This Past Weekend with Theo Von

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00:01:19.220 Today's guest is a veteran attorney and policy advocate, most known for his focus on Ibogaine,

00:01:25.260 a possible new treatment for things like addiction and PTSD. He's currently with the

00:01:30.820 Reed Foundation doing this research, and he's CEO of Americans for Ibogaine. It was a fascinating

00:01:38.060 conversation. I'm grateful for his time. Today's guest is W. Brian Hubbard.

00:01:43.660 Dude, you brought me a cake today. That's nice of you. What is that you brought?

00:02:05.200 My wife, who's here sitting with us many years ago, found this bakery in Nashville that has this

00:02:11.760 chocolate ganache cake. I had never had it before until about three months ago, and I like to eat,

00:02:18.260 especially chocolate. So she introduced me to this chocolate cake, and it's the best chocolate

00:02:23.260 cake I've ever had in my life. You can leave it sitting out on the counter for four days,

00:02:27.400 and it tastes just as good as when you bought it. So we wanted to give you a touch of something that

00:02:31.660 once you taste, you can't untaste.

00:02:33.460 Oh, dang. Yeah. Something chocolate too, huh?

00:02:36.540 Yes, sir.

00:02:36.960 Hell yeah. I might end up meeting a mixed girl after eating that, you know? You just never know

00:02:41.840 what could happen. But thank you. That's just beautiful, you guys. It's so sweet of you to

00:02:45.480 think of me. And thank you for coming. Thank you for making the trip over from, you guys live in

00:02:49.260 Kentucky.

00:02:50.160 Yes, sir. We live in Lexington, and thank you for the wonderful hospitality to visit with you.

00:02:55.020 Yeah. We're looking forward to it, man. I know I want to talk to you. So you've had a lot of

00:02:58.840 experience with like ibogaine, with like treatment. I know there's new laws that have been passed in

00:03:03.660 Texas. I want to get into like what ibogaine is, right? But first, I just wanted to start with like,

00:03:09.800 like I know that it's a plant medicine, right? And so what is something you've seen? Like,

00:03:15.040 take me on a story of somebody that you've seen use a plant medicine, use ibogaine, and

00:03:20.660 an experience that they've had or a transformation that they've had. I just wanted to kind of start

00:03:24.880 with an experience that you've witnessed.

00:03:28.280 In terms of personally witnessing a transformation, my wife and I, we traveled down to the Ambioclinic

00:03:36.400 in Tijuana, south of Tijuana in November of 2023. And the way that the whole transportation system

00:03:44.620 occurs is we flew from Kentucky to San Diego, and then a shuttle took us from the airport in San

00:03:51.020 Diego to a Sheraton nearby. And then the clinic sent a driver to pick me and her and the other

00:03:58.300 folks who were coming down up to go there on a Monday. And when we landed at the airport in San

00:04:04.160 Diego and went to check to the airport shuttle, there was a gentleman who was standing down about

00:04:10.220 30 feet from us. And Brandon Glasser, if you hear me talking, you know exactly who I'm referring to.

00:04:16.380 Brandon Glasser, that was his name?

00:04:18.060 Yes, sir. He was, kind of had a longer hair, looked to be about my age. I pegged him probably

00:04:27.200 somewhere in his early, you know, mid-40s or so. He was kind of ashen. He kind of had that thousand

00:04:35.980 yard stare that comes with an individual who has experienced tremendous trauma. And

00:04:42.540 just the way that he looked, the way that he was standing, the way that he was looking,

00:04:46.780 he looked like somebody who had come to the end. And my wife and I looked at each other and we said,

00:04:51.980 I wonder if he's going to be getting on the shuttle with us on Monday morning.

00:04:56.140 Well, sure enough, Monday morning comes along and the driver comes to pick us up and Brandon gets on

00:05:03.260 the shuttle with us and we're sitting behind us. And we'd go down the road and he makes a couple

00:05:07.820 of observations about, you know, what's bringing him to have an Ibogaine experience. And he talks

00:05:12.860 about that he was in, he was a Green Beret and he'd seen a lot. And his entire affect was one of just,

00:05:21.500 this was a guy who had had it, who had had it with life, who had had it with himself probably at

00:05:26.780 that point himself. Yeah. Oh, that's the worst sickness. Yes, sir. So we get to the clinic on

00:05:33.820 Monday. We go to a sweat lodge ceremony Monday evening, Tuesday. We have some group activities

00:05:40.940 with two of the other gentlemen who were there. It was a group of five of us. And then we go in

00:05:47.340 for Ibogaine on Tuesday night. And leading up to that, Brandon's eye affect was consistently just

00:05:55.660 flat. And what I would describe is just kind of checked out. So we go in on Tuesday night and they

00:06:02.620 give us our Ibogaine. The next time we all see each other is on Thursday morning at the breakfast

00:06:07.180 table. And I don't know how many audience members may be familiar with the Bible story of Lazarus,

00:06:14.380 when Lazarus had passed away and Jesus called him from the grave after he having been dead. And he

00:06:22.060 emerged and they unwrapped his burial clothes. And he was as he had always been. Seeing Brandon

00:06:29.740 at the breakfast table on Thursday morning is the closest that I will ever come to seeing what the

00:06:35.980 people who saw Lazarus emerge from that grave saw. His entire affect and demeanor had been transformed.

00:06:43.560 This guy who had the thousand-yard dead-eye stare, his eyes were clear and bright. All that

00:06:53.160 consternation and brokenness that was on his face and that had drawn it in was gone. He was a radiant

00:07:00.840 being. And when I sat down at the table, I just looked at him and I started crying. I said,

00:07:07.680 dude, your transformation is unbelievable. I feel it. It's visible on your face. And I mean,

00:07:17.040 it was just a miracle. It truly was a miraculous, beautiful transformation that had occurred over

00:07:23.980 those 36 hours. Wow. And you could just feel it. I mean, that's so powerful when you can just,

00:07:29.340 when you can see it in somebody. Yeah. Cause that pain of feeling, I mean, it's just like,

00:07:32.680 you're looking like somebody's so just, they're broken. They're sick of themselves, you know,

00:07:37.640 they can't even, you know, it's like they're hunting without a gun. They just have that look

00:07:41.360 on their face, you know? Yes, sir. And I got to saw this at scale at a place called Beyond that's

00:07:48.540 located in Cancun. My wife and I went there in December of 24. And there you have people coming

00:07:55.140 and going at all times. And we were able to come in and see people who were coming to the door

00:08:00.740 who were at death's door. They had tried everything in the world to resolve either their trauma or their

00:08:06.720 addiction and nothing had worked. And as people are coming, people are also going. And as they walk

00:08:14.020 out the door to leave, there is a community circle to celebrate their departure home. And the people who,

00:08:21.500 as they were leaving, were coming through the door, you could see and feel that same radiant

00:08:27.380 transformation that we saw individually through Brandon Glasser. And we got to watch that occur

00:08:32.340 over the course of a week. And you could see when people would come through the door, they were just

00:08:36.440 like, what am I here for? What am I doing here? How did I even manage to get into this place?

00:08:43.820 Yeah. But by the time they left, they knew why they had been there and it was to be restored.

00:08:48.240 Amen, dude. Were you able to talk with Brandon at that moment? Like, were you able to speak with

00:08:53.300 him and ask him how he was feeling? And like, was he able to iterate kind of what he felt like was

00:08:57.840 going on with him? At the breakfast table, he explained what his journey was like. It was very

00:09:03.780 visual. It was very spiritual. And many of the things that had troubled him in mind and heart,

00:09:12.120 he found relief. He found catharsis. And he felt assurance that what we see on this side of life

00:09:21.840 is only a fraction of what true ultimate reality is all about. We are here as earthly creatures to

00:09:31.600 have an earthly experience. But at our essence, we are spiritual beings who have eternal significance.

00:09:38.060 And what Ibogaine and some of the other plant medicines can do is affirm that reality as

00:09:45.520 an individual has a new beginning to reorient their relationship with their self, the world

00:09:52.540 and their maker. It ain't going to solve all your problems. It ain't a magic wand, but it essentially

00:09:59.120 provides you with an opportunity to establish a brand new foundation that is grounded on your

00:10:06.260 significance as a spiritual being with eternal value.

00:10:12.200 Amen. God, sign me up. My God, if that's a pyramid scheme, I want to get to the dang top.

00:10:19.700 You know what I'm saying? No, I mean, you say, I mean, it just like, I feel it, dude. I mean,

00:10:24.520 I've had my own experience with ayahuasca and you even describe it like, God, I just remember like

00:10:29.120 processing so much. Like it was like all these things that I could, you know, in regular life,

00:10:36.580 even by going to therapy, it was almost like pulling weeds, right? The weeds would grow and I

00:10:40.820 could go in therapy and pull them, right? Or I could go through 12 step and pull them. But now

00:10:46.180 with ayahuasca, it felt like I was underground, like I was part of the earth and I could, I could pull the

00:10:52.300 dang roots, right? Or I could at least see the roots. I could see the roots and I could organize them

00:10:57.660 better and I could, uh, prune them even. I could prune my own roots. And so it gave me a chance.

00:11:02.900 So, so suddenly the stuff on the top, it wasn't just weeds. When I got back out of the experience,

00:11:07.420 it was a little bit more like my garden made a little bit of sense. It wasn't just a constant

00:11:12.920 struggle to like manage my own like little acre of existence, you know? Um, and it's hard to explain

00:11:19.640 sometimes, but I will say this, uh, you know, I've probably done it, I think five times over the past

00:11:24.540 three years. And recently I have started having this feeling that, oh man, this is just a little

00:11:32.000 part of existence, right? Like, whereas I used to feel so connected and so scared about dying. And I

00:11:38.380 do still, you know, I like, I want to be alive. I want to spend time with my loved ones and,

00:11:43.080 and see if I can see certain experiences or dreams through, but I don't feel like, yeah,

00:11:50.660 you almost feel like, oh, we'll just be getting back on the train, you know, after that, like,

00:11:54.440 it'll be something else is going on. Like, this is just a stop at a Buc-ee's, you know,

00:11:58.780 out in the middle of space that we're stopped at, you know, and you can get you a damn snow globe

00:12:03.360 with Dolly Parton in it, or you can do whatever you want. I mean, it's a Buc-ee's, you know, it's earth.

00:12:07.320 So, but, uh, but yeah, I start to think that, oh, there's more after this. And it does make me less

00:12:12.300 afraid about, um, just the weight of every moment of my life and my life way every moment weighed so

00:12:21.640 heavy. And I don't even know why sometimes. Um, so take me through Ibogaine itself. Like what

00:12:27.460 happens with Ibogaine, like the medicine itself, right? So the one thing that is cool about Ibogaine

00:12:34.020 is its intelligence and its ability to produce an effect within the individual, which is unique

00:12:41.940 for that individual. Now, there are certain common themes that exist within it. Let's go back to the

00:12:47.020 very beginning, which is, this is an alkaloid found in three West African botanical sources.

00:12:53.180 There's three plants that grow in Africa. One is called the Iboga root. That is the mother plant.

00:12:58.460 There's another plant called the Vujonga Africana. The Vujonga? Vujonga Africana. Vujonga Africana.

00:13:05.400 And the third one's not named. It's the more minor. Okay. So the third one is a more minor root. Okay.

00:13:10.680 So the, the Bwiti peoples. The Bwiti? Of West Africa. And they primarily reside in Gabon.

00:13:18.060 Gabon? Gabon. Yes, sir. They are the cultural possessors of all the ancient knowledge around

00:13:26.680 Iboga and Ibogaine. They have used Iboga and Ibogaine in their cultural and religious traditions

00:13:32.840 for centuries now. They are humanity's caretakers of all the knowledge and wisdom that comes from

00:13:41.240 this plant. So like the librarians kind of. Correct. They have known and understood its abilities to

00:13:47.920 connect us with divine source for centuries. God, and they weren't sharing it, were they? Well,

00:13:53.960 there, there was no opportunity for them to share because they're a self-contained society and

00:13:59.200 the contact was made with them by the West. And of course, that first contact came through

00:14:04.700 the establishment of the transatlantic slave trade. Right. So then not a good foot, not a good

00:14:08.940 start off. Not a good start off. Got off on the wrong foot. So you have this society that has ancient

00:14:15.400 knowledge, knowledge which until now has essentially been dismissed by the reductionist perspective of the

00:14:22.240 West. And now that the West is being strangulated by the consequences of its materialism, deaths of

00:14:29.460 despair, driven by a lack of any sense of spiritual significance, we find ourselves now looking across

00:14:35.640 the Atlantic Ocean to a people who we have dismissed, who we have enslaved, to say to them,

00:14:43.300 please help us understand how to utilize what you've known from centuries to emancipate us from the

00:14:49.460 prison that we've built for ourselves. As we start to create this process of medicalization within

00:14:57.960 the United States, I firmly believe there is a beautiful unity opportunity here for us as

00:15:05.660 civilizations and for us as people within the United States, black and white alike, to come together to

00:15:12.600 illustrate our universal kinship as children of our creator whose destiny is rooted and grounded in

00:15:23.180 divine love. Amen, brother. To the core, I believe that. Theo, in all honesty, if someone had said to me five

00:15:30.960 years ago, hey, you're going to be getting to go all around the country talking to people about plant

00:15:37.560 medicine and the way in which it has been designed to affirm human divinity and your own experiences

00:15:44.920 with these medicines, I would have looked at them and said, what in the world happened to me? And what

00:15:50.900 have I got to do to go in back in time to make sure it does not? I mean, I was the president of the

00:15:56.420 teenage Republicans in high school. Oh, wow. I was president of the college Republicans in college.

00:16:02.320 So to have gone. So you had Rush Limbaugh mixtapes probably at the house. Oh, yeah. I mean, to talk

00:16:09.360 to 25 year old conventional conservative haircut Republican me and tell me that I'd be sitting

00:16:15.000 here with you having this discussion, I'd have been like, you're out of your effing mind. There's

00:16:20.240 no way possible that that's going to occur. And yet here we sit. Here we sit, brother. And sometimes

00:16:24.860 that's we have we have to realize. Sometimes I'm like, man, I don't know where I'm supposed to be

00:16:28.540 right now, but I'm supposed to be right where I am. You know, that's what Cat Williams reminded

00:16:33.480 me of when I talked to him. I was like, man, he's like, if you're here and you're in a

00:16:37.320 conversation, then this is the time to have it. You know, you were talking about the earth

00:16:42.320 being Bucky's and how this is a potpourri experience, but there's not all that there is.

00:16:49.800 As I have walked the pathway to come to your studio for this discussion, I've come to conclude

00:16:56.400 that everything that happens from those things that are our earliest memories in life all the

00:17:02.860 way to as we sit here and talk now, they are designed to prepare us to become who our maker

00:17:10.420 wishes for us to be in this life as a preparation for the next. And plant medicines, I believe,

00:17:18.420 have existed for thousands of years in cultures whose wisdom has been dismissed. They have been

00:17:23.400 looked down upon, and that has been to our detriment here within Western society. And now that we see

00:17:29.480 the garden that we have grown here expressed as 1.5 million people who have died since 2015

00:17:36.900 from a combination of drug overdose, alcohol-related disease, and suicide, we're missing some things

00:17:43.940 here. We treat the body, we treat the mind, but we've done a bad job of acknowledging the soul.

00:17:52.600 So, well said, man. Thank you. This is just a rest area for your soul, you know? Get you a snack and

00:17:59.460 urinate, and then we got to hit the high road, you know? Because I think, and also when I start to

00:18:04.520 believe that after this, you're off to something else even wilder, it makes, it's all, it's like,

00:18:09.680 adds so much more, like, appeal to your own life, right? That's what I've really, that's one thing I

00:18:15.640 noticed. But yeah, I do believe that. I do believe that God's just got us here in the dang

00:18:20.280 pet boys or whatever, you know, and he's just kind of sprucing some things up. Let's talk about

00:18:25.780 Ibogaine and what it is, because that's kind of your specialty. Is that fair to say?

00:18:29.580 That's fair to say.

00:18:30.620 Okay.

00:18:31.220 By pure accident, by the way, not by design or ambition.

00:18:34.800 You just ended up just Ibogaine-ing?

00:18:36.640 Yes, sir.

00:18:37.160 Okay. Well, look, hold on. Now, were you like an after-school user, or what happened, really?

00:18:42.440 Well, I came to it in the same way that most people come to it, and it was through desperation.

00:18:48.120 I'd practiced law in Kentucky for 16 years and then went into state government service.

00:18:53.040 I ran the state social security disability system and some other things, and after being

00:18:58.320 in place for about six years, there were some folks who said, you know, he kind of does a decent

00:19:03.040 job with some things, and we'd want him maybe to run the state's opioid commission.

00:19:07.920 And Kentucky, like a lot of Appalachian states, has been ground zero for the opioid epidemic

00:19:13.620 that began with OxyContin being introduced back in the late 90s.

00:19:17.740 So, all these opioid manufacturers and distributors had settled with a bunch of states and paid

00:19:23.640 them money for all the damage caused by the opioid epidemic.

