Colorado’s new ibogaine law targets unlicensed psilocybin mushroom sales

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1325 into law, creating a research pilot program for ibogaine—a psychedelic derived from the iboga shrub native to Gabon—to study its therapeutic potential for addiction and PTSD. The program, overseen by the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, will allow up to five pilot sites to administer ibogaine under federal compliance, including FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and DEA negotiations. Funding for the program must reach $150,000 through private grants or donations by January 1, 2028, to activate, with no taxpayer money allocated. The bill also tightens regulations on psilocybin mushroom sales linked to education, harm-reduction clubs, or membership groups that emerged after Colorado decriminalized certain psychedelics in 2022. Prosecutors now have clearer legal language to target unlicensed sales tied to these activities, though the original bill focused on ibogaine’s medical potential for veterans and addiction treatment. State Senator Matt Ball, a Democratic sponsor and veteran, emphasized that Coloradans did not vote for recreational psilocybin sales, while attorney Sean McAllister criticized the late amendments as unclear and non-transparent. Ibogaine differs from other decriminalized psychedelics in Colorado by targeting addiction and mental health disorders rather than recreational use. It interacts with opioid and serotonin receptors, producing an often uncomfortable experience but showing promise in clinical studies. The state’s Natural Medicine Program Advisory Board previously recommended therapeutic access to ibogaine, subject to the Nagoya Protocol’s benefit-sharing standards for Indigenous knowledge protection. The pilot program aligns with Colorado’s broader push to regulate psychedelics for medical use while addressing gray-market practices. Similar to last year’s psilocybin data-gathering program, this initiative relies on external funding to avoid taxpayer involvement. Lawmakers have previously expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest from public institutions funding ibogaine research.