The Arizona Department of Health Services has awarded a grant to Barrow Neurological Institute to study ibogaine to treat post traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries.
Early studies have shown that ibogaine, a psychoactive compound found in a central African plant, can treat depression and other symptoms associated with traumatic brain injuries. But it is listed as a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the U.S. alongside drugs like heroin and LSD, forcing Americans seeking treatment to visit clinics in other countries like Mexico.
In 2025, Arizona lawmakers and Gov. Katie Hobbs earmarked $5 million in the state budget to study ibogaine at the behest of former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. She spoke to the Legislature alongside several veterans who said ibogaine treatments improved their lives — including a member of her security detail whose estranged wife accused Sinema of breaking up their marriage and encouraging her husband to take psychedelic drugs.
Researchers from Barrow Neurological Institute and Arizona State University will use the grant funds to conduct a study of 40 participants with chronic symptoms from traumatic brain injuries to see if the drug has any meaningful impacts on their symptoms or quality of life.
“Roughly one-half of individuals with traumatic brain injuries experience incomplete recovery or lingering symptoms after six months,” Susan Criswell, the chief medical officer for clinical research at Barrow and a co-investigator on the study, said in a statement. “Therefore, we are excited to begin investigating ibogaine as a potential new therapy for individuals in our community and across Arizona who are suffering from the long-term effects of neurologic injury.”
Half of the participants will be treated with ibogaine and the other half will receive a placebo. Both the recipients and researchers will know who received the actual drug, according to a Barrow Neurological Institute press release.
Researchers plan to begin the study next year.
Psychedelic treatments like ibogaine are having a moment in the U.S. with profile support from people like Sinema and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order allocating at least $50 million to partner with states to study the use of psychedelics to treat mental illness.
Lawmakers in Texas also created a $50 million grant for ibogaine research in 2025, but the state chose to spearhead the research itself after failing to find a qualified drug company to conduct the study, according to The Texas Tribune.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct ibogaine's classification in the U.S.
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