ADDICTION NOW, ON MATTER OF FACT, IT A NOVEL, BUT CONTROVERSIAL WAY TO COMBAT THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC IS BEING DEBATED IN ONE OF THE NATION’S HARDEST HIT STATES. IN KENTUCKY, MORE THAN 2000 PEOPLE DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE IN 2021 ALONE. AND IT’S SADLY NOT AN OUTLIER WITH THAT STATISTIC. IN TOTAL, THE CDC SAYS MORE THAN 106,000 PEOPLE DIED OF OVERDOSE CASES THAT YEAR. AND THE CRISIS HAS ONLY CONTINUED. MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS OF PRESCRIPTION OPIOIDS ARE BLAMED FOR FUELING THE ADDICTION EPIDEMIC. THOSE COMPANIES HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN $50 BILLION TO THOUSANDS OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. NOW. NOW THERE’S A PROPOSAL IN KENTUCKY TO USE SOME OF THAT MONEY TO STUDY A LITTLE KNOWN PSYCHEDELIC DRUG CALLED IBOGAINE. IN THE THIRD PART OF OUR SERIES EXPLORING PSYCHEDELIC THERAPIES, OUR CORRESPONDENT JESSICA GOMEZ CRISS CROSSES THE STATE TO EXAMINE THE RISKS AND THE BENEFITS OF TREATING ADDICTION WITH A DRUG THAT’S STILL ILLEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES. SURROUNDED BY THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS, FLOYD COUNTY, KENTUCKY, WHERE THE RAVAGES OF ADDICTION ARE MET WITH PROMISES OF RECOVERY. COME ON HERE. IN THIS AREA, IT HAS RIPPED FAMILY APART. JESSICA BLACKBURN, SHE WAS 17 WHEN SHE GOT HOOKED ON PAIN PILLS. THE PURSUIT AND USE OF THAT DRUG CAN CONTROLLED MY LIFE COMPLETELY. MY PARENTS FOUGHT FOR ME WHEN I WOULDN’T FIGHT FOR MYSELF. AFTER YEARS IN AND OUT OF TREATMENT CENTERS, IT WAS HER FATHER WHO HEARD ABOUT SOMETHING NEW IBOGAINE, A HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG FOUND IN THE ROOTS OF A WEST AFRICAN SHRUB. THEY HAVE SOME TINGLING OR WARMTH IN YOUR FINGERS OR TOES ILLEGAL IN THE US, DOZENS OF TREATMENT CENTERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE THIS ONE IN MEXICO. CREDIT IBOGAINE WITH ALLEVIATING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES LIKE DEPRESSION AND PTSD AND CURBING OPIOID ADDICTION. I WAS LIKE, WELL, MAYBE I’LL GET LUCKY. AND THIS WILL KILL ME. BUT WHAT HAPPENED IN MEXICO? JESSICA SAYS, WAS TRANSFORMATIVE. LIKE A RESET. YOU KNOW, IT ENDS. DID A LOT OF MY ADDICTIVE, OBSESSIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS. I JUST CAME OUT OF IT FEELING GOOD AND NOT WANTING TO USE USE. HAVE A GOOD DAY. WHERE WAS MY OWN PERSONAL SENSE OF DESPERATION THAT GOT ME LOOKING FOR WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE OUT THERE, CHAIR AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF KENTUCKY’S OPIOID ABATEMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION, BRIAN HUBBARD. AS THE POTENCY OF SUBSTANCES FLED IN THE STREET, INCREASES SO MUST THE POTENCY OF THE TREATMENTS THAT ARE MADE AVAILABLE. THE COMMISSION TASKED WITH DISTRIBUTING HALF OF THE STATE’S NEARLY $900 MILLION OPIOID SETTLEMENT, THE OTHER HALF GOING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. YOU’VE REFERRED TO THESE SETTLEMENT FUNDS AS BLOOD MONEY. THE VALUE OF THE MONEY HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM THE AMOUNT OF CARNAGE PRODUCED BY THE EPIDEMIC. HUBBARD INTENDS