Colorado legislators back psychedelic drug research

By Liam Hibbert
The Center Square

Psychedelic drugs are experiencing an unprecedented wave of support across the U.S. for their potential therapeutic benefits.

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to research ibogaine, used in opiate and substance abuse treatment, is the latest move to explore the once taboo hallucinogenic effects of psychedelic drugs. In Colorado, a bipartisan group of state legislators, who are veterans, is looking to squeeze an ibogaine pilot program into the already tight $46.8 billion state budget.

“As a veteran myself, I have a lot of friends and former colleagues in the military who have dealt with mental health issues, have dealt with PTSD,” Colorado House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, R-El Paso County, told The Center Square. “They’ve tried different treatments and sometimes those treatments work, and sometimes they don’t. I really believe in an all-of-the-above approach.”

But at the moment, the all-of-the-above approach does not include ibogaine, which is listed as a schedule 1 drug in the U.S. That means the Food and Drug Administration finds it has no medicinal benefit and a high potential for abuse, making it illegal to sell or possess, with any potential research tied up behind layers of red tape.

Despite ibogaine’s illicit status, Caldwell, along with two Democratic state legislators who also served in the military, are looking to work an ibogaine research bill into the Colorado budget ahead of next week’s deadline for the end of the regular session. House Bill 26-1325 would create a pilot program to research ibogaine’s potential to treat mental health conditions and substance abuse.

HB 1325 has already found bipartisan support and backing from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat who last year said he wanted ibogaine treatment in healing centers, “as efficiently as possible.” The Center Square reached out to Polis Monday for an interview, but did not hear back by press time.

The ibogaine legislation, with a $150,000 price tag, is stalled in the session amid a financial shortfall in the state’s $46.8 billion budget that has seen deep cuts to Medicaid and other programs.

“The state of Colorado is in a $1.5 billion budget deficit, so right now where we’re at is that the bill is held up in the Appropriations Committee,” said Caldwell. “We’re trying to work with the governor’s office to find the $150,000 in order to get this through the Appropriations Committee.”

The past year has been a renaissance for ibogaine research, with legislation introduced in 19 states across the political spectrum since the beginning of 2025, according to Americans for Ibogaine.

The most significant support for ibogaine may have come in April when Trump issued an executive order aimed at loosening regulations around psychedelic drugs.

The executive order, which comes after widespread support for the drug within the Make America Healthy Again movement, called for a review of the substance schedule status of ibogaine and other psychedelic drugs, and for the FDA and DEA to “establish a pathway for eligible patients to access psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine compounds.”

One ibogaine rehab clinic said the president’s announcement was a game changer.

“He’s got his scrutiny, but we’re very pleased with Trump’s latest policy,” Gavriel Dardashti, a data scientist for his father’s rehab center, Ibogaine by David Dardashti, told The Center Square. “It’s bringing us a lot of business.”

Along with dozens of other rehab and therapy centers, David Dardashti operates the ibogaine clinic in Mexico to avoid the U.S. prohibition. Gavriel Dardashti said the center started because his mother had been overprescribed opiates and took ibogaine to treat the addiction.

Ibogaine is a psychedelic drug that comes from the iboga shrub in Gabon and Central Africa, where it is used by the Fang ethnic group for ritual and spiritual purposes. A 2022 report by the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment found that ibogaine can treat opioid addiction.

Gavriel Dardashti said that while their treatment program is not cheap at anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 per person, it is often a welcome change for people who have been unable to escape their opioid addiction. “Most people have tried every other option, and it’s failed.”

Still, ibogaine treatment has not been without scrutiny. A 2021 death by a Colorado man was found to have been caused by ibogaine, resulting in a four-year prison sentence for the distributor who left him alone while using the substance. Gavriel Dardashti said the worst symptom patients show at their clinic is “excessive vomiting.”

Gavriel Dardashti also said that his excitement for Trump’s executive order was tampered.

“One of the things that is a big concern is that Trump’s administration is going to be over soon,” he said. “So by the time all of that comes into play with the policies and whatnot, I think once he’s out of office, there might prove to be a lot of technical difficulties.”

While the president’s executive order can be quickly repealed by the next administration, laws in Colorado and other states have a chance for more lasting change. According to Caldwell, support among veterans groups has been a significant boost toward the lasting impact of ibogaine.

“Just recently the Disabled American Veterans national organization reached out, and they’re fully in support of it [HB 1325],” said Caldwell.

Veterans face higher rates of mental illness and are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than the general U.S. population, according to RAND.

“I think you’re really starting to see more and more state and national veterans groups coming together to support legislation like this,” Caldwell said.