Attorney General of Kentucky announced Wednesday that the state would be funding research into the potential use of psychedelic Ibogaine to treat opioid addiction.
At a press conference, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is also running as the Republican candidate for Kentucky governor in November, announced that the state’s opioids commission would be leading the research on psychedelics, using money from a settlement reached with major opioid manufacturers.
Cameron, one of the 18 attorneys general of states who called for President Joe Biden last year to declare fentanyl an weapon of mass destruction, stated that “we need to explore a different approach.” “We must imagine new possibilities.” “We have to invest in future programs and solutions.”
Several veterans and their families attended the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s event with the official of the state. They shared information and anecdotes on ibogaine. It has been credited with helping people overcome addiction disorders after traditional therapies failed.
The attorney general stated, “I hope the commission will find and seek the next major breakthrough — that its members will begin the investigation and dialog necessary to make Kentucky the leader in 21st-century opioid treatment.” “Not only treatment, but also healing.”
The commission will coordinate research efforts with universities to set up clinical trial sites.
The non-profit Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, which has also advocated congressional psychedelics legislation reform, helped to organize Wednesday’s Briefing. They brought together a group of people who spoke about the potential of Ibogaine.
“In collaboration, with law enforcement, veterans organizations, and our elected officials from Missouri, we will make sure that Kentucky isn’t alone in advancing access to these revolutionary treatments,” Eapen Thampy, a lobbyist who works on psychedelic therapy, told Marijuana Moment, on Wednesday.
Cameron’s involvement in this effort is noteworthy, particularly in context with his race to succeed incumbent Governor. Andy Beshear, (D). Andy Beshear (D).
Cameron stated a few weeks before Beshear passed a medical marijuana bill into law, in March. Cameron had said he was willing to accept reform legislation as long as lawmakers could “get around a responsible framework.”
He said, when he ran for attorney general in 2019 that “we need to have a discussion about medicinal marijuana,” even though he admitted that law enforcement is “a little leery” of the issue.
He has waited until now to move forward with the alternative treatment for psychedelics.
The psychedelics movement has grown in popularity, and public awareness of different substances is increasing. However, ibogaine remains less known than other substances such as psilocybin or MDMA.
The flyer that was distributed by the Attorney General’s Office for the event discusses briefly the legal status, the medical use of ibogaine, its effects, and the possible risks and benefits.
When administered in a proper setting by properly trained providers, Ibogaine shows: anti-addictive properties (alcohols, opioids and cocaine). It says that ibogaine repairs, maintains and protects brain tissues, boosts and regulates the mood, and allows for deep introspection, resulting in profound psychotherapeutic benefits.
The funding for research comes from the settlements that each state has received from large pharmaceutical companies found partly responsible for the opioid crisis. The money is not required to be used in a certain way by the states, but many have invested it in drug prevention and addiction treatment. This is the first initiative to use the funds for psychedelic research.
In Kentucky, the Governor called for the legislature in his State of the Commonwealth address in January to legalize medical marijuana “this session”. He said that the reform was essential to ensure the state “treats people right.”
The speech was delivered after Beshear had signed two executive orders in November that allowed patients who met certain criteria to legally possess up to 8 ounces (or 240 grams) of medical cannabis obtained from dispensaries located in other states, and also regulated the sale of delta-8-THC products.
Cameron criticised the action after that and stated Beshear seemed to “enjoy ruling by decree rather than by law.”
He said that Kentucky’s General Assembly was the only and final body responsible for determining policy in this state. They must be allowed their say. “We are reviewing executive orders in order to determine the next steps.”
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Photo elements are courtesy carlosemmaskype, and Apollo.
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