00:19:27.340 So, when it came time for Kentucky to get its money, they had to set up an agency to administer

00:19:33.060 and oversee it, and they called it the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission.

00:19:37.420 So, a guy by the name of Barry Dunn, who was a deputy attorney general at the time under

00:19:43.300 my boss, Daniel Cameron, came to me and said, hey, the legislature has set up this opioid

00:19:48.540 commission.

00:19:49.140 Is this something you'd be interested in running?

00:19:51.460 I said, you know, I think you probably know, being a Southerner, that as much as we love home

00:19:56.800 and the society at home, sometimes the governments have not always functioned the way they're supposed

00:20:01.400 to.

00:20:02.300 You know, Boss Hogg and the Dukes of Hazzard was an illustration of some of that old-time

00:20:07.400 way of doing business where everybody who's a working person gets their bones picked clean

00:20:12.140 by the people who are in power.

00:20:14.620 Amen, always.

00:20:15.540 So, when Barry said, hey, would you be interested in doing this job?

00:20:19.820 I said, Barry, this is a very treacherous opportunity because we've got some aristocratic

00:20:25.100 power structures here in Kentucky that are used to having their way with anything that

00:20:28.940 involves the dollar bill.

00:20:30.920 If y'all are willing to allow me to run the commission so that it is accessible to the

00:20:36.960 average, everyday Kentuckian, that grassroots organizations that ain't used to getting these

00:20:43.060 sorts of opportunities can be resourced and that we do it in a way that is accountable

00:20:46.980 and transparent, I'll be interested in the job.

00:20:50.340 But I don't want to take it if the expectation is just going to be to hand the money over to

00:20:54.240 the usual vultures.

00:20:55.300 Amen.

00:20:55.860 And he said, we'll back you 100%.

00:20:57.780 I said, all right.

00:20:58.560 So, I went through an interview process.

00:21:01.360 And in the interview process, I was asked, what do we need to do with this money?

00:21:05.220 I said, well, let's put the big picture in context here.

00:21:08.560 We're getting $842 million.

00:21:10.940 Now, that's a big old bunch of money to anybody.

00:21:13.900 Oh, yeah.

00:21:14.500 It's massive.

00:21:14.900 I mean, you just hope you win $842 million on the lottery.

00:21:18.520 Oh, that's damn Scrooge McDuck.

00:21:20.240 Yes.

00:21:20.740 All the way.

00:21:21.500 Richie Rich.

00:21:22.200 Yeah.

00:21:22.500 But the problem is, when you put it in context, Purdue Pharma made $100 million a month on

00:21:30.960 OxyContin sales for 12 years.

00:21:33.880 Yeah.

00:21:34.160 So, the entire state of Kentucky with 4.8 million people is getting about eight and a

00:21:38.360 half months of Purdue Pharma's OxyContin sales, but over 15 years.

00:21:42.860 Right.

00:21:43.140 So, it's really spaced out.

00:21:44.100 And put up a picture of the Sackler family just so I can just tell them to go fuck themselves

00:21:48.640 if you don't mind throwing it up there.

00:21:49.960 I'm sorry if you ladies have to hear that language.

00:21:51.540 But there you go.

00:21:53.120 That's a group that got off scot-free that's still alive.

00:21:56.840 Well, hundreds of thousands have been killed by their greed.

00:22:01.100 So, hope they're doing well.

00:22:02.780 Hope you see them on the street.

00:22:04.120 And they've had a lot of enablers in politics.

00:22:06.660 Oh, yeah.

00:22:07.020 For sure.

00:22:07.620 And there's a lot of roads you can go down that.

00:22:09.680 And we will get down some of that road.

00:22:11.380 I want to get down how politics has helped or not helped the opioid crisis.

00:22:15.340 And what do you think we can do to solve that?

00:22:18.000 But I want to just stay on track of this story.

00:22:19.500 So, you're locked in with the government now.

00:22:21.900 You have the ability to kind of administer how the funds are put out.

00:22:24.760 Yes, sir.

00:22:25.260 Okay.

00:22:25.420 And they said, what do we need to do with this money?

00:22:27.800 And I named off a couple of priorities, beginning with children.

00:22:31.440 And I've done a little homework on you.

00:22:33.680 And I think you and I have probably had some things that we got in common.

00:22:37.320 I said, the first thing we've got to do is take children whose families and communities have been destroyed by this and give them connection to sanctuary from chaos, the stability of love and relationships, and an affirmation of their individual spirituality.

00:22:54.460 Any child who's disconnected from these three things is going to have a tough time making it in this world.

00:23:00.220 And if we can create a structure for that to happen, we've got to do it.

00:23:04.220 I said, the next thing we've got to do is take people who are trying to get their lives back together and help them in whatever way we can.

00:23:09.960 Because someone whose life has been ravaged by addiction, they face all kinds of legal problems and financial problems and just logistical problems.

00:23:17.740 Like, where do I buy clothes to go to work?

00:23:19.600 How can I get to work?

00:23:21.100 We've got to do everything we can to give a helping hand to folks who are trying their very best to rebuild a shattered life.

00:23:27.480 And I said, the final thing we've got to do is figure out a way to pioneer a therapeutic breakthrough for opioid addiction.

00:23:34.840 I said, the options that we currently have are basically opioids with which we treat opioid addiction.

00:23:41.760 And while it's better than nothing, government has as a job an obligation to improve everybody's life.

00:23:48.900 And that's methadone, suboxone, things like that?

00:23:50.760 That's correct.

00:23:51.360 They are opioids produced by the very same people who created the problem.

00:23:55.580 Nuh-uh, really?

00:23:56.180 Yes, sir.

00:23:56.700 The companies that produce the opioid epidemic are the same companies that produce its treatments.

00:24:03.940 Really?

00:24:04.320 Yes, sir.

00:24:04.900 Let's look that up.

00:24:05.480 Who makes methadone?

00:24:07.320 And check out Indivior, which is the parent company of Suboxone and Sublocade and others.

00:24:15.760 And Indivior has its own criminal rap sheet with the federal government from the way in which it sought to manipulate an increase in the issuance of those prescriptions.

00:24:25.660 There's something that's called the opioid record archive at the University of California in San Francisco.

00:24:31.760 And in that record archives, a Harvard faculty member by the name of Dr. Matt Bevin has pulled out documents that show that the companies that created the problem very much celebrate the fact that they're the ones who are basically making money off of the treatment on the back end.

00:24:51.120 Unreal.

00:24:51.520 And that's the system that we find ourselves with.

00:24:54.320 Now, don't get me wrong.

00:24:55.940 There's thousands of people that have been saved by these, and they should be options on the table.

00:24:59.700 But we need to diversify, expand, and improve upon those options if we can.

00:25:04.600 Wow, that's unbelievable.

00:25:06.060 I think a lot of times we don't realize, right, that evil has a plan, right?

00:25:13.520 Evil is not just running around your neighborhood just tickling people or whatever and yelling profanities and stuff like in the street.

00:25:19.920 You know, evil will sell you the problem and sell you the solution.

00:25:25.400 That's right.

00:25:25.640 That's how far they've already thought ahead.

00:25:27.560 That's right.

00:25:28.080 They've already made the solution half the time before they've made the problem.

00:25:31.560 If evil makes a solution, they won't say, let's offer the world a solution.

00:25:35.980 They'll say, how do I create a problem so I can sell you this and then I can sell you that, right?

00:25:41.060 You know, I don't know, I'm preaching.

00:25:42.120 Sometimes I don't notice for myself that evil is smart.

00:25:47.880 Evil is not ignorant.

00:25:49.560 It's very sophisticated, and on the exterior, it's not scary.

00:25:54.820 If evil look like all the monsters of our imagination, it's easy to identify it and avoid it, but it's slick.

00:26:02.080 And the Bible says the devil will appear as an angel of light.

00:26:05.680 There's also phraseology in modern literature that refers to the banality of evil.

00:26:10.140 It's very boring.

00:26:11.240 And evil often appears in very high-scale, white-collar business suits and ties, carrying fancy degrees in law and finance from Ivy League institutions.

00:26:22.780 All these measurements of external respectability, evil knows how to put it on and shine.

00:26:28.740 Yeah.

00:26:29.320 And they're there to sell us whatever they can sell us to make us its subject.

00:26:36.180 Yeah.

00:26:36.520 And that's where we find ourselves.

00:26:38.300 Dang, man, it's true.

00:26:39.620 And it happens.

00:26:40.900 There's a lot of ways it can happen.

00:26:42.540 But, yeah, I think just the psychology of evil, I've thought about that more recently in my life.

00:26:46.160 Like, evil is a strategist.

00:26:47.880 Evil is a wizard.

00:26:49.000 Yes, sir.

00:26:49.500 You know?

00:26:49.940 And you have to be a wizard for your own life.

00:26:52.740 You know?

00:26:53.020 We have to try and do our best to do that.

00:26:56.380 Okay, so you accept the job.

00:26:57.960 Accept the job.

00:26:59.080 And you're like, and one of the things you just mentioned, you have to find ways to create better pathways for people to get treatment.

00:27:06.340 That's correct.

00:27:07.260 Okay.

00:27:07.940 Now, in 2018, you know, I had heard about psychedelics growing up.

00:27:12.960 I remember watching commercials and shows on TV of a bunch of hippies rolling around in mud on mushrooms.

00:27:18.560 And I thought, Lordy mercy, this is how you collapse an entire society.

00:27:22.160 A bunch of crazy nuts out of their mind, drug-taking people.

00:27:26.720 So, those were my thoughts on psychedelics.

00:27:29.920 In 2018, one of my very close friends, his sister was somebody who I had known for years as an underground psilocybin provider.

00:27:41.160 And she's a little out there.

00:27:42.700 And I never really give it much thought.

00:27:45.080 But...

00:27:45.320 And shout out to all the underground psilocybin providers out there.

00:27:48.160 I just want to...

00:27:49.880 You guys never...

00:27:51.040 You don't get a holiday.

00:27:52.220 You know what I'm saying, dude?

00:27:53.160 Dude, where's the frickin' Juneteenth for underground psilocybin providers that have kept us all able to manage semi-decently over the past few years?

00:28:04.240 At great risk.

00:28:05.160 At great risk.

00:28:07.000 At great risk, dude.

00:28:08.700 And half the time, you're on mushrooms when they bust you.

00:28:11.060 And so, that's spooky.

00:28:12.420 But go on.

00:28:12.880 Well, in 2018, I do a lot of reading about things related to politics and society and science when there's opportunities for progress.

00:28:22.480 And I come out of a family that has a championship history of alcohol, substance use, and mental health issues.

00:28:31.160 And my family has generationally had a wicked relationship with alcohol.

00:28:35.700 Oh, yeah.

00:28:36.180 I could see that.

00:28:36.840 You remind me of Hacksaw Jim Druggan.

00:28:38.880 You know what I'm saying, dude?

00:28:40.160 And I mean that in a loving way.

00:28:41.580 I appreciate that.

00:28:43.220 So, your family, it's there a lot, huh?

00:28:45.620 Well, I'll put it this way.

00:28:47.120 I can remember certain great uncles of mine who had served in war, been to World War II in Korea, and sitting next to them on a hot summer day.

00:28:54.740 And they wouldn't have had a drink, but you could smell the alcohol being sweated out of them.

00:28:58.760 And do you think you had a problem growing up at all or no?

00:29:01.400 You know, fortunately, I never developed any sort of alcohol or substance use problem.

00:29:07.000 But that was because of the presence of God's love in my life through my grandparents.

00:29:12.460 My earliest memories as a child were of screaming and cussing and chaos between my parents.

00:29:19.300 I was scared to death as a kid.

00:29:21.140 Mm-hmm.

00:29:21.500 And I had two grade school educated coal mining grandfathers who spent a lot of time with me for the first 12 years of my life.

00:29:30.900 And they were both men who had grown up under tremendous hardship.

00:29:36.180 They had no bitterness.

00:29:37.600 They had nothing but love and grace within them.

00:29:39.980 And when I would go and spend time with them on the weekends, as early as I could remember them speaking language to me that I could understand, at some point before they'd take me home, they'd put me on their knee and they'd say,

00:29:52.240 Now, listen, Papaw loves you.

00:29:55.400 But more importantly, God loves you.

00:29:59.020 And he has a special and unique purpose in your life, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how abandoned and scourged you may feel.

00:30:08.740 No, no, God has you in his hands.

00:30:11.700 Don't ever lose sight of it, because if you will maintain faith, he's going to bring you through.

00:30:17.160 Theo, if those beautiful gentlemen had not given me those lessons consistently, if I were alive at all, and there's a substantial likelihood that I would not be, I would not be sitting here with you as I am.

00:30:30.880 I would be living in some dark hole somewhere, wondering what someone who held jobs like I've held was going to do to come pull me out of them.

00:30:39.840 Wow.

00:30:40.040 It made all the difference.

00:30:42.100 Yeah, I think it's like you don't realize the effect you can have on somebody by showing them attention, showing them care, you know.

00:30:48.980 So, you know, I believe that, like, parents, like, especially when they look at their children, like, whatever you look, whatever you, however you look at your children, you're like a pitcher, and you are poor.

00:30:58.800 That is the look that they will have inside of them, right?

00:31:01.420 Like, you know, like, in our family, I always felt like there was a ton of look of, like, you were wrong, you weren't doing it right, like, nothing was ever okay.

00:31:13.180 I didn't never get one look from my mother that I, fuck, I don't think she looked at me until probably about 13, but when she finally looked over at it, she'd fucking pissed.

00:31:20.360 I was like, God dang, I've waited all that time for that.

00:31:23.560 I'd have frickin' left sooner.

00:31:25.240 But, and no shade to her, like, you know, times have gone on.

00:31:28.400 But I've just, I think to parents, and I'm not trying to preach, but I think if you always look at your child like what they're doing and something is wrong, then the feeling that they will have in them is that something is wrong, right?

00:31:39.740 However you look at your child the most, that is what they, that's the feeling that gets created in them.

00:31:45.400 Do you think that's a possible thing or not?

00:31:47.240 Oh, the absence of love is lethal.

00:31:51.820 We as human beings are animals.

00:31:54.680 At our nature, our core, we are animals.

00:31:57.140 And the existence of love within us is the surest evidence of a divine creator whose essence is almighty, unconditional love for all of us.

00:32:13.820 And but for that touch of divinity within us, I don't believe that any human being would have the capacity to feel or receive love.

00:32:20.800 And it is being born on this side of eternity with the evil that coexists with the light that defines much of our lifelong journey of struggling to attain that light.

00:32:30.640 I heard somebody say about six months ago that really the struggle in life is always the struggle to attain genuine, authentic love.

00:32:40.440 Amen.

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00:35:21.640 Okay, so you're in there, you're mitigating where the funds go and stuff.

00:35:25.760 How do you get to Ibogaine?

00:35:27.680 How do you get to be in this place where you're obviously like seeing that there's a lot of need for things, right?

00:35:33.040 Having an emotional connection to humans so you understand maybe how the need can best be serviced.

00:35:41.360 How do you get then into Ibogaine?

00:35:44.140 How do you come to that?

00:35:44.980 In 2018, I read a study that was published about the effect of the psilocybin or psychedelic mushroom on alcoholism and the fact that it had demonstrated within this study a profound ability to help people overcome alcoholism.

00:36:02.940 And having come from a family that has just a generationally wicked relationship with alcohol, this caught my attention.

00:36:11.060 A friend of mine has a sister who is a little out there, but she's an underground psilocybin mushroom facilitator.

00:36:18.400 I became curious after I read this article and I thought, well, there must be something to this given this scientific research and what it shows about its ability to basically effectively treat alcoholism.

00:36:30.500 So I reached out to her.

00:36:31.780 I said, I know that you understand the mushroom and have for some time.

00:36:36.300 I want to understand it.

00:36:37.520 I'm curious and I want to see what this is all about.

00:36:39.920 After for years thinking, this is just a bunch of crazy hippie stuff I didn't want nothing to do with.

00:36:45.360 So between 2018 and 2022, I had a series of psilocybin mushroom journeys.

00:36:52.980 The first one was just very mild at three grams.

00:36:55.780 It was enough to kind of get the extra sensory ability to kind of see and hear and feel things a little differently.

00:37:01.920 And then I had probably eight to ten additional journeys of various intensities.

00:37:10.880 Most of them were beautiful.

00:37:13.800 Some of them were terrifying.

00:37:16.240 All of them were profound.

00:37:18.680 And at the end of that process, I became an absolute believer in what other civilizations have known for thousands of years.

00:37:27.380 And that is, our Creator has put plants on this earth whose purpose is to work with human chemistry to provide us with just a small window of opportunity to look behind the veil and into eternity.

00:37:43.120 So to understand who we are, where we come from, and how our true alignment is with the source of divine love that flows through all of us.

00:37:52.940 Amen.

