OPT-IN

Ohio Psychedelic Therapy & Integration Network

OPT-IN follow-up brief · In Waves and War screening · October 2026

Ibogaine in 2026: where things stand for Ohioans

Watch the film: Netflix

In Waves and War (2024, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk) follows three former Navy SEALs, Marcus Capone, Matty Roberts and DJ Shipley, from training and repeated deployments through the long fight to come home. When conventional care fell short for their PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and depression, they went to a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, for a medically supervised protocol of ibogaine followed by 5-MeO-DMT. We screened it on January 17, 2026, at the Upper Arlington Library, our first in-person event of the year, and the room felt both how much these men carried and how much changed for them.

We hold that hope alongside the risk. Ibogaine is the most medically serious of the psychedelics people travel for: it can disturb the heart's rhythm, and people have died, most often where screening and monitoring were thin. It is Schedule I in the United States and in Ohio, and so is 5-MeO-DMT. We meet clients, veterans and their families where they are, with accurate information and without judgment, and we help them integrate when they come home.

The short version

  • Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT are Schedule I federally and in Ohio. No U.S. clinic can legally offer them outside approved research.
  • No ibogaine product is FDA-approved. State-funded trials are getting started in Texas and Arizona, and an April 2026 executive order told federal agencies to speed their review.
  • Ohio's Ibogaine Treatment Study Committee owes the legislature its recommendations by December 31, 2027.
  • We can offer preparation, harm reduction and integration; we cannot supply, dose or refer to an illegal source.

Federal

The research and the FDA

The best-known study, published by Stanford researchers in Nature Medicine in 2024, followed 30 special operations veterans treated with ibogaine and magnesium at the same Tijuana clinic. A month later they reported large drops in PTSD, depression and anxiety and better day-to-day functioning. It had no control group, and the authors called for controlled trials.

On April 18, 2026, an executive order directed federal agencies to speed their review of psychedelics, including ibogaine, and to send at least $50 million to states with psychedelic research programs. It did not approve or reschedule anything. Ibogaine's main barrier is safety: it can prolong the heart's QT interval and trigger dangerous arrhythmias.

Ohio · tracking

Where Ohio stands

Today: possessing a Schedule I hallucinogen in less than the bulk amount is a fifth-degree felony (up to 12 months and a $2,500 fine), and selling or making it carries more serious charges.

The study committee: the 2026–27 state budget (H.B. 96) created a six-member Ibogaine Treatment Study Committee, chaired by Rep. Justin Pizzulli, with four legislators and the directors of Behavioral Health and Veterans Services. It is studying ibogaine for substance use disorders and for veterans with PTSD, depression and mild TBI, and it has heard testimony from veterans. It can only recommend; it doesn't authorize use, sale or trials, and the budget didn't fund research.

After an approval: under R.C. 3719.43, a federal rescheduling applies to Ohio's schedules automatically, so an approved product could reach Ohio clinics without a new state law.

What other states are doing

Ohio lawmakers heard a push in May 2026 to fund ibogaine research here, and these are the programs Ohio will be measured against.

Texas

$50M · state-run trials

A 2025 law set aside $50 million for ibogaine trials with a drug-company partner. When none came forward, Texas said in March 2026 it would fully fund a two-year trial itself.

Arizona

$5M · TBI trial

In August 2026 the state awarded $5 million to Barrow Neurological Institute and Arizona State University for a placebo-controlled trial in 40 adults with chronic brain-injury symptoms. Enrollment is expected to start next year.

Colorado

Pilot law · decriminalized

Personal use by adults is decriminalized under Proposition 122. HB 26-1325, signed in June 2026, creates an ibogaine research pilot with up to five sites, and the state's advisory board has recommended adding ibogaine to licensed healing centers.

The paths clients are taking

Each path carries its own protections and risks. Ask about each one without judgment; clients rarely tell us about something they expect to be shamed for.

Clinical trials

Legal · very limited

The only legal route in the U.S., and most ibogaine trials are still being set up.

Know: search ClinicalTrials.gov for "ibogaine" to see what's enrolling. Legitimate trials don't charge participants for the study drug.

Mexico clinics

Widely offered · unregulated

Where the veterans in the film went, and a common destination for Americans seeking ibogaine. Some clinics run full cardiac workups and hospital-level monitoring; others don't.

