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Texas funds $100M Ibogaine trial to combat opioid addiction

Friday, April 3, 2026 · from 2 podcasts
The Joe Rogan ExperienceBreaking Points with Krys…
  • Texas bypasses Big Pharma and the FDA by funding its own $100M trial for Ibogaine, a psychedelic treatment for opioid addiction.
  • Ibogaine creates a 120-day neuroplasticity window, with studies showing an 85% success rate in breaking opioid dependency within 72 hours.
  • A coalition of conservative states is reframing psychedelics as veteran care, with Mississippi, Tennessee, and others following Texas's lead.

Texas is sidestepping a gridlocked federal system to tackle the opioid crisis, committing $100 million in state funds to launch FDA-track clinical trials for Ibogaine. The initiative marks a radical departure from federal drug policy and traditional pharmaceutical development.

W. Bryan Hubbard and former Governor Rick Perry secured the funding by framing the psychedelic as essential care for veterans with traumatic brain injuries. They argue pharmaceutical companies have no incentive to develop a one-dose cure for addiction. By funding the trial directly, Texas aims to prove Ibogaine's efficacy and safety to the FDA on its own terms.

The clinical case hinges on Ibogaine's unique neuroregenerative capacity. Research indicates it repairs physical brain damage and opens a 90 to 120-day window of neuroplasticity, far exceeding alternatives like ketamine. Rick Perry cites studies showing an 85% success rate in interrupting opioid addiction within 72 hours of a single dose.

Rick Perry, The Joe Rogan Experience:

- You can get 85% of the people who are hooked on opioids clean in 72 hours.

- That's such a stunning thing to me.

The political shift is as significant as the medical one. Perry, a former "tough on crime" drug warrior, now advocates for psychedelics as a moral obligation to veterans "anesthetized" by VA-prescribed opioids. This reframing has neutralized decades of stigma, winning over conservative legislatures.

Texas is not acting alone. Mississippi passed its own initiative with near-unanimous votes, allocating $5 million from opioid settlement funds. Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia have active legislation to join. The movement is coalescing into a state-led challenge to federal drug scheduling.

W. Bryan Hubbard, The Joe Rogan Experience:

- I can confirm that the great state of Texas is going to fully fund the Texas Ibogaine initiative.

- It decided on its own to commit a full $100 million to launch the development of Ibogaine all the way through the FDA's drug development process.

The initiative faces a final hurdle: the DEA's current interpretation of federal right-to-try laws blocks access to Schedule I substances like Ibogaine. Texas's $100 million bet is a direct challenge to that barrier, aiming to force a policy change by demonstrating a treatment that works.

HealthRegulationPolitics

By the Numbers

  • $100 millionTexas Ibogaine Initiative fundingmetric
  • 181 out of 188Texas legislators voting yesmetric
  • $50 millionInitial Texas Ibogaine Initiative fundingmetric
  • 85%Opioid addiction cure rate with one Ibogaine dosemetric
  • 72 hoursTimeframe for Ibogaine addiction interruptionmetric
  • 98%Opioid addiction cure rate with two Ibogaine dosesmetric

Entities Mentioned

American Legislative Exchange CouncilConcept
Chinacountry
Choctaw NationConcept
CoracleProduct
IRGCCompany
NATOCompany
NvidiaCompany
TwitterProduct

