I know quite a bit about this subject:
1) Ibogaine is in a class of psychedelics that are similar to psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, ayahuasca, and DMT. They create a serotonin bath for your brain that does two things: 1) creates hallucinations; and, more importantly, 2) helps your brain literally re-wire through neuroplasticity. David Eagleman and Jordon Peterson touch on psychedelics and neuroplasticity a bit, Dr. Eagleman is one of the world's most renowned neurologists. Huberman Labs goes over psychedelics and neuroplasticity very well too. These psychedelic medicines have shown tremendous promise in the recovery from addiction, depression, and PTSD. Johns Hopkins performed the most well know and impactful clinical trial, which has been replicated by entities such as the Mayo clinic, Berkely, and others.
The data from these trials is amazing.2) Ibogaine has one major advantage and one major drawback compared to other medicines in this class. For some reason, it greatly interrupts the body's opium withdrawal process, reducing the amount of time you are dope sick from something like a month to something like 3 to 4 days. That is a HUGE advantage, because being dope sick is one of the most difficult challenges of recovering from opioids like heroin and fentanyl. The disadvantage for Ibogaine is that it can cause blood pressure spikes, which can be dangerous, especially if the patient is going through alcohol withdrawal as well, which can exasperate blood pressure spikes.
3) Ibogaine is fairly new for medical treatment, so it is well positioned to be developed by big pharma. There is enough novelty that there is likely some intellectual property that can be attached to the drug so that generics will not be available for a decade or so after FDA approval. It is not something that you take as an ongoing therapy. It is a cure, not an ongoing treatment. Think of it as chemotherapy for brain mis-wiring diseases.
4) Getting Ibogaine through the FDA approval process will greatly facilitate the opportunity to have other psychedelics make it through the FDA process, and get off the Schedule I list. Pharma might be able to bribe the FDA into slowing things down, but, at some point, no politician wants to be the face of the political movement to ban drugs that are proven to help with PTSD and opioid addiction. Not everyone can take Ibogaine. Pretty much anyone can take psilocybin, LSD or DMT. They are chemically very safe, and not chemically addictive. You just have to have a babysitter with you to make sure you don't convince yourself that you are superman and can fly out of a window.
This is all fantastic news, and I am very thankful that Perry put some weight behind it. The bill that passed through the Texas legislature is a $ for $ match of up to $50 million for clinical trials on Ibogaine for pretty much any treatment. I will be following this closely and watching where the money goes. Hopefully the execution is as good as the planning.
It takes a special kind of brainwashed useful idiot to politically defend government fraud, waste, and abuse.