8 August 7 - 13, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents THC while also making exceptions for ibo- gaine research. One of those lawmakers is ul- tra-conservative Rep. Mitch Little, a proud lifelong Republican from Denton County. “From what I understand, knowing very little about [ibogaine] from a scientific standpoint, this has been groundbreaking for [veterans] lives so that they could kind of gain some freedom,” he said to the Observer. “Because [it is] still a Schedule 1 drug in the United States, there’s very little likelihood of abuse because of the medical controls on it. Allowing the state to engage in trials for something that could give people some mental and physical freedom, I think, is a good thing to do.” Ahead of the THC ban, which lawmakers are still negotiating in the ongoing special session, there was an outpouring from veter- ans who use legal THC products as an alter- native to addictive opioids, begging lawmakers to allow them to keep their prod- ucts. Veterans were a named party of con- cern in the governor’s veto. “I understand that some veterans report improved daily lives or outcomes as a result of THC,” Little said. “There may be causation there. There may just merely be correlation.” Little also notes that a THC ban is con- nected to the state’s supposed inability to regulate THC products the way it does al- cohol, and not merely because it’s an in- toxicating product. In his view, there’s little comparison between the THC argu- ment and this new, tightly controlled ibo- gaine issue. To be clear, the bill does not give a green light for ibogaine research, and Perry told the Texas Tribune that we are still likely many years out from actual human testing. However, the Health and Human Services Department is required to accept grant ap- plications beginning Oct. 31, 2025. The bill’s passage alone, with a heap of Texas tax money, is a landmark for the future of ibo- gaine and hallucinogen research in the United States. “To better understand the potential for ibogaine and to better address the public health challenges caused by things like opi- oid use disorder, an FDA clinical drug trial is needed,” Abbott said at the bill signing ceremony. “Many of these veterans suffer from so many different types of injuries, both seen and unseen. … The same is true for some of our first responders, as well as others who are dealing with addiction- based issues.” While the price of a luxury Cozumel ibo- gaine retreat surely elicits a bit of sticker shock, the American health industry is not known for its affordability. The cost of care in our neighboring nation is much lower than our own, and if, or when, ibogaine is launched as an FDA- approved treatment in the U.S., likely without immediate insurance coverage, Ambio’s Mil- lar said, those with their fingers deep in the industry could see a siz- able payout. Texas knows that. Under SB 2308, the state will get a mini- mum 20% stake in profits from a successful pharmaceutical produced in state-funded trials. A portion of that cut is carved out for veteran services. Millar also points out that American pharmaceutical companies, which are some of the largest political donors, make unimag- inable profits off the opioids frequently pre- scribed to veterans. They also cash quite a few zeros from opioid addicts prescribed Suboxone, a branded combination of bu- prenorphine and naloxone, an opioid addic- tion treatment that has to be taken daily in perpetuity. Big Pharma is not set to benefit financially from standardizing a one-time treatment with a high efficacy rate. “Ultimately, I would love to [see] clinical trials,” Millar said. “I think if insurance com- panies are actually looking to help people heal, this is a more cost-effective way. Sadly, I’m not convinced insurance companies are committed to seeing people heal. I call it the ‘opioid racket’, [a move] to keep somebody on Suboxone or methadone for life.” Ibogaine Is Not a Cure-All U nlike most illegal substances, there are few oppositional voices against ibo- gaine as a substance or even as a ther- apy. Ibogaine, on its own, is not highly addictive and is relatively hard to obtain, un- like the drugs of primary concern in the United States, like fentanyl. If you did get your hands on it, the chances that someone would take it recreationally, understanding the heart risks, are minimal. Most dissenters cite fiscal or systemic concerns, but there is a small sector of ibogaine experts who dis- agree with the narrative being spun by the GOP that presents ibogaine as a one-stop cure. “[Republicans] have systematically de- stroyed the community of care and pre- sented this drug falsely as a miracle cure,” said Dimitri Mugianis, a Bwiti practitioner, avid harm reduction advocate and one of the only Americans ever charged with felony possession of ibogaine. “Part of their argu- ment is [it’s] a cure to social disruption. We’ll do away with homelessness by giving people ibogaine, or we can cure PTSD for