The first half of 2026 has brought a surge of psychedelic policy activity at every level of the U.S. government. According to PoliPsy’s Psychedelic Legislation Tracker, lawmakers have filed 111 psychedelic-related bills across 41 states this legislative term, along with seven federal bills on Capitol Hill.
Through an expanded partnership between Psychedelics Today and Psychedelic State(s) of America, I’ll be writing a weekly briefing on essential psychedelic policy developments and political happenings in the U.S. and around the world.
In this inaugural briefing: Michigan lawmakers fight over whether $50 million in opioid settlement funds should pay for ibogaine research. Connecticut expands its psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot beyond veterans and first responders. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs an ibogaine pilot program into law, including a national first on Indigenous benefit sharing, while the state tightens its personal use rules. Tennessee enacts the ibogaine-focused HOPE Treatment Act. New York’s Medical Psilocybin Act stalls again. And Maryland funds an MDMA trial comparing group and individual therapy for veterans with PTSD.
Michigan Considers $50 Million in Opioid Settlement Funds for Ibogaine Research
Earlier this year, Michigan state Rep. Jaime Greene (R-Richmond) introduced House Bill 6020, which would allocate $50 million to research the therapeutic potential of ibogaine, a psychoactive alkaloid derived from the root bark of the iboga shrub. The proposed clinical trials would evaluate the drug’s effectiveness in treating opioid use disorder and trauma-related conditions, particularly among military veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and chronic pain.
The fight is over the funding source: the Michigan Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund, a restricted state account holding part of the $1.8 billion Michigan received from national opioid settlements. The bill would establish a grant program and direct the state Department of Health and Human Services to form a research consortium of universities, health facilities, and other states. Greene argues that research institutions like the University of Michigan could deliver real clinical breakthroughs for people with opioid dependence.
Democratic lawmakers have pushed back, arguing the settlement dollars should be reserved for proven recovery methods. At a June 2 hearing of the House Families and Veterans Committee, state Reps. Mai Xiong and Carrie Rheingans noted that Michigan has rarely funded experimental clinical trials and argued that expensive, multi-year studies belong with federal funders like the National Institutes of Health or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Other lawmakers suggested the $50 million would do more good in recovery housing, clinician education, and harm reduction programs.
Connecticut Expands Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Program Beyond Veterans and First Responders
Last month, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed Senate Bill 191 into law, effectively expanding the state’s psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, first established in 2022 to study the mental health effects of substances including psilocybin and MDMA. The program was previously limited to veterans and first responders. The new law opens participation to any adult who meets the program’s clinical requirements, a change meant to resolve recruitment problems and broaden the research base. It also repeals a clause that would have automatically terminated the pilot upon federal approval of these drugs.
The expansion appears designed to prepare Connecticut’s mental health infrastructure for possible FDA approval of a psychedelic-assisted therapy, which some advocates expect as soon as 2027. Funding remains the open question. Connecticut for Accessible Psychedelic Medicine co-founder Victor Constanza told Psychedelic State(s) of America in an interview that the original pilot program has never received an appropriation from the state budget.
Colorado Signs Ibogaine Pilot Program Into Law as Personal Use Rules Tighten
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1325 last week, creating an ibogaine research pilot program within the state’s Behavioral Health Administration and building on the voter-approved 2022 Natural Medicine Health Act. Sponsored by state Reps. Jarvis Caldwell and Lisa Feret and state Sens. Matt Ball and Rod Pelton, the bipartisan law authorizes up to five research sites to study ibogaine as a treatment for trauma and substance use disorders. Polis called the measure a step toward implementing the will of voters and pointed to ibogaine’s potential to help veterans and other Coloradans recover.
The law also contains a national first. HB 26-1325 requires both pilot sites and future ibogaine licensees to establish benefit-sharing plans with Indigenous communities traditionally connected to the iboga plant. Those plans can include financial sharing, collaborative research, conservation support for iboga species and habitats, and community-identified development priorities. No other state psychedelic law has made benefit sharing a condition of participation.
That provision arrives against a history of friction. In a complaint filed last year, Indigenous leaders argued they had been systematically excluded from Colorado’s policymaking process and warned that implementation of the Natural Medicine Health Act prioritized corporate interests over cultural consultation, threatening the ecological survival and cultural sanctity of traditional plant medicines. Whether the new benefit-sharing requirement answers those concerns will depend on how regulators enforce it.
Tennessee Enacts HOPE Treatment Act for Ibogaine Research
On May 22nd, Gov. Bill Lee signed the Helping Open Pathways to Effective (HOPE) Treatment Act (SB 2149/HB 2075) into law. Sponsored by Sen. Page Walley (R-Savannah) and Rep. Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro), the act establishes a legal framework for FDA-authorized clinical trials of ibogaine in Tennessee. It does not legalize the substance, which remains Schedule I under federal law.