00:37:53.060 So I read about a lady who, she actually wrote about her own stories with psilocybin and how it helped her overcome her anxiety and depression that had crippled her for most of her life, as well as a near-fatal eating disorder, in addition to her atheism.

00:38:10.120 So I reached out to her and I said, hey, I've been given this job in Kentucky.

00:38:13.520 You wrote about your experiences beautifully.

00:38:15.520 What can you tell me about the world of psychedelics and whether there's anything in it that has special application to opioid addiction?

00:38:23.060 On July the 29th, 2022, down in Siesta Key, Florida, on family vacations, when I had this call, and it was the day that I heard the word Ibogaine for the first time.

00:38:34.040 She said, are you familiar with this?

00:38:35.360 I said, I've never heard of it in my life.

00:38:37.100 She said, I'm going to put you in touch with another lady who can tell you about her recovery experience with Ibogaine.

00:38:42.100 She put me in touch with a lady by the name of Juliana Mulligan, who gave me her story.

00:38:48.320 And basically, she had been an opioid-dependent individual for almost a decade.

00:38:53.320 And she said she had done it all.

00:38:55.320 Heroin, fentanyl.

00:38:56.700 She'd been in and out of jail.

00:38:58.040 She'd been homeless at different points in time.

00:39:00.280 Wow.

00:39:00.380 She said she had been through every recovery process that could be invented, abstinence programs, 12-step programs, and she had been through Suboxone treatment.

00:39:09.940 And she said, what they don't tell you about Suboxone is that the way in which it attaches to your system, she said, for me, Suboxone withdrawal made heroin withdrawal seem like a cakewalk.

00:39:23.700 And she said it was the awfulest thing I ever experienced.

00:39:26.180 She said, I became so tired of the life I had to live to secure my supply, I relocated to Columbia to teach English as a sacred language.

00:39:37.120 God.

00:39:37.380 And in Columbia, they have open pharmacy, meaning you can go in there and just get whatever you want.

00:39:41.940 Oh, yeah.

00:39:42.360 Most of my dreams take place in damn Columbia right now.

00:39:44.880 Well, that's where she found herself and why.

00:39:47.900 So she said, one day I got up and looked in my mirror, and she said, I knew I was going to die.

00:39:53.180 Wow.

00:39:53.500 And she said, I was just desperate to give myself one more chance to be able to live, because I knew I wasn't going to make it.

00:40:01.920 She said, I got online and started researching, and I came across this thing called Ibogaine.

00:40:06.240 And she said, it just sounded ridiculous in terms of what it was supposed to be able to do.

00:40:11.180 Yeah, it sounds like a damn protein powder, you know?

00:40:13.180 Yeah.

00:40:13.620 She said, it sounded too good to be true.

00:40:16.520 It just sounded like a bunch of kookiness, really.

00:40:19.200 She said, but I was desperate, and I was willing to try anything that could give me my life back.

00:40:25.800 So she said, I went to an Ibogaine place in Guatemala, somebody who could provide it.

00:40:32.160 And she said, but I didn't know at the time is that Ibogaine comes with a very serious cardiac side effect,

00:40:38.820 meaning if you take too much of it, though it is a stimulant, it will slow your heart down, stop it, and you'll die.

00:40:46.240 You have to.

00:40:47.240 Ibogaine is a very serious medication.

00:40:49.560 It has no recreational purpose whatsoever.

00:40:53.180 You know, you hear about parties and raves of different kind, cocaine parties or heroin parties.

00:40:58.080 Nobody's ever heard of an Ibogaine party.

00:40:59.920 No.

00:41:00.100 Because unless you think being semi-paralyzed for 10 to 12 hours and throwing up over that same time is a good time,

00:41:06.000 you ain't going to have a good time.

00:41:07.680 Yeah, it's going to get food poisoning or whatever.

00:41:09.480 That's right.

00:41:09.940 There's no food poisoning parties happening in the United States, just like Ibogaine.

00:41:14.380 So Juliana makes her way to Guatemala, and she gets Ibogaine treatment.

00:41:19.260 She was given about three times what she should have, and she went into cardiac arrest six times and almost died.

00:41:26.600 She said that she could somewhat remember her journey.

00:41:29.000 She said that the first thing that she remembered after getting her treatment was waking up in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Guatemala.

00:41:40.200 And she said, when I opened my eyes, I felt the best I had ever felt in my life.

00:41:47.940 And she said, despite the fact that it almost killed me, I would go back and do it all over again.

00:41:54.800 She said, my desire to use was gone.

00:41:58.220 I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms.

00:42:01.460 She said, I had spent years being told that I was diseased, that I had a disease that I could not overcome that was going to be with me for the rest of my life.

00:42:09.640 And the best that I could do was treat those symptoms.

00:42:12.260 And she said, for me, that led to this sense that I was not in control.

00:42:17.840 I didn't have ownership of myself.

00:42:19.700 She said, after Ibogaine, all that thinking went to the wayside.

00:42:23.400 I came to recognize that I had ownership of myself and my destiny and that my future would be henceforth defined by my choices rather than any compulsion tied to a disease that was fictitious.

00:42:35.980 And she said, most significantly for me, there was no question in my mind after my Ibogaine experience that there is an eternal creator whose essence is pure and unconditional love for all of us.

00:42:53.260 She said, I know it.

00:42:54.980 And that made all the difference for me.

00:42:56.780 And that was the first Ibogaine recovery journey that I got to hear about.

00:43:01.280 What in now, three years later, has been hundreds of such similar stories of just unbelievable Lazarus-like restoration.

00:43:09.620 Amen.

00:43:10.900 Wow, man.

00:43:12.080 Yeah, I think just hearing you say that about how it gives you the autonomy over your life, because that's what I think you start to feel.

00:43:19.060 I think that's one thing that's like, I mean, I know for me is missing a lot of times is like just that belief, like that core belief that I'm in complete control of me, right?

00:43:31.680 I just like, yeah, because you start to wonder, well, where does people's messaging come from?

00:43:37.440 And I think a lot of times parents just don't know that a lot of it does.

00:43:41.100 It can come from them, right?

00:43:43.540 Well, we all grow in the soil in which we are planted, whether we're children or whether we're parents.

00:43:49.920 And when we look at where we're at, especially over the past 30 years in American society, there's a whole lot of messaging through popular culture, through government, through institutions of cultural influence, that individuals are not their own.

00:44:05.920 They are in many ways captives of circumstance.

00:44:08.820 And if they are captives of circumstance, they are also going to find a lack of empowerment, a lack of autonomy, a lack of control, which leads to feelings of a lack of worthiness, a lack of relevance, and a lack of meaning.

00:44:21.680 It all goes together.

00:44:24.240 And what plant medicine broadly and Ibogaine specifically seems to have is this ability to liberate the individual from the surly bonds of their earthly thinking that has been reinforced by systems of faith.

00:44:38.820 The power and control that prefer people to live on their knees instead of on their feet.

00:44:44.040 Yeah, it's really like a new, it feels like almost like an emancipation proclamation kind of for the soul, you know, of a spirit.

00:44:51.900 Because I think that's right.

00:44:52.800 I think most of my life I've probably thought, man, something's wrong.

00:44:57.040 How do I fix something that's wrong, right?

00:44:59.780 Instead of thinking, hey, I'm right, right?

00:45:02.580 Instead of like stacking things on that other side of the scale that like I was created to be okay, right?

00:45:08.420 I was created to be right.

00:45:10.300 There's like a lot of probably, I don't know if it's just Western society, but it's like, yeah, something is wrong, right?

00:45:15.860 There's how this is broken.

00:45:16.900 Something's wrong, right?

00:45:18.760 And that's from a place of being defeated kind of.

00:45:20.820 You're operating from a place not of power then, you know?

00:45:26.760 There is a philosopher out there.

00:45:29.740 You know a guy by the name of C.S. Lewis who was this great Christian thinker.

00:45:33.280 He wrote the Chronicles of Narnia.

00:45:35.220 He wrote Mere Christianity.

00:45:36.760 He wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters.

00:45:39.700 He was a great thinker.

00:45:40.980 He began his journey as a total nonbeliever, and he went on this academic exercise of trying to disprove the authenticity of God.

00:45:50.200 And through that process of trying to disprove it, he became a believer.

00:45:54.380 He was friends with another philosopher who I believe his name was Bertrand Russell, and they had this dialogue with each other.

00:46:02.440 And Bertrand Russell made this assertion essentially that there is no greater meaning, that everything that we see and experience now is all that there is, and that the universe itself is destined for total and complete distinction.

00:46:19.440 Extinction?

00:46:20.380 Extinction.

00:46:20.980 It is only through embracing and internalizing what he called the unyielding despair of nothingness that we find meaning as human beings.

00:46:34.420 Now, I would argue to you that much of what folks our age and younger have seen in American society today is founded upon the unyielding despair of nothingness,

00:46:45.860 where we are reduced to nothing more than physical beings who are accidents of astrophysics with no greater purpose or meaning that follows us after the grave.

00:46:57.020 That this is the totality of it all, and you better make the best of it now, because once it's gone, it's over.

00:47:02.920 Those are the roots of the anguish that we see today in American society, where we've been told for 50-plus years, God is dead.

00:47:12.380 There is nothing beyond your material self.

00:47:14.660 You better grab it, smash and grab life while you can.

00:47:17.960 Yeah, it's just a target.

00:47:18.860 The world is a target right now.

00:47:20.280 It's your target.

00:47:21.180 You better get in there and get shit and wear a mask, brother.

00:47:23.620 That's exactly right.

00:47:24.520 That's not the truth.

00:47:25.360 That is where we are at.

00:47:26.900 That is why this society is in the condition that it is in.

00:47:30.200 And the only way that folks like you and I are going to be able to help create a shift in social consciousness so as to create a future worth living in is if we acknowledge, elevate, and celebrate our human divinity.

00:47:49.640 When you look at our elemental composition, what we're made of, what is in our blood, there's only one place that iron that is in our blood comes from, and it is through the incredibly destructive force of the death of a star and a supernova.

00:48:04.580 Wow.

00:48:04.620 A supernova is the only thing that produces iron.

00:48:08.160 Our blood is the content of stardust.

00:48:12.620 Damn.

00:48:12.940 That is not my accident.

00:48:14.860 And I'm not here to proclaim any sort of universal truth for a particular sect of human man-made religion.

00:48:20.480 But what I am here to say is that there is no question in my mind with the blessing of having received the plant medicine experiences that I have.

00:48:30.200 We are, in fact, spiritual beings who have eternal significance.

00:48:36.300 And that is the only reality upon which our society can be reestablished to have a future worth living in.

00:48:43.600 Amen.

00:48:44.080 Bring that up.

00:48:44.680 Is that the truth, too?

00:48:46.520 And hell, yeah, I'll have the damn pork sausage.

00:48:48.580 I feel you today, brother.

00:48:50.560 You know what I'm saying?

00:48:51.620 I have patties.

00:48:52.560 I hate when they have links and not patties, don't you?

00:48:55.180 You know, I'm a link and patty guy together.

00:48:57.580 I'll take those sausage links and put on a piece of bread with some mustard.

00:49:01.240 That's good eating.

00:49:02.260 Yeah, I just love the patties so much.

00:49:03.720 Maybe I need to have a new experience.

00:49:06.040 Let me see what that says.

00:49:07.660 Supernova explosions are a crucial step in the chain of events that generate the iron we find in interstellar space and the solar system, including Earth.

00:49:14.280 Iron is formed via nuclear fusion in the cores of stars that are eight times more massive than our sun.

00:49:19.700 And I mean, if you're looking out at the stars, you know what sometimes I've thought, man, when I'm looking at the stars, it feels like they're looking back at me, bro.

00:49:27.780 Yes, sir.

00:49:28.060 And that was a crazy feeling for me.

00:49:32.000 I was like, why did it feel like they're looking back here, you know?

00:49:36.800 The starry sky as one of the most tangible and profound expressions of the specialness of the human species.

00:49:47.760 Now, there are many creatures that are nocturnal.

00:49:51.240 They become activated at night, and that's when they go about wandering and eating and killing and procreating with each other.

00:49:57.240 But those creatures don't have the unique capacity to look up at that sky and be in awe of everything that it represents.

00:50:07.000 There was a story that I heard out of a lady who defected from North Korea.

00:50:11.920 She basically – there's an underground railroad organization called Duri Hana that is based in South Korea that helps North Koreans escape through China to get down to the south and have freedom.

00:50:23.000 Duri Hana?

00:50:23.500 Duri Hana is the name of the organization.

00:50:25.720 It's like the Korean Underground Railroad.

00:50:29.580 And –

00:50:30.260 Yeah, sorry, I'm going to look at it.

00:50:31.540 Duri Hana, North Korea Mission, is a defector aid Christian organization based in South Korea founded by Peter Chun.

00:50:39.640 The organization assists North Korean defectors escape from North Korea and China often by helping refugees to pay their broker fees, which allows them to cross borders.

00:50:47.400 Wow.

00:50:48.040 There was a North Korean defector who had grown up in that society her whole life.

00:50:52.320 And, of course, the first thing about communism is there is no God.

00:50:56.940 It is aggressively and officially atheist.

00:51:00.340 And this woman, when she left her home and crossed the river into China, she said,

00:51:06.800 I looked up at the sky before I was taking a journey that I thought I may very well not survive.

00:51:12.480 And she said, I was always taught there was no God.

00:51:16.680 But when I looked at that sky, the only thing I could say was, God, please help me.

00:51:22.320 Even though I had no frame of reference, all of my instincts said, there's someone there and they're going to watch me and see me through.

00:51:28.420 She made it.

00:51:29.300 Our human instincts all propel us toward the acknowledgement of human divinity that is rooted in love and the estrangement from divine love, I believe, is the source of all human suffering.

00:51:48.200 Wow.

00:51:48.440 Through the advancement of plant medicine and specifically the medicalization of Ibogaine for the treatment of trauma and addiction, we have the opportunity to refound modern American society on a spiritual foundation, which is necessary if it's going to have a future worth living.

00:52:08.280 Agreed.

00:52:08.900 Literally to get back to our roots, right?

00:52:11.060 Yes, sir.

00:52:11.440 And yeah, I mean, I think that's one thing.

00:52:13.240 It's just like when you look at the Native American cultures and like the things that they were so in tune with, it felt like they knew so much that we came through and just like built like we're just like this strip mall of existence.

00:52:26.340 It's great.

00:52:26.980 And it's I'm not discrediting being an American or like the gifts that it's offered to us or that it's offered me just to be able to exist here.

00:52:35.020 But I think, yeah, we've gotten so estranged from like connections to the source, right?

00:52:43.880 Connections to the source.

00:52:45.380 I mean, just from my own experience with plant medicine, with ayahuasca, I just felt like, yeah, just like, man, it just makes everything so much less about you and makes it more about just love.

00:52:56.780 It really does.

00:52:57.640 I mean, it just, I met a shaman dude at a smoothie shop and then, dude, next thing you know, I'm back at his place and he had, this was in Maui and he has some like DMT, but not like the gas station DMT, like the legit.

00:53:13.280 You got to stay away from that gas station stuff.

00:53:15.080 Oh, yeah, dude.

00:53:16.380 That stuff will just make you damn sell your car and then you have to walk home.

00:53:19.840 Then you're high walking home.

00:53:21.580 You're just about a half step away from melting down shoe polish to drink it when you start buying out a gas station for something that's going to cure you.

00:53:27.280 Yeah, that's bad.

00:53:28.680 I've had a lot of friends have just like really wrecked their vehicles out there on that spice and that bullshit they're selling over there.

00:53:36.640 But yeah, next thing you know, I'm at his house and like I tried this DMT and like I just remember feeling like I was leaving the planet kind of and that everybody I knew and everything was going to be okay because we were all going to leave the planet one day.

00:53:50.260 And the feeling I was getting when I was leaving was like, man, all like it was such an overwhelming feeling of love and of like light and that worldly thoughts and ideas didn't even matter.

00:54:03.720 And there was one moment where I had like, oh, shit, all that mattered while I was there was did I love?

00:54:09.380 Everything else was a ruse.

00:54:10.960 Everything else was a trap door.

00:54:15.140 Everything else was a waste of time.

00:54:17.040 All that mattered was did I try to love the best I could?

00:54:20.780 And yeah, I think as a society we have gotten away from that.

00:54:23.080 And as humans a lot of times, especially in Western society, that we have gotten away from that.

00:54:27.480 And I think at this point it is organized for us to stay away from that.

00:54:31.460 People don't want you to know you're a creator.

00:54:32.960 They don't want you to know you were created for a purpose, that you are here to love and that you're capable of it.

00:54:37.800 They want you to believe that there's always a problem with you.

00:54:41.140 The dividend of division is control.

00:54:45.120 And the more that the powers that be can separate us from each other, the easier it is for those power structures can control us for their own selfish purposes and ends.

00:54:56.560 And since hearing the word I'm again for the first time on July 29th of 22, I have come to very much believe that all of this that we see in front of us is spiritual warfare.

00:55:11.180 There are two sides at war with one another.

