The Louisiana Senate has approved legislation that could allow veterans and others suffering from PTSD and chronic depression to have access to psychedelic-assisted therapy. Mandeville Senator Patrick McMath’s legislation would provide opioid settlement dollars to academic health centers to conduct clinical studies to determine if alternative treatments such as psilocybin and ibogaine work.
“We’re removing some barriers that currently exist in state law to allow greater access to this type of research. But also, research, in this case, is also treatment,” McMath said.
Ibogaine and psilocybin are classified as Schedule 1 drugs, so they are federally illegal. But McMath says these psychedelics are used in other countries, and there is an over 90% success rate when it comes to treating PTSD, chronic depression, and heroin and alcohol dependency.
“It’s like hitting the reset button on your brain; this is the best way I can describe it. And, as the marine veteran described it, he said, ‘This is not an escape, like traditional drugs. This is a cleansing,'” McMath noted.
Major General Glenn Curtis, the former leader of the Louisiana National Guard, traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, along with his son, who suffered two head injuries during his military service, and he couldn’t believe the results after taking ibogaine.
“Watching my son go through it, knowing where he had been and where he was after that treatment, it was like flipping a light switch. I tell people it’s a new lease on life,” Curtis said.
The Trump administration has taken notice, as the President signed an executive order to review ibogaine and other psychedelics. McMath’s bill is waiting to be heard in the House.
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