USING A CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL TO SPEND A PORTION OF THE MONEY ON CLINICAL TRIALS OF IBOGAINE. THEY WOULD BE THE FIRST IN THE US. WE WOULD LOOK TO OFFER A $42 MILLION MATCH TO WHAT I WOULD DESCRIBE AS A CLINICAL RESEARCH ENTITY THAT WOULD COME FORWARD WITH A PLAN TO CONDUCT FDA APPROVED CLINICAL TRIALS IN KENTUCKY WITH IBOGAINE FOR TREATMENT OF OPIOID USE DISORDER. THIS IS A DRUG FOR WHICH THERE ARE FDA APPROVED ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS THAT ARE SAFER. BUT CRITICS AMONG THOSE TESTIFYING BEFORE THE COMMISSION SAY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION MAY NOT APPROVE THE TRIALS. IBOGAINE HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH HEART RISKS, EVEN DEATH. AN AND EVEN IF IT DOES, DRUG DEVELOPMENT TAKES YEARS AND COSTS MILLIONS MORE. A LARGE SCALE IBOGAINE STUDY APPROVED IN THE 90S WAS MOVED TO SAINT KITTS AFTER FUNDING FELL APART. RESEARCH CENTERS SAY IT SHOWED PROMISE IN CURBING OPIOID CRAVINGS AND ELIMINATING WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS. IBOGAINE IS HAVING SOME SORT OF ACTION THAT IS ALLEVIATING PHYSICAL DEPENDANCE ON OPIOIDS AND THAT MECHANISM OF ACTION IS APPARENTLY NOVEL. NEUROSCI PSYCHIATRIST DR. KENNETH ALPER HAS BEEN STUDYING IBOGAINE FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES. CARDIAC RISK ASSOCIATED WITH IBOGAINE IS SUBSTANTIAL, BUT WE’RE NOT GOING TO KNOW TO WHAT EXTENT THAT RISK CAN BE CONTAINED OR MANAGED UNLESS IT’S STUDIED OBJECTIVELY IN AN FDA SUPERVISED PROCESS. BACK IN KENTUCKY, AT SHEPHERD’S HOUSE, AN ADDICTION RECOVERY FACILITY, THOSE SETTLEMENT DOLLARS WOULD GO A LONG WAY. CEO JARED THOMAS HAS MIXED FEELINGS. YOU NEED PEER SUPPORT. YOU NEED CASE MANAGERS, YOU NEED PSYCHIATRISTS. I MEAN, YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE NEED A LOT OF HELP. AND YOU’VE GOT TO PAY FOR THAT. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE GOT TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. WE’VE BEEN DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. LORD, THANK YOU FOR THIS TIME THAT WE CAN COME TOGETHER AND AT A WEEKLY MEETING FOR PARENTS OF ADDICTED LOVED ONES, FOUNDER KAREN BUTCHER, SHE LOST HER SON MATTHEW TO A FENTANYL OVERDOSE. THERE’S NOT A DAY THAT GOES BY THAT I DON’T THINK ABOUT HIM. SHE’S ALSO A MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION SET TO VOTE ON THE IBOGAINE PROPOSAL. PEOPLE WHO USE OPIATES, THEY’RE AT RISK OF DEATH EVERY SINGLE DAY. THIS WOULD GIVE THEM A TREATMENT OPTION. WHY WOULDN’T WE WANT TO DO THAT? TO HELP PEOPLE LIVE, COME BACK AND LIVE CLEAN? FOR JESSICA BLACKBURN, IT’S BEEN EIGHT YEARS. IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTERRUPT ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS. AND YOU KNOW, THE REST IS UP TO YOU. THE REAL WORK BEGINS AFTER THAT TREATMENT. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO BACK TO YOUR HOME, GYPSY HOME IN A COMMUNITY THAT SHE SAYS IN DIRE NEED OF HEALING IN KENTUCKY, FOR MATTER OF FACT, I’M JESSICA GOMEZ THE COMMISSION WILL VOTE ON THE IBOGAINE PROPOSAL LATER THIS YEAR. MEANTIME, OTHER COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE UK, SPAIN AND BRAZIL, AR