00:55:14.720 And these are the sides.

00:55:16.500 It's all of us who can come to recognize that we are of God versus those among us who aspire to be God.

00:55:26.560 And when the human hand aspires to be God, there is suffering at an imaginable scale, spiritually and physically.

00:55:36.960 And we have come at a time in our history where all those who can recognize that we are of God have got to band together to push back on the heels those who aspire in their arrogance to be God.

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00:57:09.480 So, Brian, so I interrupted you kind of about the roots, and I've interrupted you a couple times, and I'm sorry about that.

00:57:14.020 You're good.

00:57:14.420 How did we come to, once they figured out the Ibogaine, the Bwiti?

00:57:19.500 The Bwiti.

00:57:20.340 The Bwiti.

00:57:22.460 How did they come to use it?

00:57:24.200 How is it used?

00:57:25.340 What is the actual usage of it like?

00:57:27.520 So, in the 60s, this guy by the name of Howard Lotzoff, who's from the United States, he was kind of a substance omnivore.

00:57:36.180 If it was there, he was going to take it.

00:57:37.760 He took Ibogaine.

00:57:38.700 You know, on the other side of that Ibogaine experience, though he had struggled with heroin addiction for a decade, on the other side, he didn't want no more heroin.

00:57:46.880 Okay, so after the use.

00:57:47.840 He didn't want no more withdrawal.

00:57:48.520 Wow.

00:57:49.140 So, in terms of how it works, a person will usually receive, in a clinic, if they go to Mexico, they'll receive two or three pills.

00:57:57.600 And within about an hour, you might hear some clicking in your ears and some heaviness.

00:58:02.500 And then you lay down.

00:58:04.480 And depending on the individual, that begins what is about a 10 to 12-hour process whereby you go on, and it's always respectful of your choice, an internal journey within.

00:58:18.200 When you say pills, what do you mean?

00:58:19.660 It's pills?

00:58:20.180 It's like a capsule.

00:58:21.500 Capsule of the root.

00:58:22.860 Of the root or of the Ibogaine alkaloid that has been extracted from the root.

00:58:28.560 Think about it as like a vitamin supplement.

00:58:31.380 Okay.

00:58:31.600 They've taken this tree bark, they've done a chemical synthesis, and they have created a powderized version of Ibogaine that they put into a capsule, and you take it.

00:58:40.100 So, that's the first thing.

00:58:41.200 You take it by pill form.

00:58:43.300 Okay.

00:58:43.880 So, you take it by pill form.

00:58:45.040 Then you have an experience.

00:58:46.960 You're laying there.

00:58:47.720 Are you by yourself?

00:58:48.540 Are you in a hospital room?

00:58:49.600 What's the experience?

00:58:50.380 If you're going to do it right, you have to be in a clinically controlled medical setting where there are medical professionals around you to monitor your heart at all times,

00:58:59.760 to make sure that you are receiving magnesium in connection with the Ibogaine to mitigate that cardiac risk that comes with its slowing of your heart.

00:59:07.500 You have to have someone there with you at all times who has medical skill, training, and expertise to assure that it is a safe experience.

00:59:15.360 So, as you are laying down, because you develop what I call ataxia, it's a tremulousness in your joints.

00:59:23.520 You can't stand or walk on your own, and you have to have mobility assistance.

00:59:27.220 When you are at all times oriented to where you're at and who's around you, Ibogaine is a respecter of individual choice and autonomy.

00:59:40.580 It's not going to do what ayahuasca or psilocybin does in terms of, you know, when you take it, it's going to take you where it's going to take you.

00:59:48.120 You really ain't got no control over the experience.

00:59:50.280 Ibogaine is an intelligent medicine, meaning if I don't want to see what it's going to show me, the only thing I've got to do is open my eyes.

00:59:58.980 I could have taken two or three Ibogaine pills three hours beforehand and be sitting here talking to you just as clear and coherent as I am right now.

01:00:07.980 But if I close my eyes and let the dark come in, then I might start to see some things about myself, my life, and what it means.

01:00:18.200 That was certainly my experience as well as the experience my wife had.

01:00:22.920 If at any time I wanted to interrupt that or I didn't like what I was seeing, I could ask it, show me something different.

01:00:28.880 It may show me something different.

01:00:30.580 If I don't want to see any of it, I just open my eyes and it's gone.

01:00:35.380 It at all times allows you to engage with it or disengage with it as you wish.

01:00:41.580 I can only really speak to my personal experience, and I've had two.

01:00:45.520 Okay. So you're laying there, you've taken the medicine, you're in a facilitated environment.

01:00:51.020 Yes, sir.

01:00:51.440 There's people around you that can take care of you.

01:00:53.540 That's correct.

01:00:54.080 So you feel completely comfortable.

01:00:55.860 Yes, sir.

01:00:56.400 Okay. Now you can open your eyes if you want it to stop.

01:00:59.320 That's right.

01:01:00.400 You can close your eyes if you want it to go there.

01:01:02.220 If you close your eyes and start to, do you, is it like a day, a dream that starts up?

01:01:07.000 How would you describe that feeling?

01:01:08.660 And then does it feel like you've had your eyes closed for five minutes?

01:01:11.960 Does it feel like you've had your eyes closed for five years?

01:01:13.760 What does that kind of feel like?

01:01:16.620 It's like a waking daydream.

01:01:18.980 You know, different people will describe different levels of visuality.

01:01:23.200 So for instance, my first Ibogaine journey, there were a few images at the beginning,

01:01:27.380 but for the most part, it was something that I felt rather than saw.

01:01:32.020 My wife, on the other hand, had a very visual experience.

01:01:35.500 It was something that she felt and saw simultaneously.

01:01:38.240 It was tremendously beautiful for her.

01:01:40.480 Yeah. Women are always like, well, guess what I saw, you know?

01:01:43.560 Yes.

01:01:43.960 And that's okay. We're not judging them.

01:01:46.120 But yeah, I mean, you could send your woman into their mailbox and she'll see 11 things, you know?

01:01:49.960 And that's fine.

01:01:50.860 But I'm good. We need them out there looking at stuff.

01:01:53.660 Ibogaine gave her a Van Gogh painting in terms of the beauty of it.

01:02:00.500 And my second experience was much more, I both saw it and I felt it.

01:02:07.100 And my wife had kind of a similar experience where it built on the first.

01:02:11.320 For both of us, each of our journeys built on the other in terms of what it showed us

01:02:18.460 and affirmed for us by way of those things in our lives that we needed to have reconciled for us.

01:02:26.720 Can you go ahead?

01:02:27.560 No, that's what it does for the individual.

01:02:29.960 Right.

01:02:30.640 It's going to go where you need it to go.

01:02:33.620 And I remember being prepared.

01:02:34.980 They said, you know, it may not give you what you want, but it's going to give you what you need.

01:02:39.260 Got it.

01:02:39.640 And is it male or female?

01:02:41.740 What is it?

01:02:43.580 Like, is the medicine?

01:02:45.420 It can be.

01:02:46.940 I've heard people describe Ibogaine as having a very male energy.

01:02:50.720 Okay.

01:02:50.880 It's like the grandfather.

01:02:53.260 Ayahuasca being the grandmother and with a more feminine energy.

01:02:57.020 You know, I've never had an ayahuasca experience, so I can't speak to that part of it.

01:03:01.280 But Ibogaine is consistently described as the grandfather.

01:03:04.320 Got it.

01:03:04.500 And the grandfather might be corrective or the grandfather may be loving.

01:03:09.100 But the grandfather is going to give you what the grandfather perceives that you need.

01:03:12.940 Got it.

01:03:13.760 Now, say if you lay there, can you just fall asleep?

01:03:15.760 At a certain point, through the effect, people can and sometimes do fall asleep.

01:03:23.060 If Ibogaine decides that you need that rest, you're going to get the rest.

01:03:26.760 Yeah.

01:03:27.380 If what you need is different from that, then you're not going to get the rest.

01:03:31.420 Got it.

01:03:32.040 Yeah.

01:03:32.260 I mean, that's just very similar with ayahuasca.

01:03:34.020 It's like, you know, you can go on with a couple of ideas.

01:03:36.600 They say, write down some things.

01:03:37.720 Like, I would like to know about this.

01:03:39.320 Why do I think like this?

01:03:40.820 Why does this happen in my life?

01:03:42.300 And some of them will be addressed by like mother ayahuasca.

01:03:45.380 That's what they call it.

01:03:46.240 And then some of them may not be right.

01:03:48.840 But you'll kind of get what you need in there.

01:03:50.940 Yeah.

01:03:51.060 You can sit there and close your eyes and really get into a crazy experience or a unique experience.

01:03:56.100 I shouldn't use the word crazy, but like a lot of times, yeah, I went back to my childhood

01:04:00.160 and like I would see why I behave certain ways as a kid or be able to process certain things

01:04:05.220 and kind of even a lot of it for me, a lot of times was like just crying,

01:04:10.400 like crying over things that had happened a long time ago.

01:04:12.600 But getting those tears out of my system, it was like squeezing a sponge so that now

01:04:17.380 the sponge could hold something new.

01:04:19.460 I mean, I was just so waterlogged with pain from my past that I couldn't get it out of me.

01:04:26.380 And so this thing was like really like just a damn spin cycle to pull that stuff out of you

01:04:31.200 and not just do it in a way where it's just sucking the pain out of you,

01:04:35.380 but to show you along the way and even to be there as almost like with ayahuasca,

01:04:41.360 it feels like God or somebody has their hand right there with you on their shoulder

01:04:44.740 or on the back of your neck and is just helping you process these things.

01:04:47.780 It doesn't feel like you're doing it alone, right?

01:04:49.860 So that was always very fascinating to me.

01:04:53.420 Like all these things that I, I don't know, I kind of knew, but I didn't really know.

01:05:00.080 And it just helped me like process them all.

01:05:02.220 And so then I just felt like I could finally breathe.

01:05:05.640 Like there was this room in my lungs for new air, you know,

01:05:10.340 and I'd never felt that my whole life.

01:05:12.500 You know, that's what it felt like.

01:05:13.880 So that experience, now you get done with the experience you're there for.

01:05:17.060 I mean, say you're, you've, you, you said, cause it's like an ataxia, you can't move.

01:05:21.160 Does that go away after a few minutes and then you're just laying there?

01:05:23.820 What's that like?

01:05:24.560 It's 10 to 12 hours.

01:05:25.780 So once you take them pills,

01:05:27.060 you're on the front end of what's going to be a 10 to 12 hour experience.

01:05:30.920 And that experience is the ataxia.

01:05:33.160 For many people, it is also nausea where you're throwing up a lot.

01:05:36.560 It's also the visuals.

01:05:38.060 It's also the feeling.

01:05:39.460 So in that 10 to 12 hours, you are in the high wave acute phase.

01:05:43.460 Do you have paralyzed kind of in a way?

01:05:45.020 Yes.

01:05:45.320 Now you can move your hands and arms and toes, but you can't stand.

01:05:50.700 You can't support your own weight.

01:05:52.300 You're real jittery.

01:05:53.840 It's a neurological effect that it produces of immobility.

01:05:57.560 And I would argue that it does so intelligently because it intends for you to be still so that

01:06:02.420 it can do with you and speak to you quietly.

01:06:06.780 And you don't have the capacity to be restless and distracted.

01:06:10.140 It's got you.

01:06:11.040 It has your attention.

01:06:12.320 Got it.

01:06:12.460 And then usually the next day, most people have what they call the gray day.

01:06:19.140 You've been up at this point for 24 hours.

01:06:22.360 You're going to be up for at least another 12.

01:06:25.020 You're physically exhausted.

01:06:26.780 Your brain has expended all of these neurochemicals that Ibogaine has produced, which is at the core

01:06:35.160 of its restorative function for the organ of the brain itself.

01:06:38.780 But you're wore out.

01:06:39.960 For me, it felt like I had the flu on steroids for about 24 hours.

01:06:44.460 I went back and just laid in the bed all day.

01:06:47.140 You're somewhat emotionally dysregulated.

01:06:49.080 I remember looking at my wife the day after, and I said, this is one of the worst decisions

01:06:55.280 I've ever made.

01:06:56.020 I should have never came down here.

01:06:57.280 I was filled with a tremendous amount of distress and doubt and felt bad and sad.

01:07:01.580 I mean, you're just emotionally dysregulated.

01:07:04.020 But then the following day, 48 hours out, everything starts to kind of come together mentally, physically, and spiritually.

01:07:15.380 And most of the clinics, the ones that we've been to, will give you 5-MeO-DMT two days later.

01:07:23.040 And the analogy that I've heard is that if Ibogaine sandblasts you, 5-MeO-DMT polishes you.

01:07:32.140 And that was certainly what my experience of it was.

01:07:36.700 I made a volcanic analogy.

01:07:39.480 If Ibogaine put magma in the mountain chamber, 5-MeO-DMT blew the top off of that mountain.

01:07:46.820 God!

01:07:47.800 And it is not recreational.

01:07:52.180 It is not a party.

01:07:53.440 Hell no.

01:07:54.400 But it is profound.

01:07:55.720 Okay.

01:07:56.660 And it is not an end.

01:07:59.600 It is not a destination.

01:08:00.820 It is a beginning.

01:08:03.260 And what you do with that beginning is within your full and complete control, looking at yourself and the world with a new set of eyes.

01:08:13.060 Understood.

01:08:14.820 So the day between, just to go back briefly just to the actual day-to-day of it, of you guys' experience, are you guys back in a room together?

01:08:24.080 And you're just kind of like, just kind of recovering that day before the 5-MeO-DMT?

01:08:29.620 So the day after Ibogaine, we were in a room together.

01:08:33.400 We just kind of laid in bed.

01:08:35.240 She cried tears of joy all day long while I was over curled up in a fetal position, just wondering what in the world I had done to myself.

01:08:43.380 And why was she joyous then?

01:08:44.680 Ibogaine gave her a tremendous amount of love and affirmation that was connected to her own divinity, her relationship with her mother, whether she was a daughter that was worthy of the kind of mother that she had.

01:09:00.560 Her mother was a saintly individual, and she had always struggled with feelings of inadequacy, of not living up to who her mother was.

01:09:08.280 Ibogaine helped her reconcile that conflict that had been at the center of her adulthood in a way that was just spectacular.

01:09:16.600 When she came over to me, so you asked where we were at.

01:09:19.880 During the treatment itself, the first time we did it, we were in a treatment room, and there were three Special Forces guys between us.

01:09:27.560 She was on one end of the room, and I was on the other.

01:09:29.560 We were laying on mattresses in this big treatment room, and she came to quicker than I did.

01:09:36.460 And I can remember she tapped me on the shoulder, and I lifted my eye mask, and I mean, she was just beaming the radiance of joy on her.

01:09:46.260 I looked at her immediately, and I thank God because—

01:09:49.720 Yeah, she's cute.

01:09:50.860 Over the history of our relationship, she'd always been very much a left-brain rationalist.

01:09:55.980 She wasn't somebody who would have any sort of real spiritual discussions or anything like that.

01:10:01.200 A real—she is a left-brain rationalist alpha female kind of lady.

01:10:07.380 I ain't got time for a bunch of, you know, spiritual this or foofy that or whatever.

01:10:12.360 And when I initially talked to her about receiving it, she's like, I'm not into that.

01:10:17.540 If you want to go do it, I'll go down there with you.

01:10:19.720 But as she heard the testimonies in Kentucky when I was running the commission, we had hearings to have people come in and talk about it,

01:10:26.460 to inform the people at home as to what this was and what it could do,

01:10:30.700 and why it was worthy of taking a little bit of our settlement money to try to have it developed as a drug.

01:10:35.660 She said, you know, I think if for no other reason, I want to see if I can come off of my Celexa.

01:10:42.140 She had had a mood disorder that she developed after her son was born in 2001.

01:10:47.660 She went into a profound postpartum depression.

01:10:51.680 Whatever that depression did to her mind or to her brain caused a chemical imbalance,

01:10:57.460 and that chemical imbalance became manifest through the development of a psychotic mood disorder

01:11:03.640 where she would experience these really violent mood swings.

01:11:08.520 And when she would have these episodes, she could be a danger to herself and others in my face.

01:11:14.640 You know what I'm saying?

01:11:16.180 So before we went to the clinic in 2023,

01:11:22.280 they said she's going to have to come off of her Celexa for five days

01:11:26.320 because if she's taking it, when she gets down here, it will blunt the effect.

01:11:29.700 And Theo, I had just like broke into a cold sweat immediately.

01:11:33.900 Yeah, we got to keep her on it.

01:11:35.080 I said, gentlemen, we ain't going to make it.

01:11:37.280 I said, I can't be in this house with her one day without it, let alone five.

01:11:41.820 It's impossible.

01:11:43.040 I'm sorry.

01:11:43.560 We ain't going to come.

01:11:44.580 They said, we hear you.

01:11:46.200 We work with people like this all the time.

01:11:48.360 We're going to give you a supplementation regimen.

01:11:51.260 She's going to get edgy, but you'll get her down here.

