Health committee advances bill to study Ibogaine for addiction and PTSD in medically supervised Colorado pilots

A Colorado House committee advanced a proposal on March 27 to create a state‑run research pathway for Ibogaine, a Schedule I psychedelic compound that sponsors said could help people with opioid use disorder and treatment‑resistant post‑traumatic stress.

Sponsor remarks and the vote: Minority Leader and co‑sponsor Minority Leader Caldwell told the panel "This bill creates the Ibogaine Research Pilot Program," saying the measure would authorize up to five institutional review board‑approved pilot sites, require medical prescreening and continuous monitoring, and set up a BHA review committee to select sites. Representative Frey, the bill’s other prime sponsor, joined the presentation. The committee forwarded the measure to appropriations by a 12–1 margin.

Why sponsors said the program is needed: Sponsors framed the bill as a narrowly designed research program, not legalization. Caldwell told the committee that Colorado has a worsening mental‑health crisis among veterans and others and said existing treatments often fall short. She cited international and observational studies and pointed to Colorado voters’ earlier decriminalization of Ibogaine, saying the state should "responsibly explore innovative evidence‑based options." Co‑sponsor Frey said the measure reduced the initial fiscal footprint to one full‑time equivalent in an amendment (L001) to address cost concerns.

What the bill would do: The legislation would place an Ibogaine research pilot inside the Behavioral Health Administration, authorize a limited number of pilot sites that must operate under IRB approval and full medical oversight, require adverse‑event reporting and targeted safety guardrails, direct BHA to pursue federal IND pathways, create a cash fund to accept public and private grants, and include provisions for benefit‑sharing with indigenous communities that steward the plant source.

Testimony: The committee heard several veterans and people with lived experience describe benefits after seeking treatment abroad. Cindy Brown, who said she is a retired first responder, testified: "Ibogaine has changed my life a 180 degrees." Kevin Johnson and Nicholas McClellan, veterans who described going to clinics in Mexico, spoke about careful pre‑evaluation and cardiac monitoring in their experiences. Physicians and clinical researchers including Fernando Rivas and Dr. Sue Sisley testified in support of creating a regulated research pathway; Rivas noted the evidence base is largely case series and acknowledged "There are no randomized controlled trials for Ibogaine treatment," while urging U.S.‑based controlled research.

Safety questions and amendments: Committee members pressed witnesses about cardiac risks—Representative Bradley cited reports that roughly "50 percent" of people treated in some series can experience QT interval prolongation—and about the lack of randomized trial evidence. Sponsors and witnesses stressed medical screening, continuous monitoring and magnesium/electrolyte protocols used in clinics abroad; the bill includes mandatory cardiac evaluation and clearance procedures in pilot site protocols. Sponsors offered and the committee adopted five amendments (L001–L005) that narrowed the fiscal impact (reducing the initial BHA workload to one FTE), strengthened indigenous benefit‑sharing language, required rulemaking for administration, adjusted licensing authority language, and refined liability and priority application language for licensing.

Next steps: With the committee vote the bill moves to the Committee on Appropriations for further fiscal review. The committee record includes both personal testimonies of benefit and repeated requests for more randomized controlled trials and long‑term follow‑up data from critics and some members of the panel.

Ending: Committee members on both sides said they were motivated by veteran testimony and the overdose crisis but differed on timing and the level of evidence required. Sponsors said the pilot framework is designed specifically to generate the higher‑quality evidence the panel sought.