Source Intelligence

What each podcast actually said

The Joe Rogan Experience
The Joe Rogan Experience

#2477 - Rick Perry & W. Bryan Hubbard • Apr 1

  • The Texas legislature committed $100 million to fully fund the Texas Ibogaine Initiative for FDA drug development.
  • Americans for Ibogaine secured votes from 181 out of 188 Texas legislators for the initial $50 million funding proposal.
  • Rick Perry claims Ibogaine eliminated brain atrophy in his six-month post-treatment scan, making his brain resemble a 40-year-old's.
  • A Stanford study on veterans with traumatic brain injury showed Ibogaine has remarkable neuroregenerative capacities.
  • Ibogaine interrupts physiological substance dependency for opioids, alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and tobacco.
  • W. Bryan Hubbard states Ibogaine has an 85% success rate for curing opioid addiction in 72 hours with one dose.
  • Hubbard claims two doses of Ibogaine show a 98% success rate for opioid addiction.
  • Rick Perry's post-Ibogaine brain scan showed a 27% increase in prefrontal cortex activity one week after treatment.
  • Ibogaine's neuroplasticity critical period lasts 90 to 120 days, compared to 48-72 hours for ketamine.
  • The DEA's interpretation of federal right-to-try legislation currently blocks access to Schedule 1 substances like Ibogaine.
  • Mississippi passed its Ibogaine initiative with a 111-1 House vote and a 51-1 Senate vote, allocating $5 million from opioid funds.
  • Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia have active legislation to join Texas in Ibogaine development.
  • W. Bryan Hubbard argues the war on drugs began with Nixon targeting hippies and Black communities by scheduling psychoactive substances.
  • Rick Perry connects his support for Ibogaine to his earlier shift on criminal justice reform in Texas during the 2000s.
  • The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) endorsed model legislation for state-level Ibogaine initiatives.
  • W. Bryan Hubbard describes an Ibogaine treatment as inducing 12-16 hours of semi-paralysis and vomiting, not a recreational experience.
  • Hubbard states Ibogaine has shown promise for treating compulsive behaviors like gambling and eating disorders linked to trauma.
  • The Iboga shrub has a poisonous impostor plant that looks identical and grows alongside it, discernible only at maturity.

Also from this episode:

Business (1)
  • The Choctaw Nation and potentially four other Native American tribes plan to join the Ibogaine initiative on sovereign territory.
Society (1)
  • W. Bryan Hubbard frames the Ibogaine movement as a spiritual awakening necessary to navigate future AI-driven abundance.
HealthBrainRegulation
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

4/1/26: Iran Bombs Bahrain Amazon, US Allies Warn Of Disaster, Robert Pape On Iran Gaining Power, Mass Layoffs • Apr 1

Also from this episode:

War (11)
  • Iran's IRGC struck Amazon Web Services servers in Bahrain after threatening U.S. tech companies involved in assassination programs.
  • Robert Pape argues Iran is becoming a new global power center by controlling over 20% of the world's oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Donald Trump told Reuters his evening address will express 'disgust with NATO' and he is 'absolutely considering' withdrawing U.S. forces.
  • Robert Pape states NATO is effectively dead because European countries will no longer follow orders from American generals.
  • The IRGC published a list of 18 U.S. technology and defense companies it considers legitimate targets, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and JPMorgan.
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned the Iran war will affect Britain's future and urged de-escalation and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez committed to voting against all arms funding for Israel, including defensive systems like Iron Dome.
  • Robert Pape contends markets are wrong to assume ending the war will reverse Iran's new global power, as Tehran won't voluntarily relinquish control.
  • The USS George H.W. Bush carrier group deployed to relieve the damaged USS Gerald R. Ford, which was taken out by a suspected sabotage or strike.
  • The United Arab Emirates is pushing to join the war against Iran, having long sought U.S. military action against Tehran.
  • Robert Pape identifies three factions forming in the Gulf: Iraq bandwagoning with Iran, Oman and Qatar neutral, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE alarmed.
Labor (2)
  • Oracle laid off 30,000 employees via a 6 a.m. email, with job cuts linked to Gulf state financing troubles and being on the IRGC target list.
  • The U.S. hiring rate in February 2023 fell to the same level as April 2020, indicating a severe collapse in job openings.
Energy (2)
  • Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cut fuel taxes and urged citizens to use public transport to conserve reserves amid global supply disruptions.
  • A global helium shortage is emerging, threatening AI development, MRI machines, and advanced cooling technology.
Media (2)
  • The U.S. State Department directed embassies to coordinate with Pentagon psyops units to downvote community notes criticizing official posts on Twitter.
  • Breaking Points is close to 2 million YouTube subscribers and relies on premium members to fund its independent journalism.
Trade (1)
  • Fertilizer shortages are imminent as China halts exports and shipments through the Strait of Hormuz stop, threatening global food production.
WarMiddle EastEnergyMacro

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