Marijuana Moment: Former GOP House Speaker Promotes ‘Cutting-Edge’ Science Of The Psychedelic Ibogaine

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Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) is again highlighting the potential benefits of the powerful psychedelic ibogaine for people with serious mental and physical health conditions.

In an episode of his podcast Newt’s World, the former speaker spoke with the co-founders of Ambio Life Sciences, a company providing ibogaine treatment in Mexico.

Gingrich said the therapy option is at the “absolute cutting edge of science,” while inquiring about what makes ibogaine “such a uniquely powerful intervention” in the treatment of conditions like addiction.

He also noted that, while ibogaine is currently a Schedule I drug in the U.S. and cannot be accessed by most patients due to its lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, aspirin is widely available even though it didn’t go through the rigorous regulatory approval process.

“We’ve grandfathered it in—and we can produce aspirin, and billions of people have taken it—but we literally could never meet the FDA standard,” he said.

“To what degree is the very complexity of ibogaine, when measured against what clearly is its impact, put in a kind of similar situation where we could spend so many years trying to figure out what the underlying mechanisms are—and we’re losing people every year while we’re engaged in that kind of academic research?” the former speaker asked.

Jonathan Dickinson, CEO of Ambio Life Sciences, said it was a “really good question” that speaks to complex regulatory hurdles.

“Ultimately, I think that the process of studying ibogaine is going to help us to better understand neuroscience and pharmacology,” he said, adding, “I think we’re still a ways from being able to claim a high degree of certainty” about the psychedelic’s effects to facilitate FDA approval.

During the interview, Gingrich also inquired about the efficacy rate of ibogaine in the treatment of addiction, as well as concerns about potential cardiac issues associated with the use of the psychedelic.

“I have to say: The more I’ve learned, the more intrigued I am,” Gingrich said.

This is the latest in a series of conversations the former speaker has had around psychedelic medicine.

In July, for example, Gingrich extolled the therapeutic promise of ibogaine, drawing attention to a Stanford University study that found the psychedelic showed potential to treat PTSD, anxiety and depression in military veterans with traumatic brain injury.

He also previously had the executive director of Americans for Ibogaine as a guest on his show.

One noteworthy state-level development Gingrich has pointed to is recent legislation signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to create a state-backed research consortium to conduct clinical trials on ibogaine as a possible treatment for substance use disorders and other mental health conditions.

The ultimate goal of the Texas project is to develop the psychedelic into a prescription drug with FDA approval, with the state retaining a portion of the profit.

In Gingrich’s earlier podcast episode with W. Brian Hubbard, executive director of Americans for Ibogaine, the former speaker said that ibogaine represents an “astonishing breakthrough” in the nation’s current “sick care system” that’s left people with serious mental health conditions without access to promising alternative treatment options—and that he intended to use his influence to advance the issue.

“This could be an astonishing breakthrough in what has been a long losing struggle with addiction across this country,” he said at the time. “It strikes me that the whole ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement—that this could be a very significant building block in getting us back to being a country that’s not addicted. I can’t imagine a more timely podcast than to be talking with you about this.”

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The message around the therapeutic potential of psychedelics has been getting out in a number of ways, including in prominent conservative media circles and within the Trump administration.

For example, a Navy SEAL veteran credited with killing Osama Bin Laden said during a recent Fox News interview that psychedelic therapy has helped him process the trauma he experienced during his time in the military, stressing that “it works” and should be an available treatment option.

That interview came days after the U.S. House of Representatives included an amendment to a spending bill from Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI) that would encourage VA to support research into the benefits of psychedelics in treating medical conditions commonly affecting military veterans.

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Kennedy recently said his agency is “absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of FDA, is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans “within 12 months.”

VA Secretary Doug Collins also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with Kennedy about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And he said he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.

Collins also recently visited a facility conducting research on psychedelics, and he reiterated that it’s his “promise” to advance research into the therapeutic potential of the substances—even if that might take certain policy changes within the department and with congressional support.

The secretary’s visit to the psychedelics research center came about a month after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.

Collins also briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump in April.

Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.

Kennedy, for his part, also said in April that he had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at 15 years old, which he took because he thought he’d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.

Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized FDA under the prior administration over the agency’s “suppression of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.

In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Last year, VA’s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that it was “very encouraging” that Trump’s pick to have Kennedy lead HHS has supported psychedelics reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.

Photo courtesy of Flickr/Scamperdale.

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