01:11:54.600 She did get edgy.

01:11:55.640 She got edgy.

01:11:57.120 Did she?

01:11:57.560 But we got her down.

01:11:58.520 I mean, a little bit more grumpy, a little bit more cussie.

01:12:00.940 Like Alexa Bliss or something?

01:12:01.840 Like a damn wrestler?

01:12:03.140 Yeah, you could have put her in a pro wrestling ring

01:12:05.760 and she'd been ready to rip some lady's head off.

01:12:07.900 We could have probably got her in that condition.

01:12:11.080 But we get her to Mexico.

01:12:14.620 Theo, her line to Alexa was November 23rd, 2023.

01:12:19.560 Really?

01:12:19.900 She's not had a pill since.

01:12:21.320 That's true.

01:12:22.540 And the metamorphosis.

01:12:23.660 Is it shocking to you that that's the truth?

01:12:26.320 It is.

01:12:27.320 I would never, never have believed that it would have been possible.

01:12:31.760 I thought on best case, you know, after we get home,

01:12:34.960 she'll probably make it three to six months and we'll have to put her back home.

01:12:38.320 She's been off ever since.

01:12:39.480 And the metamorphosis that has occurred within her and that continues to occur demonstrates to me the reality

01:12:48.700 of the fundamental evolution that an ibogaine experience specifically and a plant medicine experience more broadly can produce for the human being when it is approached with the right intention.

01:13:02.260 Amen.

01:13:02.740 So how does ibogaine help for alcoholism, for drug addiction, for PTSD?

01:13:11.180 How does it actually help?

01:13:13.020 Ibogaine's mechanism of action or what is the question of how is a mystery.

01:13:21.480 No one understands how it does what it does, but we know what it does.

01:13:25.600 When it comes to polysubstance dependency, and I mean opioids, stimulants like cocaine, meth, for which we have absolutely zero medical treatments in the entire sphere of Western medicine.

01:13:41.500 Alcohol or any other physiologically dependent cause and substance, ibogaine has the unique and singular ability to essentially restore the brain itself and its neurochemical processes to the condition that it was in before an individual ever took the first substance.

01:14:04.340 So for instance, with opioids, no matter how long somebody has taken opioids, there is published literature, which says that for 80% of folks who take a single dose, that a single dose of ibogaine, yes, sir, a single treatment completely and fully eliminates any desire for reuse, as well as any semblance of opioid withdrawal syndrome.

01:14:29.100 So for somebody who's opioid-dependent, their brain can't produce dopamine and serotonin.

01:14:35.380 These are our instinct chemicals.

01:14:37.900 They're what drive eating, drinking, procreating, fighting, and running, dopamine and serotonin.

01:14:45.600 When an opioid-dependent individual can't get their pills, and when they engage in what everybody thinks is just depraved criminality, where we're actually looking at are the symptoms of a profound neurochemical brain injury, where that person is starved for dopamine and serotonin production.

01:15:03.100 The brain has to be completely free from opioid exposure for at least a year and a half before it will begin to produce its own dopamine and serotonin.

01:15:15.560 So suboxone and methadone are substitute opioids.

01:15:20.180 They're given at dosages that are lower so that an individual can have a restoration of functioning without experiencing withdrawal.

01:15:27.500 And the prolonged depression and craving that lasts sometimes for years that go with the absence of opioids.

01:15:35.700 Ibogaine essentially, in 36 to 48 hours, fully and completely restores the brain's own organic dopamine and serotonin production to that which existed before the person ever had their first substance.

01:15:49.280 Wow.

01:15:49.720 So, for instance, Special Forces veterans.

01:15:53.860 We've been at war for 25 years now.

01:15:56.220 We have thousands of young men and women who have returned home with wounds to their mind, body, and soul.

01:16:03.980 They have gone through the Veterans Administration, which has at its disposal all the synthetic pharmacology that the big pharma industry has produced.

01:16:14.140 The sum total of which is to basically numb the individual to their pain, whether it's in the case of opioids, the physical pain, or whether it is the emotional pain through which people get Prozac and Xanax and all those others that numb us and anesthetize us.

01:16:32.740 As these veterans would experience these repeated treatment failures, where no matter how much numb an agent they were given, they could not escape the consequences of physical and emotional trauma of war.

01:16:48.860 They became ready to end their life.

01:16:52.400 Well, for sure, because I think one of the things that it doesn't fix your soul.

01:16:55.760 I mean, your soul doesn't want to be at war.

01:16:57.160 Imagine, like, your soul is built for love and for connection, and then you go and are a part of something that is, you know, now I understand it can be good for the society you're from and that that is your job and what you've committed to do and to do it well on behalf of the peace of your people, right?

01:17:16.860 I totally understand that, but I think there's a deeper part of us that doesn't want to do that at all, right?

01:17:23.080 And so, yeah, that part, how do you start to heal that part?

01:17:26.720 Because big pharma can't do that, you know?

01:17:29.180 The consequence of war is profound trauma, and profound trauma cannot be resolved through medications that do nothing other than numb you to the consequences of that trauma.

01:17:40.060 It is still there.

01:17:40.900 30,177 suicides amongst U.S. service members and veterans of the post-9-11 wars.

01:17:49.820 Wow.

01:17:51.020 The study finds that at least four times as many active-duty personnel and war veterans of post-9-11 conflicts have died of suicide than in combat, and an estimated 30,177 have died by suicide.

01:18:02.360 The report notes that the increasing rates of suicide for both veterans and active-duty personnel are outpacing those of the general population, an alarming shift as suicide rates among service members have historically been lower than the suicide rates among the general population.

01:18:19.500 The report finds that these high suicide rates are caused by multiple factors, including risks inherent to fighting in any war, such as high exposure to trauma, stress, military culture, and training, and the difficulty of reintegrating into civilian life.

01:18:37.500 But the study also finds there are factors unique to the post-9-11 era, including a huge increase in exposure to improvised explosive devices, IEVs, and an attendant rise in traumatic brain injuries.

01:18:52.340 Wow.

01:18:52.860 So, as veterans are returning from war with traumas that could not in any way be adequately addressed by the treatment options that we have, there were people who had traveled to Cabón who had come into contact with the weedy knowledge of the restorative effects that iboga and ibogaine can produce.

01:19:11.740 And they set up shop south of the border in Mexico, and slowly but steadily, veterans in the late 2000s, early 2010s, started going to Mexico to get ibogaine treatment as the Hail Mary passed to save their lives.

01:19:27.980 Veterans were in 2010, they started going.

01:19:30.040 Late 2000s, early 2010s.

01:19:33.320 Got it.

01:19:33.560 This dynamic of veterans returning home, hearing word of mouth about ibogaine, thinking this sounds crazy and out of this world, but I'm going to kill myself.

01:19:43.120 And I've got to do something to see if I can get some relief.

01:19:47.540 Well, as they came back, you know, steadily an increase in numbers, there became this recognition that these veterans who were being treated with, in some cases,

01:20:02.680 dozens of prescriptions, taking handfuls of pills every day for conditions that were not being effectively treated with this bombardment of synthetic pharmacology,

01:20:14.460 were returning with these miracle stories of recovery that just sounded too good to be true.

01:20:19.940 Not only had they essentially obtained relief from treatment-resistant anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress,

01:20:27.520 and had seen a restoration in their ability to function globally, but they were no longer substance-dependent.

01:20:34.640 Wow.

01:20:34.860 They were not substance-dependent on the alcohol that they were drinking to kill their pain, didn't want no more of it,

01:20:39.480 and they didn't need to take all those drugs that had been prescribed through the VA system produced by Big Pharma.

01:20:45.280 They were restored individuals who had been liberated from all of those chemical dependencies.

01:20:51.600 A philanthropist wanted to understand what was going on to explain what sounded like miraculous recovery experiences.

01:21:01.660 And the question was, is there anything to this, or is this the placebo effect?

01:21:05.480 These guys just gone down there, they've had some sort of, you know, they've had some sort of psychological experience,

01:21:11.240 and it's just flipped this switch that's made them see things different.

01:21:14.300 What is going on?

01:21:15.780 So, in 2018, a researcher by the name of Dr. Nolan Williams, who is a neuropsychiatrist at Stanford University,

01:21:24.100 collected a cohort of 30 veterans who were ready to end their lives,

01:21:29.760 who were suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress, treatment-resistant anxiety and depression,

01:21:37.120 as well as traumatic brain injury.

01:21:39.920 And each of these veterans, through an organization called VETS, or Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions,

01:21:47.260 were about to go to Mexico to get Ibogaine treatment.

01:21:50.060 So, Dr. Williams and his team conducted MRI images of the brains of these veterans before treatment,

01:21:57.960 so that they would have a comparison to make after treatment.

01:22:00.860 Simultaneously, they constructed this enormous database of hundreds of thousands of MRI images of healthy brains

01:22:10.600 covering the adult lifespan, so that there would be a baseline by which to compare the veterans

01:22:16.940 as they both before and after their treatment.

01:22:21.000 After the results were produced and compiled and generated by Dr. Williams' team,

01:22:26.900 he looked at them, and he had everything deleted and told his team to go back and start from scratch

01:22:33.600 because he thought the results were the result of a tremendous calculation error.

01:22:40.720 And he told his team, there's no way this is correct.

01:22:44.600 Delete everything, go back and rerun all of your data,

01:22:48.100 and let's see if what you have produced is replicated.

01:22:50.980 And sure enough, it was.

01:22:52.060 Wow.

01:22:52.840 And what the data showed was this.

01:22:54.720 As you may know, there's not a single pill, medication, or treatment somebody can get

01:23:01.440 that will regenerate brain tissue.

01:23:04.400 When it's gone, it's gone.

01:23:06.760 In the cases of these veterans, the white matter that covers the surface of our brains

01:23:11.980 is the highway across which all of our thoughts and impulses travel, grew and thickened in size.

01:23:17.300 The centers of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and executive functioning grew in size.

01:23:24.220 And according to Dr. Williams, the average reversal of brain age among the cohort of 30 veterans

01:23:31.020 was one and a half years, with the top group of five seeing a reversal of brain age of almost five years.

01:23:38.280 All the little black dots that were on the pre-treatment MRIs, which indicated dead brain tissue from traumatic brain injury,

01:23:47.500 were gone on the post-treatment MRIs.

01:23:51.380 This came from a single treatment for each of these 30 men.

01:23:54.880 And the symptoms of treatment-resistant anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress for 88% of them

01:24:01.220 was in complete and total remission six months out.

01:24:04.460 Wow.

01:24:04.540 They continued to be monitored.

01:24:06.520 All of them experienced a significant increase in their ability to just function and exist in day-to-day life.

01:24:13.560 And in almost every case, none of them had to go back on any of the medications that were given to them through the VA system.

01:24:20.780 Marcus Latrell, who, as you may know, is a lone survivor who was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg,

01:24:25.820 is probably the most notable living example of what Ibogaine can do to restore the mind, body, and soul

01:24:36.440 of the traumatized individual, whether that trauma was produced by war

01:24:40.960 or through the horrors of a terrible childhood captive to parents or no parents

01:24:46.100 who were just left to be raised by the coarse hands of this world.

01:24:49.320 He is somebody who exemplifies what it can do to reorient an individual's relationship with themselves and the world

01:24:58.860 and to produce an entirely new reality that is rooted in their human divinity.

01:25:04.040 Wow.

01:25:04.340 And that's Marcus Latrell?

01:25:05.680 Yes, sir.

01:25:06.280 I'm not familiar with him.

01:25:08.340 He's a living man?

01:25:09.600 He is a living man.

01:25:10.880 He's a big living man as well.

01:25:12.620 Marcus Latrell, he began training for the U.S. Navy SEALs at age of 14,

01:25:17.060 enlisted in the U.S. Navy in March 1999.

01:25:20.580 He went to BUDS, became a Navy—go back down.

01:25:25.260 BUDS became a Navy SEAL, deployed to Afghanistan with SEAL Team 10,

01:25:32.280 involved in a lot of operations.

01:25:35.180 His SEAL team was ambushed.

01:25:36.640 Only Latrell survived.

01:25:37.760 Wow.

01:25:38.160 He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the operation.

01:25:40.800 Man.

01:25:40.900 Yeah, I know you mentioned—and thank you for your service, Mr. Latrell.

01:25:47.500 Yeah, I would like to meet that guy.

01:25:48.720 He sounds very interesting.

01:25:51.920 Do—and so you guys had an experience recently in Texas

01:25:54.860 where you were able to achieve some litigation, right?

01:26:02.100 Or was it litigation, or was it—

01:26:03.580 It was the passage of the largest single public investment

01:26:08.320 for psychedelic research and medical development in all of history,

01:26:12.200 and we got it done in the state of Texas.

01:26:14.420 It was the successful completion of the project that I began in Kentucky.

01:26:19.560 We began our conversation discussing me coming into the role of running the opioid commission in that state.

01:26:25.660 I had proposed that we take $42 million of the state's opioid settlements

01:26:30.080 to get Ibogaine through the FDA's drug development process

01:26:33.120 as a breakthrough therapeutic for opioid dependency

01:26:36.020 because of what it can do within 36 to 48 hours

01:26:39.760 to essentially fully resolve any withdrawal from opioids.

01:26:42.860 That project was terminated.

01:26:45.880 Well, let me back up.

01:26:47.820 That project received great bipartisan support while it was under consideration in Kentucky.

01:26:52.860 In Kentucky?

01:26:53.340 Yes, sir.

01:26:54.040 And I am convinced that if it had gone to a ballot vote

01:26:57.180 the way they do in California for different initiatives,

01:27:00.160 people in Kentucky would have voted for it 60-40.

01:27:02.620 But unfortunately, that state has a history whereby its power structure oftentimes serves itself

01:27:09.260 first and foremost, often to the detriment of everyday people.

01:27:14.200 And in the case of Ibogaine in Kentucky, that's exactly what happened.

01:27:17.720 Even in a state that was so afflicted by the opioid epidemic?

01:27:21.360 That's correct, because you have some people in power there

01:27:24.720 who have profited handsomely off of their association with the creators of the opioid epidemic.

01:27:29.800 For instance, current Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and his father Steve Beshear

01:27:36.560 were partners in a law firm called Stantz & Harbison

01:27:39.340 while Stantz & Harbison represented Purdue Pharma

01:27:44.120 in their litigation against the people of Kentucky.

01:27:48.080 A case that was worth $1 billion was settled for a measly $24 million

01:27:54.540 just days before Andy Beshear became the Attorney General of Kentucky.

01:27:58.840 Wow. So that feels like, allegedly, that is some stink to it,

01:28:04.040 because that should have been a much bigger settlement.

01:28:06.380 Should have been a much bigger settlement,

01:28:07.920 and there certainly should have been some examination and interrogation

01:28:11.900 in connection with how that settlement came to pass.

01:28:14.640 Break up a picture of Mr. Beshear so I even know what he looks like.

01:28:17.440 So often we have people making choices for us,

01:28:20.080 and we just don't get a gander at them.

01:28:22.500 Look at this fellow right there.

01:28:24.460 Where is he from?

01:28:25.600 He is the son of former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear.

01:28:32.140 He is a guy who I think you and I, Theo, grew up around a lot.

01:28:36.680 Born on third base, thinks he hit a triple,

01:28:39.580 likes to talk a lot about his religiosity,

01:28:42.680 his positions in the church house,

01:28:45.220 and likes to do a whole lot of using performative public piety

01:28:50.100 to hide what happens behind them closed doors at the Capitol.

01:28:54.640 Yeah, it's just unfortunate.

01:28:55.700 I don't understand how you wouldn't give every opportunity for your people,

01:29:00.620 especially in a state that was so devastated.

01:29:03.620 Yeah, born in Louisville, went to Vanderbilt.

01:29:07.160 That's a bummer.

01:29:08.240 I mean, Vanderbilt's great, but I just think he would, you know,

01:29:13.280 that just bums me out because it's here in town,

01:29:15.360 so he was just milling around here.

01:29:17.700 He was hired by the law firm Stites and Harbison.

01:29:20.900 Oh, you're not going to see that on his Wikipedia entry.

01:29:24.020 Oh, they won't put that on there.

01:29:25.460 They're not going to draw the fine line of association

01:29:29.100 between he and his daddy, their law firm, and Purdue Pharma.

01:29:32.700 They're going to try to run him for president in 2028.

01:29:35.460 Did that really happen?

01:29:37.420 That really happened.

01:29:38.460 Well, just Google it.

01:29:39.400 Andy Beshear, did Stites and Harbison?

01:29:42.280 Beshear, the governor's office points out,

01:29:44.540 worked for Louisville-based Stites and Harbison,

01:29:46.580 the law firm representing Purdue Pharma,

01:29:48.780 against the people of Kentucky.

01:29:50.420 Wow, there we go.

01:29:51.720 I can't believe $24 million.

01:29:54.340 It's grotesque.

01:29:55.980 I remember thinking $24 million was an awfully low amount, Robinson said.

