Former GOP House Speaker Pledges To Advance Access To Psychedelic Ibogaine That Could ‘Save Several Million Lives’

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) says the psychedelic
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 he intends to
use his influence to advance the issue.

Gingrich, who has a mixed record on drug policy reform, spoke with W. Brian
Hubbard, executive director of Americans for Ibogaine during a podcast
interview that was published recently, and he expressed serious interest in
promoting access to the psychedelic that’s been used in the treatment of
conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain
injury (TBI), substance misuse and more.

The former speaker is adding his voice to a growing, bipartisan choir of
voices from current and former officials who see an opportunity with
psychedelics to fill the treatment gap in the U.S.—particularly for
military veterans.

“This could be an astonishing breakthrough in what has been a long losing
struggle with addiction across this country,” Gingrich said. “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.”

“We currently have a sick care system when we need a healthcare system,” he
said. “This strikes me as a perfect example of that. This is very, very
exciting to me.”

While acknowledging that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to
“balance risk against certainty” and emphasizing the need for studies to
support the use of ibogaine in a “controlled environment,” Gingrich said he
was “so inspired” by the conversation he had with Hubbard that he’s
“personally going to be strongly engaged in moving the idea around and
getting people to look at it.”

“You’re really doing something which will, over the next generation, save
several million lives. It’s amazing,” the former speaker said.

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 Fox News interview this week 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.

🎙️ Tune in https://t.co/H0ee3YvAdC#AddictionRecovery #Ibogaine #NewtsWorld
#OpioidCrisis

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) July 7, 2025

Last month, meanwhile, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 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.”

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (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.

Meanwhile last month, bipartisan congressional lawmakers asked the VA head
to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine
for military veterans.

In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman
(R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies
(PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the
importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other
alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”

Correa and Bergman separately 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.


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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.*

The post Former GOP House Speaker Pledges To Advance Access To Psychedelic
Ibogaine That Could ‘Save Several Million Lives’ appeared first on Marijuana
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