FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Kentucky lawmakers have taken another step toward establishing a pathway to research a controversial new treatment for opioid addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions.
“Traditional treatment allows no one to skip acute withdrawal. Chronic withdrawal or craving. That’s a year and a half of misery,” Dr. Jean Loftus told House lawmakers Tuesday during a House Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection Committee meeting.
Loftus, a northern Kentucky plastic surgeon and member of Americans for Ibogaine, supports the proposal.
Ibogaine is a psychedelic substance derived from an African shrub. In six countries where it is legally used for therapy, it is processed into a capsule taken orally in a controlled setting.
The drug remains illegal in the United States, and research is still limited. However, existing studies suggest it may help treat PTSD, addiction, and depression.
“There is a lot of overlap in the ways that these three conditions damage the brain. Ibogaine corrects most of the damage in each of these conditions. This is why ibogaine is so powerful and why it can treat such seemingly different conditions,” Loftus said.
“Some of my colleagues may be a little bit side-eyed by this bill because it has to do with psychedelics. And I honestly would be one of those folks as well,” Sen. Aaron Reed (R-Shelbyville), a co-sponsor of the bill, said during a Senate debate earlier this month.
Reed, a former Navy SEAL, said he has seen the drug help fellow service members who were close to suicide, though they had to travel to Mexico to receive treatment.
Senate Bill 77, introduced by Sen. Donald Douglas (R-Nicholasville), an anesthesiologist, would create an early framework for research. The bill proposes a fund that would allow the state to form a public-private partnership with a drug developer in anticipation of potential FDA approval.
Texas, Mississippi, and West Virginia have already passed similar measures.
“Why wouldn’t we just simply join with them and utilize our abatement funds to help Kentuckians right now? I’m one who’s skeptical about this, looking at the limited information that we have,” Rep. Adrielle Camuel (D-Lexington) said during the meeting.
The bill has drawn both bipartisan support and skepticism. Two Republicans opposed it in the Senate, and two House Democrats voted against it in committee on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 77 now moves to the House for a final vote.
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