01:29:59.160 I mean, look at what Oklahoma got,

01:30:00.480 and they haven't been hit with the crisis we have.

01:30:04.020 Let me see.

01:30:04.840 Stumbo goes further in his criticism of the case,

01:30:06.860 his handling by both of his successors

01:30:08.580 and lends credibility to an attack being levied by Republican Governor Matt Bevin,

01:30:12.920 who has raised conflict of interest questions surrounding Beshear and Conway.

01:30:16.580 Beshear, the governor's office points out,

01:30:18.340 worked for Louisville-based Stites and Harbison,

01:30:21.040 the law firm representing Purdue Pharma against the state,

01:30:24.640 before being elected attorney general in 2015.

01:30:27.400 So, he worked for the law firm representing Purdue Pharma against the state.

01:30:31.780 That's correct.

01:30:32.560 So, he worked for Purdue Pharma.

01:30:36.000 He worked for the law firm that worked for Purdue Pharma.

01:30:39.680 And, Theo, I am a lawyer.

01:30:42.560 I went to law school.

01:30:44.540 I was a partner in a couple of law firms.

01:30:46.900 And I can tell you,

01:30:48.320 any law partner who draws a partner's draw from a firm

01:30:51.940 is receiving cash from its collective clientele.

01:30:55.480 Now, there's not one part of cash that comes from one client to one lawyer

01:30:59.960 and another pot of cash that goes from one lawyer to another,

01:31:02.760 particularly in an insurance defense firm like Stites and Harbison.

01:31:06.200 There's one big communal pot of money.

01:31:08.600 So, if Stites and Harbison is making money

01:31:10.840 representing Purdue Pharma against the people of Kentucky,

01:31:14.000 as partners in that law firm,

01:31:16.060 Steve and Andy Beshear were making money

01:31:18.520 off of Stites and Harbison representing Purdue Pharma

01:31:21.660 against the people of Kentucky.

01:31:23.060 And that is the very best that can be said for the situation.

01:31:27.580 I mean, allegedly, that would be how it would work.

01:31:30.120 But then, how does he get over to represent?

01:31:33.160 How does he retire from there and just get to come into office?

01:31:36.380 Well, it's his dad who retires.

01:31:38.900 His dad retires as governor.

01:31:40.820 He goes back into law practice.

01:31:42.260 And then, Andy becomes the attorney general.

01:31:44.540 In the meantime, while his daddy's governor,

01:31:47.220 the firm's representing Purdue Pharma.

01:31:48.900 And when Andy goes in to be attorney general,

01:31:51.300 the firm is still representing Purdue Pharma.

01:31:53.320 You see how all that works?

01:31:55.240 And lawyers would tell you,

01:31:56.320 oh, we have these ethical rules,

01:31:58.660 and we didn't talk about it,

01:32:00.020 and we didn't discuss it.

01:32:01.960 What was it that we talked about in terms of how evil operates?

01:32:05.460 It does so with the respectability of white-collar suits

01:32:08.820 and fancy degrees.

01:32:09.860 I think that we can see what underlying reality might be

01:32:15.100 as opposed to what's presented.

01:32:18.360 I mean, it feels like there certainly would be

01:32:19.820 a conflict of interest there to me.

01:32:21.480 That's what that does feel like.

01:32:23.140 And is so, but did he get elected to attorney general?

01:32:26.460 He was elected to be the attorney general by-

01:32:29.060 So the people voted on it.

01:32:30.800 They didn't know about this.

01:32:32.180 So at the time that he was running for attorney general,

01:32:34.880 state media did not in any way confirm or advertise the fact

01:32:39.980 that Andy Beshear was a law partner at the firm

01:32:43.720 that was representing Purdue Pharma

01:32:45.240 while he was running for attorney general.

01:32:47.200 This was not a fact that came out before he was elected.

01:32:49.900 He was elected by, I think, 1,000 votes in that election.

01:32:53.600 And he received criticism from then-Governor Matt Bevin

01:32:58.020 for the relationship.

01:32:59.520 And essentially, Governor Bevin's criticisms, as you saw,

01:33:03.220 they were repeated by one of the state's paper.

01:33:06.240 But that relationship has never received

01:33:08.720 any sort of real in-depth examination or investigation.

01:33:13.100 Hopefully, that'll happen before he runs for president in 28.

01:33:15.920 Oh, that's pretty fascinating.

01:33:17.340 And so who's the governor now?

01:33:18.780 Governor is Andy Beshear.

01:33:20.040 It is.

01:33:20.580 So he went from being attorney general to being governor.

01:33:24.040 And now he is talked about as a top-tier candidate

01:33:27.020 for president in 2028.

01:33:29.000 And anybody who listens to this show just needs to know,

01:33:31.460 he was a law partner at the law firm

01:33:33.740 that represented Purdue Pharma against his own people

01:33:36.300 while he was a partner there.

01:33:38.600 And then that settlement happened.

01:33:39.780 And then recently, after that settlement,

01:33:41.240 he ended up as attorney general?

01:33:42.340 That is correct.

01:33:43.580 Dang, dude.

01:33:45.720 What?

01:33:46.800 So this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, though.

01:33:50.200 This is a bipartisan issue.

01:33:51.800 Oh, yeah.

01:33:52.420 Well, I think it's at this point,

01:33:53.800 it's become the people versus the government.

01:33:56.780 It's neither one of these sides.

01:33:58.000 I think we've started to realize, certainly here on this show,

01:34:00.460 is that nobody has our interest.

01:34:02.760 Very few people, it feels like, have our interest anymore.

01:34:06.300 It's us against both of them.

01:34:08.500 It feels like 95% of the time.

01:34:12.780 It is scary.

01:34:14.500 It is the conflict between those of us

01:34:16.860 who recognize that we are of God

01:34:19.000 versus those of us who aim to play God.

01:34:22.360 That is the conflict.

01:34:24.800 And there are members of both parties on each team.

01:34:28.880 And what's important in the here and now

01:34:30.640 is that those of us who recognize that we are of God,

01:34:33.900 regardless of what we call ourselves,

01:34:36.560 gay, straight, trans, black, white, purple, green, red,

01:34:43.900 rich, poor, middle class,

01:34:46.320 we are all one human family

01:34:48.300 under the hand of our benevolent loving creator

01:34:51.200 whose stardust runs through our veins.

01:34:54.220 And it is us versus every other hand

01:34:56.260 that would seek to control

01:34:57.460 and separate us from each other.

01:34:59.240 Amen, man.

01:35:00.300 Yeah, it's time for people who believe to rise up,

01:35:03.080 I believe, you know?

01:35:04.140 And I don't mean that in any, like, yeah, anybody,

01:35:06.480 because it's like,

01:35:07.620 how much more proof do you need

01:35:10.100 that they're trying to extinguish,

01:35:13.140 like, what makes us us, you know?

01:35:15.520 That they're, like, how much,

01:35:18.260 like, what other proof do we need, you know?

01:35:22.600 It's dark.

01:35:23.940 So you had the convergence of Democrats

01:35:25.760 and Republicans in Kentucky,

01:35:27.620 the current Kentucky governor,

01:35:29.160 the current Kentucky attorney general,

01:35:31.120 Democrat and Republican,

01:35:32.380 came together with the University of Kentucky

01:35:34.540 to kill the Ibogaine project there in that state.

01:35:37.300 I came to work for a foundation

01:35:40.260 called the Reed Foundation,

01:35:41.660 whose founder, Rick Selsas, had a son

01:35:43.600 who he lost to a fentanyl overdose in 2019.

01:35:46.800 His name was Reed.

01:35:48.080 And the Reed Foundation stands

01:35:49.400 for reaching everyone in distress.

01:35:51.520 Went to work with them for about a year and a half

01:35:54.420 looking for a state that would have

01:35:56.020 the sort of leadership with the vision

01:35:57.920 and courage to take this on.

01:35:59.840 And then in the fall of 2024,

01:36:03.040 I reached out to former Texas governor, Rick Perry,

01:36:05.440 who had supported me in the Kentucky campaign

01:36:07.880 and advised him that I had been contacted

01:36:10.420 by some stakeholders in the state of Texas

01:36:12.340 who said, hey,

01:36:13.820 our state passed a $2 million psilocybin research project

01:36:17.400 back in 2021 called House Bill 1802.

01:36:21.440 And Texas has a $16 billion budget surplus

01:36:24.560 for its 2025 legislative session.

01:36:27.940 What do you think Texas's next big project

01:36:30.620 around the advancement of psychedelics should be?

01:36:33.420 And my answer was,

01:36:34.420 Texas needs to finish the job

01:36:36.340 that I started in Kentucky.

01:36:38.100 So once I received confirmed interest

01:36:40.340 that there were some legislators

01:36:41.540 who would be willing to do that,

01:36:43.420 I reached out to former Texas governor, Rick Perry,

01:36:45.760 and I said, Governor,

01:36:47.460 I have, I'm not from your state.

01:36:50.580 I ain't no Texan,

01:36:51.760 but here's the telephone call I've had.

01:36:53.580 What do you think?

01:36:54.660 He said, you know,

01:36:55.280 I've tried to stay out of the way

01:36:56.440 since my great successor came into office in 2015.

01:36:59.820 But if you're telling me

01:37:01.520 that you're willing to come to Texas

01:37:02.880 and help make Ibogaine a reality here,

01:37:05.460 I'm ready to get back in the scene.

01:37:07.440 And so Theo, as we sit here,

01:37:09.680 Texas is just a little under one month out

01:37:12.340 and Governor Abbott has having signed

01:37:15.080 the single largest public investment

01:37:18.540 in psychedelic research and medical development

01:37:21.040 in all of history.

01:37:21.920 And that is $50 million

01:37:23.160 to create a public-private partnership

01:37:25.260 to see Ibogaine developed

01:37:27.640 as a breakthrough therapeutic

01:37:29.020 for substance use disorder,

01:37:31.260 co-occurring alcohol use disorder,

01:37:34.480 and any other mental health

01:37:35.800 or neurological conditions

01:37:37.200 for which it demonstrates efficacy.

01:37:39.620 Wow.

01:37:40.180 Can that be include gambling,

01:37:41.820 sex and love addiction?

01:37:42.800 It could be a lot of types of addiction,

01:37:44.460 do you believe?

01:37:45.060 There are individuals

01:37:46.540 who have gone in for Ibogaine treatment

01:37:49.000 with substance dependencies

01:37:52.100 have come away

01:37:53.640 with the unintended reality

01:37:55.700 of having some behavioral compulsions

01:37:58.060 broken as well.

01:37:59.460 It is an all-purpose addiction interrupter

01:38:01.980 which seems to give a folk person a window

01:38:04.700 to basically reorient their relationships

01:38:07.820 with substances and behaviors

01:38:09.760 in a way which they have the choice of,

01:38:12.020 they have the control of choice

01:38:13.540 rather than being driven by compulsion.

01:38:16.260 So when you say that they have a window,

01:38:17.640 like what does that window look like

01:38:18.960 that's created by Ibogaine

01:38:20.440 and the experience from Ibogaine,

01:38:22.660 like after Ibogaine,

01:38:23.740 like you get back home

01:38:24.920 after your Ibogaine, right?

01:38:26.780 What does that window look like,

01:38:28.540 feel like,

01:38:29.180 how do you best operate

01:38:30.680 within that window

01:38:31.500 as someone who's just gone

01:38:32.680 under the influence of the medication?

01:38:36.260 So there's another researcher

01:38:37.280 by the name of Dr. Gull,

01:38:39.140 G-U-L Dolan,

01:38:40.700 D-O-L-E-N.

01:38:42.740 Gull Dolan, it's a woman?

01:38:44.020 It's a woman.

01:38:44.700 She has Turkish background

01:38:46.000 and she has published research

01:38:48.820 around what is called

01:38:50.480 the reopening of the brain's critical period.

01:38:53.240 When we are children,

01:38:55.380 from birth until about three years old,

01:38:58.380 our brains are very malleable,

01:39:00.120 as you previously discussed.

01:39:01.740 And the things that we experience

01:39:03.940 make a significant impression upon us

01:39:06.300 during those first three years,

01:39:07.700 which is when people like you and I

01:39:09.360 have had a series of what they call the ACEs,

01:39:12.040 or adverse childhood experiences,

01:39:13.980 they can make a significant impact

01:39:15.900 that become manifest

01:39:17.240 in behaviors in adulthood

01:39:18.600 that can be destructive.

01:39:20.540 What Dr. Dolan has been able to do

01:39:22.580 is quantify the reopening

01:39:24.760 of the brain's critical period

01:39:26.600 that can be triggered

01:39:27.580 by different plant medicines

01:39:29.540 that basically put us back

01:39:31.740 in the same state of malleability

01:39:34.180 within the brain

01:39:35.000 that existed when we were born.

01:39:36.880 Wow.

01:39:37.040 So this is an exceptional opportunity

01:39:40.180 to rewire the brain

01:39:43.080 for new habits,

01:39:44.760 thoughts,

01:39:45.640 and behaviors.

01:39:47.260 Dr. Dolan has been able to quantify

01:39:49.240 that among all the psychedelics

01:39:51.380 or plant medicines

01:39:52.360 that Ibogaine opens up

01:39:54.960 the critical period for the brain

01:39:57.100 for the longest period of time

01:39:58.940 among them all.

01:40:00.360 Wow.

01:40:00.720 So if we think about

01:40:02.620 medicalizing Ibogaine

01:40:04.540 as a treatment

01:40:05.580 that we would introduce

01:40:06.760 through the United States

01:40:08.340 substance use

01:40:09.280 and mental health care infrastructure,

01:40:11.960 we are talking about

01:40:13.120 a profound opportunity

01:40:14.880 to revolutionize

01:40:16.340 how we treat trauma,

01:40:18.700 addiction,

01:40:19.140 as well as a host

01:40:20.300 of other neurological conditions

01:40:21.840 that adversely impact the brain

01:40:23.440 for which we have

01:40:24.060 no effective treatment.

01:40:25.240 There's another researcher

01:40:26.040 I'll mention

01:40:26.600 by the name of Dr.

01:40:29.180 Dalibor Samish,

01:40:30.820 and that's D-A-L-I-B-O-R-S-A-M-E-S.

01:40:34.340 He is a genius neurochemist

01:40:38.280 with Columbia University,

01:40:40.080 and he has coined a phrase

01:40:41.600 called matrix pharmacology

01:40:43.360 to describe Ibogaine's effects.

01:40:46.760 His goal is to apply

01:40:48.420 artificial intelligence

01:40:49.660 to pull apart

01:40:51.060 this extremely complex molecule

01:40:53.560 so that it can be specialized

01:40:55.320 to address conditions of the brain

01:40:57.660 for which we have no good answers.

01:40:59.560 Among those would be

01:41:00.560 Parkinson's disease,

01:41:01.900 multiple sclerosis,

01:41:03.120 Lyme disease,

01:41:03.820 and perhaps even

01:41:05.380 multiple forms of dementia,

01:41:06.960 among which Alzheimer's is one.

01:41:09.680 The matrix pharmacology,

01:41:11.720 as Dr. Samish explains,

01:41:13.620 is unparalleled

01:41:15.040 in the annals of modern science.

01:41:17.620 So what began

01:41:18.860 as an understanding

01:41:20.220 of profound spiritual significance

01:41:22.360 attached to this alkaloid

01:41:23.800 by the West African Bwedi peoples

01:41:25.920 translated into knowledge

01:41:27.800 of its addiction interruption properties

01:41:30.320 within the U.S. countercultural

01:41:31.960 of the 60s

01:41:32.880 has now emerged

01:41:34.560 as an opportunity

01:41:36.980 to create

01:41:38.560 a number of therapeutic

01:41:40.580 breakthroughs

01:41:41.440 across conditions

01:41:42.440 that are literally hobbling,

01:41:44.360 if not ending the lives

01:41:45.680 of millions of people

01:41:46.580 within the United States

01:41:48.000 and around the world.

01:41:49.740 Wow.

01:41:50.280 This is a once-in-a-multiple-lifetime

01:41:53.420 opportunity

01:41:54.380 to change

01:41:56.260 the future trajectory

01:41:57.680 of medical history

01:41:58.720 in a way

01:41:59.280 that can lift up

01:42:00.460 and improve

01:42:00.960 the lives

01:42:01.500 of millions of people

01:42:02.640 alive

01:42:03.280 and yet to be born.

01:42:06.540 And are there recommendations

01:42:07.580 when you leave

01:42:08.380 the facility

01:42:09.020 that they're like,

01:42:11.240 this is what you should do,

01:42:12.420 these are things

01:42:13.000 you should do

01:42:13.500 in the next month here,

01:42:14.700 like in this window,

01:42:16.080 what do they recommend?

01:42:17.080 Or is it just

01:42:17.800 that you go back

01:42:18.580 into your life

01:42:19.060 and you're so relieved

01:42:20.040 not having these things

01:42:21.020 that finally

01:42:21.980 the new things

01:42:23.500 you've already

01:42:24.020 been trying to do

01:42:24.800 are better able

01:42:25.480 to take hold?

