new nonprofit, Americans for Ibogaine, to pursue his advocacy.

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