The opioid crisis is ravaging cities across America. Drugs like fentanyl were responsible for 75 percent of the over 100,000 overdose deaths in 2021. Community leaders are desperately searching for answers, and legislators in one unlikely Midwestern state think psychedelic research could be the answer. Another unlikely? They want to use Big Pharma’s money to pay for it.

Members of Missouri’s House of Representatives voted to approve an appropriations bill that includes $10 million for research into psilocybin for opioid dependence. The money would come from a settlement fund paid out by pharmaceutical companies, who have been accused of having a major role in the opioid epidemic. 

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HB2010 originally earmarked the cash for an ibogaine study, but lawmakers switched to psilocybin instead during a floor debate. Concerns over the safety of ibogaine led lawmakers to propose studying psilocybin instead. The move echoes several other states’ decisions to dedicate opioid settlement funds to a similar inquiry.

Ibogaine has shown remarkable promise in easing addiction, but it’s not without risk. There is evidence psilocybin could be a useful tool in recovery as well, but research on its effects on opioid addiction specifically is limited. A clinical trial on the subject is currently underway at the University of Wisconsin.

Legislators in Missouri and beyond hope that investing more research money into the psychedelic could unlock an effective and safe way to combat the evergrowing issue of opioid addiction in their communities. A similar plan in Kentucky to use opioid settlement money for ibogaine research fell through after a government shake-up.

The budget bill will now travel to the Missouri Senate for a debate and vote. While the psilocybin research amendment could come into question, advocates in the legislature believe it stands a fair chance of passage given the current climate around psychedelics and mental health.