Global Ganja Report

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on June 11 signed a bill creating a consortium of universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical firms to conduct clinical trials on on ibogaine, in hopes of receiving US Food & Drug Administration approval. The press release on the signing hails ibogaine as an "emerging treatment for neurological and mental health conditions." Lawmakers approved $50 million to support the effort, making Texas the global leader in psychedelic research investment. (Texas Tribune)

Derived from the African shrub iboga, a sacred plant among tribes in the Gabon rainforest, ibogaine has been touted by a small coterie of devotees in the US and Europe since the 1960s for its apparent addiction-interrupting properties. It is a prohibited Schedule I drug in the US under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. Nonetheless, the push for its embrace by the Texas establishment has been led by conservative ex-governor Rick Perry—who apparently underwent an ibogaine treatment in September 2023 at a clinic outside Tijuana, Mexico. A New York Times story on his effort informs us that he was the "unlikely keynote speaker" at the Psychedelic Science Conference in Denver this June.