The law creates a Council on Emerging Behavioral Health Treatments to authorize qualified Tennessee hospitals, academic medical centers, and research institutions to join multi-state ibogaine trials. Participating institutions must demonstrate FDA compliance, outline safety protocols including cardiac screening, provide patient aftercare plans, and submit quarterly progress and financial reports. Ibogaine may be administered only within clinical trials at hospitals or qualified research facilities, under the supervision of a Tennessee-licensed physician.
Rather than appropriating state money, the act relies on a public-private partnership model. It also creates an Emerging Behavioral Health Treatment Innovation Fund, which will receive at least half of any state revenue generated from intellectual property rights tied to treatments developed through the trials.
Passage followed a sustained advocacy campaign by TN Voices, Americans for Ibogaine, and its state affiliate Tennessee for Ibogaine, including testimony from veterans who traveled to Mexico for ibogaine treatment because none is available legally in the United States. Tennessee becomes the fifth state to formally join the multi-state research effort, following similar laws in Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Texas over the past 18 months.
New York Medical Psilocybin Act Stalls Amid Budget Delays, Despite Praise for Novel Framework
New York lawmakers proposed a highly regulated, state-funded pilot program to provide medical psilocybin to 10,000 veterans, first responders, and patients with cluster headaches. The amended Medical Psilocybin Act incorporates elements of an earlier personal license bill, a shift praised by that bill’s original author, Allison Hoots, a New York psychedelic attorney and executive director of the Sacred Plant Alliance.
“While the original bill created access for people who were not addressing serious health conditions but rather focused on the standard of whether permit holders were healthy enough, the amended bill leans into the [personal license] components that had already existed to promote the benefits of a healthcare provider’s recommendation with individualized plans for therapeutic access,” Hoots previously told DoubleBlind Magazine. That individualized structure includes provisions allowing qualifying patients to take psilocybin home for conditions such as cluster headaches and end-of-life care.
The legislation was championed by a coalition including New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives, the Microdosing Collective, and New Approach PAC. (New Approach faces allegations of campaign finance violations raised by former staffers in connection with the 2024 reform campaign in Massachusetts, as reported by Lucid News.) Despite that backing and bipartisan support, coalition leaders confirmed the bill will not advance this session because of time constraints surrounding passage of the annual state budget. Advocates argue the condition-dependent expanded access model could become a template for other state legislatures next year.
Maryland Funds MDMA Trial Comparing Group and Individual Therapy, Amid Local Activist Frustrations
Maryland is advancing psychedelic-assisted therapy research even as the state’s broader reform efforts stall. As first reported by Psychedelic Alpha, the state is partnering with the mental health advocacy nonprofit Reason for Hope and Sunstone Therapies on a 52-patient study of MDMA-assisted therapy for military veterans with PTSD. Backed by a $1 million grant from Maryland’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury Alternative Therapies Fund and $525,000 from Reason for Hope, the 12-month trial will directly compare group and individual therapy models, testing whether group delivery can match individual outcomes at lower cost. That question sits at the center of whether these treatments can ever scale.
Legislative progress on broader access remains contested. As Lucid News first reported, lawmakers’ decision to extend the Maryland Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances through 2027 has frustrated local activists, who argue that indefinite advisory periods function as political stall tactics. They are urging lawmakers to model future reform on states like Colorado, Oregon, and New Mexico.
That’s all for this week’s state-level psychedelic policy briefing. Stay tuned later this week for a federal policy briefing, and subscribe to Psychedelics Today and Psychedelic State(s) of America for reporting and analysis on policy developments in the United States and abroad.
Note: This article was produced in partnership with Psychedelic State(s) of America, a nonprofit-sponsored news organization dedicated to rigorous independent psychedelic journalism. Learn more about PSA’s Media Partnerships Program and donate to PSA’s Psychedelic Writers Guild Media Fund.
Search FAQ Section
What states are funding ibogaine research in 2026? Michigan is debating a $50 million allocation for ibogaine trials. Tennessee, Colorado, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Texas have passed legislation authorizing FDA-supervised ibogaine clinical trials through consortium models.
Does the HOPE Treatment Act legalize ibogaine? No. Tennessee’s HOPE Treatment Act (SB 2149/HB 2075) establishes a legal framework for FDA-authorized research only. Ibogaine remains Schedule I under federal law; the act allows qualified institutions to participate in multi-state trials.
What makes Colorado’s ibogaine law different? Colorado’s HB 26-1325 includes the first state requirement for Indigenous benefit sharing as a condition of participating in an ibogaine program, covering financial sharing, collaborative research, and conservation support.
Which states have expanded psychedelic pilot programs? Connecticut expanded its psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot from veterans and first responders to any adult meeting clinical requirements. Maryland is funding a novel trial comparing group and individual MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD.
Why did New York’s Medical Psilocybin Act stall? New York’s bill will not advance this legislative session due to time constraints around the annual state budget, despite bipartisan support and praise for its condition-dependent access model.