01:42:26.460 Oh,

01:42:27.520 Ibogaine provides

01:42:28.580 a beginning.

01:42:30.040 That beginning

01:42:30.760 requires

01:42:31.680 ongoing

01:42:32.840 long-term

01:42:33.880 engagement

01:42:34.700 with support services

01:42:36.180 that can maximize

01:42:37.360 its potential

01:42:38.400 to allow a person

01:42:39.540 to essentially

01:42:40.380 recreate who they are

01:42:42.220 on the basis

01:42:43.360 of new thoughts,

01:42:46.120 behaviors,

01:42:47.080 and relationships

01:42:48.300 that can help them

01:42:49.860 redefine their future

01:42:51.180 in a way

01:42:51.640 that is entirely different

01:42:52.900 from their past.

01:42:53.700 If we find ourselves

01:42:55.320 prisoner to patterns

01:42:56.480 of thinking,

01:42:57.140 just think about it

01:42:57.840 like a ski slope.

01:42:59.720 When a ski slope opens,

01:43:01.600 people go down

01:43:02.180 the same slope

01:43:03.000 thousands of times

01:43:04.220 over the course

01:43:04.800 of a season.

01:43:06.220 That ski slope

01:43:07.620 becomes almost ice.

01:43:10.780 The pathway

01:43:12.000 is frozen in.

01:43:14.540 What Ibogaine does

01:43:15.920 is like a big blizzard

01:43:16.920 coming through

01:43:17.640 that dumps

01:43:18.520 a whole bunch

01:43:19.260 of fresh snow

01:43:20.120 on all of those paths

01:43:22.320 that previously

01:43:23.120 had been entrenched

01:43:24.200 in ice

01:43:24.940 and were unmovable.

01:43:26.500 You have an opportunity

01:43:27.440 to create

01:43:28.300 entirely new pathways.

01:43:30.580 But if you take somebody,

01:43:32.120 so for instance,

01:43:33.360 with the generation

01:43:34.400 that I come from,

01:43:35.640 I think you might be

01:43:36.400 about a half a step

01:43:37.320 behind me.

01:43:37.920 I'm Generation X

01:43:38.920 and I'm going to be

01:43:40.540 50 years old

01:43:41.420 in October.

01:43:42.960 Well,

01:43:43.220 we are the children

01:43:44.460 of a great social experiment

01:43:46.280 and that social experiment

01:43:48.220 saw the dissolution

01:43:50.260 of families

01:43:51.240 for 50% of us

01:43:53.080 who are alive.

01:43:54.060 We've never known

01:43:55.000 anything

01:43:55.740 by way of a familial

01:43:57.160 relationship

01:43:57.880 that we didn't choose

01:44:00.860 to create

01:44:01.680 on our own.

01:44:02.840 We had families

01:44:03.720 created around us

01:44:04.940 in the aftermath

01:44:05.580 of divorce.

01:44:06.940 Some of us

01:44:07.760 have had no families

01:44:08.760 at all

01:44:09.300 and have been allowed

01:44:10.740 to essentially

01:44:11.640 free roam

01:44:12.560 the world

01:44:13.220 and to be raised

01:44:14.600 by its calloused hands.

01:44:16.600 That is why

01:44:17.260 we see the symptomatology

01:44:18.880 of disconnection

01:44:19.940 as expressed

01:44:20.660 through the fatal deaths

01:44:21.620 of despair

01:44:22.180 that we've talked about

01:44:23.140 here today.

01:44:24.200 With a recognition

01:44:25.360 that these are

01:44:26.520 our generational realities,

01:44:28.820 the opportunity

01:44:29.960 before us

01:44:30.860 is likewise

01:44:31.480 a generational opportunity

01:44:33.380 to put a fresh

01:44:35.040 coat of snow

01:44:35.760 across our whole society

01:44:37.300 whereby we get

01:44:38.720 to reform

01:44:39.580 who we are

01:44:40.600 and how we will

01:44:41.440 relate to each other

01:44:42.540 in the aftermath

01:44:43.280 of what has been

01:44:44.300 generational trauma.

01:44:46.060 Yeah, I've walked out

01:44:46.720 of plant medicine ceremonies

01:44:47.680 and been like,

01:44:48.040 man, this could change

01:44:48.760 the whole world,

01:44:49.580 you know?

01:44:50.940 This could literally

01:44:51.840 change the whole world

01:44:52.620 because it just brings you

01:44:53.520 back such like

01:44:55.080 to what you're here for.

01:44:58.060 It like

01:44:58.460 just takes all

01:44:59.980 the bullshit away.

01:45:01.800 When the opioid epidemic

01:45:02.860 began,

01:45:04.040 you had individuals

01:45:05.400 who were going in

01:45:06.600 to have legitimate

01:45:07.500 medical conditions

01:45:08.580 treated

01:45:09.040 who came out

01:45:10.520 on the other side

01:45:11.300 of that treatment

01:45:11.920 as dependent individuals.

01:45:14.060 I'll use a story

01:45:14.760 of a young woman

01:45:15.520 whose name

01:45:16.260 I'm going to

01:45:17.300 use a pseudonym for.

01:45:19.060 And I heard about

01:45:19.640 this lady

01:45:20.140 in a town hall

01:45:20.960 I conducted in Kentucky

01:45:22.060 when I was running

01:45:22.700 the commission.

01:45:23.780 We wanted to hear

01:45:24.580 from communities

01:45:25.280 about how the money

01:45:26.120 should be spent

01:45:27.020 instead of just

01:45:27.860 making the decision

01:45:28.660 on our own

01:45:29.340 and spending it.

01:45:31.100 So in one of these

01:45:31.740 town halls,

01:45:32.440 I heard about the story

01:45:33.380 of a young woman

01:45:34.060 by the name of Tamara.

01:45:35.540 And this lady

01:45:36.320 who told her story

01:45:37.440 had met her

01:45:38.200 as a volunteer

01:45:38.960 at a clinic

01:45:40.780 for the survivors

01:45:42.200 of childhood sexual abuse.

01:45:44.900 She met a young girl

01:45:46.100 named Tamara

01:45:46.800 when Tamara was 10.

01:45:49.300 Tamara had been

01:45:50.280 horrifically

01:45:51.420 sexually abused

01:45:53.000 by one of her

01:45:53.680 family members

01:45:54.540 for years.

01:45:56.420 She had to undergo

01:45:57.840 a series

01:45:58.740 of reconstructive surgeries

01:46:00.800 because of the

01:46:01.860 physical trauma

01:46:02.640 that this family member

01:46:03.700 had inflicted upon her.

01:46:05.700 As she had

01:46:06.680 these surgeries,

01:46:08.280 she was given

01:46:09.180 opioids

01:46:10.040 to treat her pain.

01:46:12.520 This volunteer

01:46:13.460 lost touch

01:46:14.640 with Tamara

01:46:15.160 after she had

01:46:16.340 come to this

01:46:17.240 clinic

01:46:18.360 over the course

01:46:19.560 of a couple of years.

01:46:20.600 So after about age 12,

01:46:22.120 she went off,

01:46:23.640 went back

01:46:24.160 to the family

01:46:24.820 that was going

01:46:25.280 to take proper care

01:46:26.200 of her

01:46:26.580 and she didn't

01:46:27.080 see her again.

01:46:28.940 This volunteer

01:46:29.860 several years later

01:46:31.480 was going in

01:46:32.840 to provide

01:46:33.680 yoga therapy

01:46:35.040 to inmates

01:46:36.640 at the Perry County,

01:46:37.860 Kentucky

01:46:38.300 County Jail.

01:46:41.320 And she said

01:46:42.100 one day she was

01:46:42.820 in there

01:46:43.060 providing yoga therapy

01:46:44.140 and she noticed

01:46:44.740 this young woman

01:46:45.560 who was kind of

01:46:46.900 standoffish

01:46:47.700 and withdrawn

01:46:48.440 under herself,

01:46:49.600 but she had

01:46:50.540 this look

01:46:51.300 of familiarity

01:46:51.840 to her.

01:46:53.560 So she walked

01:46:54.540 over and said,

01:46:56.200 what's your name?

01:46:57.560 You look familiar

01:46:58.240 to me.

01:46:59.060 And the young woman

01:46:59.880 looked at her

01:47:00.440 and she said,

01:47:00.900 my name's Tamara.

01:47:02.140 And she said,

01:47:02.880 I know who you are.

01:47:04.800 And she refreshed

01:47:05.680 her memory

01:47:06.220 about the context

01:47:07.600 of their relationship

01:47:08.520 and where they had met.

01:47:10.440 And the volunteer said,

01:47:11.780 she looked at her

01:47:12.360 and she said,

01:47:12.940 how did you end up here?

01:47:14.980 Because her last reference

01:47:16.000 was this little

01:47:16.780 12-year-old girl

01:47:17.660 who she had worked

01:47:18.360 to overcome

01:47:19.020 the trauma

01:47:20.780 of the sexual abuse.

01:47:23.000 And she said,

01:47:23.480 Tamara looked up

01:47:24.240 at her

01:47:24.660 and she said,

01:47:26.020 well,

01:47:26.360 you remember,

01:47:27.420 I had to have

01:47:28.080 a series of surgeries

01:47:29.140 and was given opioids.

01:47:30.340 And she said,

01:47:32.260 because,

01:47:33.180 you know,

01:47:33.460 while I got past

01:47:34.600 my physical pain,

01:47:36.360 I never got past

01:47:37.660 the emotional pain

01:47:39.140 that came with

01:47:40.040 all the memories

01:47:40.860 of what I can recall

01:47:41.860 happened to me

01:47:42.560 and I kept taking

01:47:43.820 the pills

01:47:44.340 because the pills

01:47:46.460 could give me

01:47:47.680 some relief

01:47:48.540 from that

01:47:49.980 unending pain

01:47:51.420 of those memories.

01:47:52.940 And she said,

01:47:53.480 I got busted.

01:47:54.620 So a young woman

01:47:55.860 who was traumatized

01:47:58.140 at the age of 10

01:47:59.220 was treated

01:48:00.680 for legitimate

01:48:01.480 medical injury

01:48:02.460 with opioids

01:48:03.300 found herself

01:48:04.980 met by a system

01:48:06.620 that imprisoned her

01:48:08.220 for how she had

01:48:09.300 to continue

01:48:09.920 to treat her pain

01:48:11.060 because there was

01:48:12.640 no other

01:48:13.480 effective choice

01:48:14.720 for her

01:48:15.280 to kill

01:48:16.300 the affliction

01:48:17.200 that was

01:48:17.680 on her inside.

01:48:19.680 There are millions

01:48:20.760 of people

01:48:21.560 locked up

01:48:22.420 behind bars

01:48:23.160 in this country

01:48:23.900 who have had

01:48:24.600 similar experiences.

01:48:25.980 the fact

01:48:27.100 that trauma

01:48:28.280 and addiction

01:48:29.080 have been met

01:48:30.220 with the butt

01:48:31.720 end of a gun

01:48:33.000 in some jail

01:48:34.400 is a criminal

01:48:36.320 result for a society

01:48:37.980 that is dying

01:48:38.760 for restoration.

01:48:40.120 And what we're here

01:48:40.960 to talk about

01:48:41.600 and what we have

01:48:42.300 been talking about

01:48:43.100 is an opportunity

01:48:44.120 to pursue

01:48:44.780 that restoration.

01:48:46.340 And I thank God

01:48:47.700 that however I have

01:48:49.000 come to sit in this seat,

01:48:50.220 this opportunity

01:48:50.860 is here,

01:48:51.660 it is now,

01:48:52.400 and I aim to do

01:48:53.220 everything I can

01:48:54.200 to serve it

01:48:54.860 as best I can.

01:48:56.200 Amen.

01:48:57.480 With that said,

01:48:58.600 how do we best

01:48:59.520 move forward

01:49:00.080 from here, right?

01:49:00.900 How do we best

01:49:01.760 move forward

01:49:02.420 to,

01:49:03.360 do you feel like,

01:49:04.680 like, I mean,

01:49:05.400 Texas is granted

01:49:06.240 $50 million

01:49:07.020 towards,

01:49:08.880 but will most

01:49:09.600 of that go

01:49:09.920 towards lobbying?

01:49:10.920 What will that

01:49:12.000 go towards?

01:49:12.640 Is there enough

01:49:13.320 science behind it

01:49:14.720 now for,

01:49:16.140 or is it,

01:49:16.760 like, how are you

01:49:17.300 going to defeat

01:49:17.840 Big Pharma?

01:49:18.540 Like, there's obviously

01:49:19.160 these giants

01:49:20.280 that you're up against,

01:49:21.160 you know,

01:49:21.660 because it's true,

01:49:22.380 it's like,

01:49:22.700 as long as we

01:49:25.480 have a problem,

01:49:26.320 then they have

01:49:26.820 a medication,

01:49:27.920 if you can't

01:49:28.500 figure that out,

01:49:29.260 then, you know,

01:49:30.480 a lot of times

01:49:31.100 those people still,

01:49:32.400 the trauma's not healed,

01:49:33.360 they end up in the

01:49:34.020 correctional system,

01:49:35.060 it's all a big,

01:49:36.080 it's all just a big

01:49:37.160 circle of humans

01:49:38.900 just being like,

01:49:40.320 it's just this profit

01:49:41.420 sharing between these

01:49:42.520 kind of dark artist

01:49:43.460 entities,

01:49:44.580 and I agree with you,

01:49:46.180 it feels like we have

01:49:46.740 a pathway now

01:49:47.560 to solution here,

01:49:48.800 to actually have a

01:49:49.820 chance to get back

01:49:50.500 to our roots of

01:49:51.360 humanity,

01:49:52.140 and being connected

01:49:53.080 to a divine power,

01:49:54.560 and I believe that

01:49:56.020 it's through

01:49:56.480 medications like this,

01:49:58.140 how do you get

01:49:59.120 from this judgment

01:50:00.360 that's happened

01:50:00.920 in Texas,

01:50:01.980 how do you move

01:50:03.040 forward from here,

01:50:03.700 how do we best

01:50:04.400 move forward from

01:50:05.060 here, do you feel

01:50:05.680 like?

01:50:06.940 I'm going to give

01:50:07.580 you the answer,

01:50:08.580 but before I give

01:50:09.420 you the answer,

01:50:10.040 I'm going to ask

01:50:10.520 you a question,

01:50:11.260 okay?

01:50:12.020 If someone had

01:50:13.020 said to you,

01:50:13.820 just a year ago,

01:50:16.220 the state of Texas

01:50:17.220 is going to pass

01:50:18.000 the largest single

01:50:19.060 public investment

01:50:20.140 ever to advance

01:50:22.100 psychedelic research

01:50:23.380 and medical development,

01:50:24.460 what would you

01:50:24.840 have said?

01:50:26.880 I would have said

01:50:27.560 I could see it.

01:50:28.700 Really?

01:50:29.200 Yeah,

01:50:29.500 now that Joe Rogan

01:50:30.260 is down there,

01:50:30.680 I could see shit

01:50:31.240 like that starting

01:50:31.820 to happen.

01:50:31.920 This is before Joe Rogan.

01:50:33.080 Take yourself

01:50:33.620 before Joe Rogan,

01:50:34.980 before all this

01:50:35.620 became a thing.

01:50:36.320 If somebody had

01:50:36.820 said the state

01:50:37.680 of Texas is going

01:50:38.460 to give the biggest

01:50:39.220 bunch of money

01:50:39.860 that a government

01:50:40.600 has ever given

01:50:41.360 for psychedelic research,

01:50:42.820 what would you

01:50:43.240 have thought?

01:50:44.120 I would have

01:50:44.780 honestly thought,

01:50:45.720 I would have thought

01:50:46.520 that it was possible,

01:50:47.340 I think.

01:50:47.920 I mean,

01:50:48.140 I know you have

01:50:48.760 a lot of people

01:50:49.440 that stick to their guns

01:50:50.600 down there in Texas,

01:50:51.620 but I believe that also

01:50:52.780 we've gotten to a place

01:50:53.740 where people that

01:50:54.420 normally would stick

01:50:55.420 to their guns,

01:50:56.220 that people are desperate

01:50:57.860 for something new,

01:50:59.180 right?

01:50:59.680 And Texas,

01:51:00.280 I feel like,

01:51:00.700 has always been

01:51:01.340 a bit of a pioneer state,

01:51:02.960 even though there's

01:51:03.480 a lot of tradition in it.

01:51:04.860 It's been a proud state

01:51:06.080 of doing things

01:51:06.640 on its own.

01:51:08.840 And so,

01:51:09.580 here's what I would say.

01:51:10.520 I don't know

01:51:11.240 if I would think

01:51:11.900 that they would,

01:51:12.520 but I would hope

01:51:13.720 that they would channel

01:51:14.420 that pioneer spirit

01:51:15.300 into something.

01:51:16.160 I could see that enough

01:51:17.320 of the story

01:51:17.780 would have gotten around

01:51:18.540 where they'd have been like,

01:51:19.320 this is something

01:51:20.120 that we could do.