Know: ask about an ECG and lab work before arrival, continuous heart monitoring during treatment, a physician on site, a defibrillator, and the plan for getting to a hospital.

Veteran grant programs

Funded travel abroad

VETS (Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions), founded by Marcus and Amber Capone, funds veterans' treatment at clinics outside the U.S.

Know: the treatment happens abroad, and the integration happens at home, with families and providers who weren't there.

Underground providers

Unlicensed

Some providers in the U.S. and abroad dose ibogaine without medical staff or heart monitoring. With this medicine, that gap is the main danger.

Know: without an ECG beforehand, a heart monitor during, and a medical professional present, it isn't safe to dose.

The 5-MeO-DMT step

Schedule I · in Ohio

Many ibogaine protocols, including the one in the film, follow it with 5-MeO-DMT, a fast and overwhelming psychedelic active at a few milligrams.

Know: it can cause vomiting, loss of motor control or brief unconsciousness, so the person should be lying down with trained support nearby.

Self-sourcing

Felony in Ohio

Iboga root bark and extracts sold online vary widely in strength, and at home there's no cardiac monitoring.

Know: this is the highest-risk route. No one should be alone, and the sitter should know CPR and call 911 for chest pain, fainting or a seizure.

Any route

Harm-reduction essentials

  • Heart first: an ECG, a cardiac history and any family history of sudden death or fainting. Many medications also prolong the QT interval, including some antidepressants, antipsychotics, antibiotics and methadone, and need a prescriber's review.
  • Electrolytes: low potassium and magnesium turn up in fatal cases, so serious protocols check and correct them; the Stanford protocol added magnesium.
  • A long window: effects last a day or more, QT changes can persist beyond 24 hours, and dizziness and unsteadiness make falls likely, so the risk continues after the visions fade.
  • Opioids: ibogaine can ease withdrawal, and tolerance drops afterward, so a return to a usual opioid dose can be fatal. Carry naloxone.
  • Integration: the SEALs came home to marriages, children and a community that hadn't been through it with them; that is where our work comes in.

Fireside Project (free peer support, during or after): 62-FIRESIDE (623-473-7433)

Chest pain, fainting, seizure or no response: 911 · Crisis: 988 (veterans press 1)

For Ohio clinicians

Staying inside our scope

  • Can: educate, explore a client's plans, offer harm-reduction information, help them prepare, and do integration afterward.
  • Can't: supply, procure, handle or dose ibogaine or 5-MeO-DMT, attend an illegal session, or refer to a specific underground provider.
  • Document the conversation as harm reduction and informed consent, including the legal and medical risks the client has been told about.
  • When unsure, consult your licensing board's guidance, your ethics code and a colleague. This brief is education, not legal advice.

After the film

Questions to keep talking about

  1. What stayed with you from In Waves and War, and what questions did it leave you with?
  2. What does integration support look like for Ohio veterans and their families after treatment abroad?
  3. If Ohio's study committee asked for your input, what would you want it to know?

Prepared by OPT-IN, the Ohio Psychedelic Therapy & Integration Network, as a follow-up to the In Waves and War community screening on January 17, 2026. Current as of October 23, 2026. Educational only: not medical or legal advice, and not an endorsement of illegal use or of any program shown in the film. Laws and timelines change quickly.

Sources: In Waves and War (film), Wikipedia; Military Times review; Cherian et al., Magnesium-ibogaine therapy in veterans with TBI, Nature Medicine (2024); How toxic is ibogaine? (review, 2016); PBS NewsHour, psychedelics executive order (Apr. 18, 2026); Ohio R.C. 2925.11; Ohio R.C. 3719.43; Ohio LSC, Ibogaine Treatment Study Committee; Ohio House, Pizzulli chairs study committee; Toledo Blade, push to fund ibogaine research (May 6, 2026); Texas Tribune, Texas to run its own ibogaine trials; Barrow Neurological Institute, Arizona $5M ibogaine grant; Mind Medicine Law, Colorado HB 26-1325; Marijuana Moment, Colorado board recommends ibogaine; DEA rule placing 5-MeO-DMT in Schedule I; ClinicalTrials.gov: ibogaine; Fireside Project; 988 Lifeline.