folks that we’ve sent away to kill and die, when they’re experiencing the very human emotions that we hope would accompany such activities.” Mugianis is pro-research. He thinks we should know more about the drug and all of its benefits, but he disagrees with the pack- aging and the pretty red bow Texas lawmak- ers have tied on top, which he says distracts from other pitfalls. “They’re talking about a miracle cure when what it really is is an opportunity to care for folks,” he said. “And caring for folks costs money, and it takes skilled people. They’ve done everything they could to de- stroy that safety net, to destroy people’s ac- cess to skilled people and people’s [access to] getting the education to become skilled.” The dichotomy be- tween approval for ibo- gaine trials and the crackdown on THC has garnered a bit of scru- tiny, but Mugianis is clear in his opinions. “I don’t know how this move is a ‘changing attitude’ towards drugs,” he said. “It doesn’t register as that. As a matter of fact, it seems like it’s the same attitude towards drugs. … I do object. It’s not just the commercialization that I object to, it’s the overmedicalization,” he said. The Bwiti shaman also does not ignore the appealing economic future of ibogaine research for Texas, crediting it as a potential reason for the shift in pitch. “I’m looking at these people who have not given a shit about poor and working peo- ple, who have not given a shit about drug us- ers, who’ve not given a shit about veterans,” he said. “Suddenly, they’re all compassion- ate. I don’t believe it.” There are also concerns about the pro- duction of ibogaine and stripping the supply from the people of Gabon as demand grows internationally. The iboga root takes five to seven years to mature for harvesting, and Ambio is working on ethical sourcing prac- tices that allow people to reap the benefits of the root at a large scale while preserving the sanctity of the Bwiti. “People operate as if there’s no template, as if there’s not a history in which we can look at and say, what would happen when we take a good practice, for instance, and put it within the institutions?” Mugianis said. “Suddenly, therapy becomes this one-size-fits-all box. What happens when countries with money come and take from countries with re- sources? Some people are trying to counter that. But I don’t think those Republicans have thought much about biopiracy.” He also points out that because clinical research is so limited, ibogaine’s purported efficacy is questionable and requires much more nuanced definitions as opposed to a blanket application to all drug problems. “The problem is the story they’re telling, the story that it has an 80% success rate,” he said. “These drugs do not deal with fentanyl very well.” Mugianis and Millar also expressed simi- lar worries about government involvement in clinical research when it pertains to opi- oid addiction, cautioning against the theo- retical forced ingestion of ibogaine to eradicate substance abuse. (We could not find any such proposal by any Texas law- makers.) “There’s a way to do all this right, but not within this structure,” Mugianis said. “But when it comes to money, they don’t give a shit. That’s what I think.” Texas Has Time To Shape Up W hile Texas is the first state to success- fully pass any legislation that comes close to getting ibogaine into the U.S. in a legal way, we’re still years from the exe- cution of clinical trials. Experts in the ibogaine industry certainly don’t view the United States or its respective pharmaceutical and wellness companies as potential competitors in the market. But if the day comes, they’d at least like to see Texas facilities embrace holistic and spiri- tual wellness for the betterment of people without financial gain as the driving force. The good news is that Texas has plenty of time to catch up and construct some sweat lodges and install more EKGs because, with- out approval from the Federal Drug Admin- istration, which could take years to achieve, ibogaine remains a banned substance with- out exception. “[Ibogaine as a cure to the opioid crisis and PTSD] is unachievable because they’ve destroyed the infrastructure and continue to destroy the infrastructure which is neces- sary for these things to work,” Mugianis said. “I’m not pro-ibogaine. I’m pro-people being kind to each other, and heal. If ibo- gaine is part of that, that’s fine.” ▼ PUBLIC SAFETY OAK CLIFF SPEEDWAY WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO FIX A PROBLEMATIC STREET IN DALLAS? BY EMMA RUBY F or years, neighbors up and down Ty- ler Street in Oak Cliff have agreed that the road is a beacon for Dallas’ speedi- est and most distracted drivers. On the road’s northern end, where Tyler emerges from Sylvan Avenue after Magda Stuglik Ibogaine is taken in pill form. Holistic Hallucination from p6 >> p10 “I’m not pro-Ibogaine. I’m pro-people being kind to each other, and heal. If ibogaine is part of that, that’s fine.” –Dmitri Mugianis