01:51:22.120 What Texas has done,

01:51:24.200 in my opinion,

01:51:25.820 what we have done

01:51:27.180 in Texas

01:51:27.700 is make

01:51:28.620 the improbable

01:51:30.200 inevitable.

01:51:32.260 However,

01:51:33.120 inevitability

01:51:33.960 requires work.

01:51:35.960 Texas is

01:51:37.040 the beginning

01:51:37.780 of what Governor Perry

01:51:39.540 and I

01:51:40.120 hope to build

01:51:41.320 by way

01:51:42.100 of the

01:51:43.160 unstoppable

01:51:44.120 external force

01:51:45.640 of a national movement

01:51:47.280 whereby Texas

01:51:48.440 has planted

01:51:49.680 its flag

01:51:50.480 to begin

01:51:50.940 the medical development

01:51:51.920 of Ibogaine

01:51:52.620 and over the next

01:51:53.580 18 to 24 months,

01:51:56.240 we'll see

01:51:56.880 anywhere from

01:51:57.800 6 to 12

01:51:58.740 additional states

01:51:59.740 emerge

01:52:00.180 to partner with it

01:52:01.280 to make

01:52:02.440 the medicalization

01:52:03.720 of Ibogaine

01:52:04.520 within the United States

01:52:06.020 the Manhattan project

01:52:07.420 of our time.

01:52:08.460 Governor Perry

01:52:09.660 has founded

01:52:10.340 an organization

01:52:11.180 called

01:52:11.640 americansforibogaine.org

01:52:13.900 and it is my honor

01:52:15.120 to be the very first

01:52:16.380 chief executive officer

01:52:17.780 of that organization.

01:52:19.680 He's the chairman

01:52:20.260 of the board

01:52:20.940 and he and I

01:52:22.600 are going to spend

01:52:23.700 every last measure

01:52:25.000 of everything

01:52:25.820 that we are

01:52:26.940 pouring ourselves

01:52:28.280 into making

01:52:29.220 Ibogaine

01:52:29.960 a medical reality

01:52:31.200 within the United States

01:52:32.640 as quickly

01:52:33.780 and safely

01:52:34.500 as we possibly can.

01:52:36.060 Amen, brother.

01:52:37.380 You think you can

01:52:37.920 get it done?

01:52:39.000 I think that

01:52:40.340 Governor Perry

01:52:41.100 and I exist

01:52:42.280 to make

01:52:43.380 the improbable

01:52:44.440 inevitable

01:52:45.160 and as long

01:52:46.740 as we have

01:52:47.940 the good hands

01:52:49.800 and hearts

01:52:50.460 of people like you

01:52:51.680 and those

01:52:52.380 who follow you

01:52:53.380 engaged in this

01:52:54.540 mission with us

01:52:55.580 using their voices

01:52:56.760 using their network

01:52:58.080 using their social media

01:52:59.480 to make the demand

01:53:01.540 that a federal system

01:53:02.920 that has been corrupted

01:53:04.000 for at least 30 years

01:53:05.660 begin to reorient itself

01:53:07.400 toward basic humanity

01:53:09.280 and to the restoration

01:53:10.860 of our society

01:53:12.020 so that people

01:53:12.920 with trauma

01:53:13.520 and addiction

01:53:14.080 can get help

01:53:14.880 that can be transformative

01:53:16.020 as a prelude

01:53:17.340 to transforming

01:53:18.740 our broader society

01:53:19.980 the time is now.

01:53:22.340 I agree.

01:53:22.760 We've got the need

01:53:23.900 we've got the opportunity

01:53:25.300 and we've got the answer

01:53:26.800 and now we just

01:53:27.620 got to get on it.

01:53:28.680 Yeah.

01:53:29.780 Yeah, I mean it's up

01:53:30.760 you're going to be up

01:53:31.220 against the dark arts

01:53:32.120 you know

01:53:32.480 they're going to battle

01:53:33.100 against you

01:53:33.500 but this is how we meet up

01:53:34.660 and this is how we fight

01:53:35.660 you know

01:53:36.060 I think that we

01:53:37.440 all we can do

01:53:38.100 is just tell the truth

01:53:39.000 you know

01:53:39.420 yeah my experience

01:53:41.140 with plant medicine

01:53:41.820 has been that

01:53:42.300 it's nothing like

01:53:43.200 taking drugs

01:53:44.280 it's like taking a chance

01:53:46.060 it's like taking an opportunity

01:53:47.700 to give yourself

01:53:48.900 something new

01:53:49.620 you know

01:53:50.040 that has certainly

01:53:50.620 been my own experience.

01:53:52.860 First of all

01:53:53.460 where can people go

01:53:54.360 right now

01:53:54.860 if they need help

01:53:55.880 if someone in their family

01:53:56.980 needs help

01:53:57.560 if they want to try Ibogaine

01:53:59.160 how

01:53:59.700 because that is also

01:54:00.580 going to create the message

01:54:01.600 right

01:54:01.880 is people being able

01:54:02.660 to go and get this help

01:54:03.780 where can people go

01:54:05.060 to get the help

01:54:05.880 right now?

01:54:07.000 Here's why I'm going

01:54:07.720 to have to answer this

01:54:08.640 in the negative

01:54:09.220 because there are

01:54:10.160 a lot of options out there

01:54:11.360 and I've got to be careful

01:54:12.260 because I don't want

01:54:13.080 to misdirect somebody

01:54:14.020 to a place

01:54:14.820 where they may or may not

01:54:15.820 have experiences

01:54:16.800 I can tell you

01:54:17.480 that my wife and I

01:54:18.500 we are personally familiar

01:54:21.060 with the Beyond Clinic

01:54:22.040 in Cancun

01:54:22.820 The Beyond Clinic

01:54:23.700 you said?

01:54:24.200 Yes

01:54:24.460 the Ambio Clinic

01:54:26.140 that is south of Tijuana

01:54:27.540 we both have experiences there

01:54:29.660 I can't endorse

01:54:32.200 I can't say

01:54:33.440 yeah yeah

01:54:34.000 this is where you should

01:54:34.960 send your family

01:54:35.620 I can just simply say

01:54:36.720 that my wife and I

01:54:37.640 have been to both places

01:54:38.700 and each of them

01:54:41.120 offer their own experiences

01:54:42.640 your audience can do

01:54:43.700 their own personal research

01:54:44.940 they can call

01:54:45.860 and see what works

01:54:47.380 best for them

01:54:48.140 in terms of

01:54:50.220 what we need

01:54:50.960 by way of

01:54:52.160 the movement

01:54:53.640 within the society

01:54:55.380 yeah

01:54:55.880 how can we best help

01:54:56.900 how can like

01:54:57.460 listeners of this episode

01:54:58.560 best help

01:54:59.200 people that feel inspired

01:55:00.520 people that have had

01:55:01.140 a family member

01:55:01.700 that's been

01:55:02.220 positively affected

01:55:04.120 by psychedelic medicine

01:55:05.340 to overcome things

01:55:06.280 how can we help

01:55:07.600 please go to

01:55:08.920 americansforibogaine.org

01:55:11.540 and it is there

01:55:12.520 that your audience member

01:55:13.880 can follow

01:55:14.560 the audience

01:55:15.360 that we are undertaking

01:55:16.680 they can sign up

01:55:18.240 to receive regular updates

01:55:20.040 they can sign up

01:55:21.260 for social media

01:55:22.140 they can become

01:55:23.380 not just an observer

01:55:25.140 but an active participant

01:55:27.060 in helping us

01:55:28.060 advance this mission

01:55:29.120 to create

01:55:29.780 the unstoppable

01:55:30.860 external force

01:55:32.020 that's going to

01:55:32.560 break down the walls

01:55:33.540 of the federal government

01:55:34.400 to make this society

01:55:35.800 have what it should have

01:55:37.000 for restoration

01:55:37.980 in addition to that

01:55:41.160 I would just encourage

01:55:42.540 individuals to be

01:55:43.640 individual pollinators

01:55:44.920 of our culture

01:55:45.680 get the word out

01:55:46.740 take what you see

01:55:47.860 on Americans for Ibogaine

01:55:49.180 Oregon

01:55:49.520 blast it through

01:55:50.380 your social media networks

01:55:51.620 tell your friends

01:55:52.320 family and neighbors

01:55:53.260 because just as

01:55:54.780 individuals went

01:55:56.220 into the medical system

01:55:57.360 and received Oxycontin

01:55:59.080 and came out

01:55:59.780 as harbingers

01:56:00.660 of the disaster

01:56:01.460 to come

01:56:02.080 a disaster

01:56:03.080 that has claimed

01:56:03.700 almost the lives

01:56:04.660 of a million Americans

01:56:06.560 since Oxycontin

01:56:07.960 was approved

01:56:08.500 in December

01:56:09.280 of 1996

01:56:10.400 we have the opportunity

01:56:12.820 to do the exact opposite

01:56:14.360 by creating

01:56:15.920 a genuine

01:56:16.880 emancipation

01:56:18.120 medication

01:56:19.000 that can take

01:56:20.340 and reverse

01:56:20.880 the process

01:56:21.720 of subjugation

01:56:22.720 to one of restoration

01:56:24.140 that is the opportunity

01:56:25.820 that is before us

01:56:27.060 and that is one

01:56:28.300 if we will be good

01:56:29.140 and faithful servants

01:56:29.980 we can see come to pass

01:56:31.140 within our life

01:56:31.900 Amen

01:56:32.440 God I'm in

01:56:33.760 I want to thank

01:56:34.720 I need help

01:56:35.580 I think I need to go

01:56:36.460 sometime to get a treatment

01:56:37.660 man

01:56:38.080 well

01:56:38.980 if

01:56:39.740 a person

01:56:41.480 does not need

01:56:42.160 to come to the table

01:56:43.080 with a substance problem

01:56:44.800 or even with

01:56:45.720 a wartime trauma problem

01:56:47.680 every single person

01:56:49.380 in life

01:56:50.000 has a problem

01:56:51.200 and even if

01:56:52.300 that problem

01:56:52.780 doesn't debilitate you

01:56:54.040 even if you're

01:56:54.740 a highly successful

01:56:55.700 individual

01:56:56.400 the Ibogaine experience

01:56:58.200 is one that has

01:56:59.160 the capacity

01:56:59.880 to optimize

01:57:00.660 the human experience

01:57:01.920 if it is approached

01:57:02.800 with reverence

01:57:03.640 and if it is

01:57:04.780 properly supported

01:57:05.700 as the beginning

01:57:06.900 that it is

01:57:07.600 rather than

01:57:08.080 the destination

01:57:08.800 I saw

01:57:10.700 and this will be

01:57:12.160 the last thing

01:57:12.740 that I would have

01:57:13.400 to offer you

01:57:13.980 independently

01:57:14.580 okay

01:57:15.100 I want to make sure

01:57:16.040 that I get it out there

01:57:17.060 I remember

01:57:18.760 in 2018

01:57:21.620 I went to

01:57:23.820 a community center

01:57:25.080 where there was

01:57:25.560 a fatherhood program

01:57:26.680 led by a gentleman

01:57:27.840 named David Cozart

01:57:28.980 David Cozart

01:57:30.420 is an associate minister

01:57:32.040 at Lexington Kentucky's

01:57:33.640 second largest

01:57:34.800 black Baptist church

01:57:36.220 called Bracktown Baptist

01:57:37.800 David Cozart

01:57:38.960 David Cozart

01:57:39.860 and he leads

01:57:40.940 what's called

01:57:41.380 the Commonwealth Center

01:57:42.360 for Fathers and Families

01:57:43.660 I first met David

01:57:45.460 in 2018

01:57:46.220 and I met him

01:57:47.620 at this community center

01:57:48.760 and he was taking me

01:57:49.680 on a tour

01:57:50.120 of the fatherhood program

01:57:51.340 that he runs

01:57:52.060 to connect youth

01:57:52.960 to their fathers

01:57:53.720 and within the context

01:57:57.260 of that tour

01:57:58.000 I saw this Bible verse

01:58:00.020 and it struck me

01:58:03.040 like a boat of lightning

01:58:03.940 when I read it

01:58:04.780 and it stayed in my mind

01:58:06.820 from 2018

01:58:07.660 almost like a

01:58:09.700 like an echo

01:58:11.400 that just would not

01:58:12.700 go away

01:58:13.300 and as this mission

01:58:17.000 has appeared

01:58:17.840 around Ibogaine

01:58:19.260 I go back to that verse

01:58:21.120 in my mind

01:58:21.900 and think about

01:58:23.280 the reality

01:58:24.240 that it demonstrates

01:58:25.200 and at this point

01:58:27.320 personally

01:58:28.480 in my quiet times

01:58:29.840 when I'm trying

01:58:30.420 to draw the energy

01:58:31.180 necessary to stay focused

01:58:32.780 and to be an effective

01:58:34.340 servant of the mission

01:58:35.260 the verse

01:58:36.500 while the declaration

01:58:37.380 is one that I have

01:58:38.420 turned into a prayer

01:58:39.620 and it's a prayer

01:58:40.920 that I would articulate

01:58:42.020 not just for myself

01:58:43.100 personally

01:58:43.660 but for you

01:58:44.720 members of your audience

01:58:46.680 and other folks

01:58:48.240 who come into contact

01:58:49.220 with this message

01:58:50.240 who can embrace it

01:58:51.340 and that is this

01:58:52.320 I hope with everything

01:58:54.720 that we are doing

01:58:56.120 Governor Perry and I

01:58:57.620 with Americans

01:58:58.700 for Ibogaine

01:58:59.660 that we are able

01:59:01.380 to hasten the day

01:59:02.720 when we can deliver

01:59:04.420 good tidings

01:59:05.680 unto the meek

01:59:06.720 when we have the ability

01:59:08.540 to bind up

01:59:09.920 the broken hearted

01:59:11.260 to proclaim liberty

01:59:13.060 to the captives

01:59:14.080 and the opening

01:59:15.500 of the prison

01:59:16.600 to them that are bound

01:59:18.180 Lord give us

01:59:19.840 the strength

01:59:20.800 give us the grace

01:59:22.300 and may we succeed

01:59:23.620 Amen

01:59:24.620 Amen

01:59:26.480 W. Brian

01:59:28.040 Hubbard

01:59:29.480 thank you so much man

01:59:30.580 for spending time

01:59:31.220 with me today man

01:59:31.920 thank you for just

01:59:32.460 sharing the message

01:59:33.080 I feel inspired

01:59:34.100 and I do feel hope man

01:59:35.860 I do feel hope

01:59:36.820 and I believe wholeheartedly

01:59:39.140 I believe wholeheartedly

01:59:40.380 that these medicines

01:59:42.360 medicines like Ibogaine

01:59:44.220 and medicines like Ayahuasca

01:59:45.440 are the purest opportunity

01:59:47.200 we've had in a long time

01:59:48.200 and thank you today

01:59:49.660 for being a messenger

01:59:50.380 and yeah we appreciate you

01:59:52.040 so much

01:59:52.480 and thank you for

01:59:53.520 just believing in yourself

01:59:55.600 enough

01:59:56.140 to go out there

01:59:57.540 and fight the good fight man

01:59:58.700 well everything that I am

02:00:01.320 has been given to me

02:00:02.820 by the grace of love

02:00:03.920 from on high

02:00:04.620 and I just hope

02:00:05.700 that I can be

02:00:06.320 the good and faithful servant

02:00:07.800 that's necessary

02:00:08.580 to get the job done

02:00:09.660 Amen

02:00:10.340 Amen brother

02:00:11.940 thank you so much man

02:00:12.860 we'll see you in the future

02:00:13.620 and you guys can

02:00:14.940 check out the

02:00:16.180 support for

02:00:17.460 Americans for Ibogaine

02:00:18.720 we'll put all your

02:00:20.120 links below

02:00:20.680 best of luck

02:00:21.980 to you guys out there

02:00:22.740 thank you

02:00:23.640 Amen

02:00:24.160 now I'm just

02:00:25.680 floating on the breeze

02:00:27.300 and I feel

02:00:28.100 I'm falling

02:00:28.880 like these leaves

02:00:30.220 I must be

02:00:31.320 cornerstone

02:00:33.560 oh

02:00:36.160 but when I reach

02:00:37.360 that ground

02:00:38.120 I'll share

02:00:38.860 this peace of mind

02:00:40.280 I found

02:00:40.940 I can feel it

02:00:42.320 in my bones

02:00:44.440 but it's gonna

02:00:46.400 tell you

02:00:47.100 thank you

02:00:52.320 m flying

02:00:53.120 you

02:00:54.280 you

02:00:54.720 are

02:00:55.660 buried

02:00:56.640 you

02:00:57.140 I'll talk to you

02:00:57.800 and Ithought

02:00:58.660 about

02:00:59.380 you

02:00:59.640 you

02:01:00.600 you

02:01:00.740 you

02:01:01.440 to be

#596 - W. Bryan Hubbard

Summary

Transcript