Ibogaine for Addiction? Here’s Why I’m Saying No (For Now)

Everyone is talking about ibogaine like it’s the cure for addiction.

I’m telling you why I’m saying no.

You’ve probably heard the buzz.

• A “breakthrough.”
• A “reset.”
• Maybe even the answer your family has been praying for.

Ibogaine is everywhere right now. Podcasts. Headlines. Conversations between people who are desperate for something to finally work.

So let’s talk about it.

In this episode, I give you my honest, unfiltered answer to the question I’ve been asked more than anything lately:

Is ibogaine the solution?

And my answer might not be what you expect.

• Not because I’m closed off.
• Not because I’m against new approaches.
• But because I’ve seen what happens when hope moves faster than truth and families pay the price.

Inside this episode, I break down:

• What’s actually true about ibogaine right now, not the hype
• The real risks most people are not talking about
• Why this is especially dangerous for the exact population it’s being marketed to
• A personal story that changed how I evaluate treatments forever

If you’re a parent, spouse, or loved one trying to make the right decision in the middle of chaos, this matters.

Because when you’re desperate, everything can start to sound like the answer.

This episode will help you slow down, think clearly, and make a decision you won’t regret.

Hit play before you make your next move.

Transcript

Brick House - Ibogaine for Addiction? Here’s Why I’m Saying No (For Now)

[00:00:00] ​

[00:00:59] Jason Coombs: today I want to talk about Ibogaine and I want to get straight to the point because. I've had more people ask me about this drug in the last few months than almost anything else.

[00:01:14] Jason Coombs: Families are asking people in early sobriety are asking people in long-term recovery are asking other professionals in the field are asking, and the question usually sounds like this. Hey Jason, what do you think about Iboga? Do you support it? Is this the thing that could finally help people stop using opioids?

[00:01:35] Jason Coombs: And I'm gonna give you my answer right up front because I don't believe in burying it somewhere in a headline or burying it down the road Based on what we know today in 2026, my position on Ibogaine as a treatment for substance use disorder is no. The risks outweigh the benefits.

[00:02:02] Jason Coombs: The cost is too high, the evidence is too thin. And the marketing is way out ahead of the science, and, you know, and the, the population most likely to chase it is the population that's least equipped to evaluate it clearly. So that's my stance, not forever. But that's my stance today based on what we know today.

[00:02:27] Jason Coombs: Now I do support continued research. If you are all familiar with recently president Trump passed a, basically gave his green light to. Pursue research in the ibogaine and, and this has also been been going on in research for psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, psilocybin and, and so forth.

[00:02:52] Jason Coombs: Now, I'm genuinely interested on what's happening with Nora again. Or nor Iboga. I don't know how to best pronounce that, but the metabolite, which may turn out to be safer. If the science gets there, then I will update my position. But the science to my knowledge isn't there yet. And so I'm not gonna pretend it is safe because the conversation is loud right now.

[00:03:19] Jason Coombs: You'll hear podcasters position it. And today I wanna walk you through why I'm taking this position. I wanna tell you what, what's actually true about Iboga right now. I wanna tell you a story about a time that I had a strong opinion in this field and had to update it because I think that that story matters for understanding why I am not updating my opinion at this time.

[00:03:44] Jason Coombs: I know, you know, I wanna talk to the family members specifically because if your loved one comes home and tells you about ibogaine and it's that, it's the answer. And that podcaster, Joe Rogan says, it's the answer. And I've heard other podcasters talk about it. You need to know how to think about the conversation.

[00:04:02] Jason Coombs: So let's start with what's actually happening. So on April 18th of this year, 2026 president Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate research, regulatory review, and patient access pathways for psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, the state of Texas allocated 50 million in 2025 to fund the clinical research on ibogaine for opioid use disorder.

[00:04:33] Jason Coombs: The FDA cleared an investigational new drug application for Nora BGA allowing a phase one study in the United States. Now Joe Rogan is talking about it. So are some of the other podcasters like the lone survivor guy. Veteran groups are advocating for it now. So that's the context and that's why this is in the air right now.

[00:04:58] Jason Coombs: Here's what is also true and what most of the louder voices are leaving out. Ibogaine is still federally illegal in the United States because it's not FDA approved for treating addiction or anything else. There have only been two randomized controlled trials on ibogaine and no ibogaine for substance use disorders.

[00:05:24] Jason Coombs: The publisher reviews say that safety and efficacy are unconfirmed. The known cardiac risks are serious. We're talking about QT prolongation and dangerous heart rhythms and documented deaths. There is one promising study in 2024 published in Nature Medicine, led by researchers at Stanford that looked at special operations veterans and reported reductions in PTSD, depression, anxiety, and functional disability after a single iboga treatment protocol.

[00:05:59] Jason Coombs: And that study is real. It is published and got attention for a reason. So in the same breath. There is a place for it, just like I believe and stand behind that there is a place for psychedelic assisted psychotherapy if done right, but one promising study on a specific population in a controlled setting is not the same thing as a treatment we should be recommending to families in crisis.

[00:06:29] Jason Coombs: And it is definitely not the same thing as a cure for opioid addiction. Like some people are saying it is. That distinction is where everything in this conversation either holds together or it falls apart. So why am I saying no right now? Instead of saying maybe, instead of saying it's complicated three reasons.

[00:06:52] Jason Coombs: The first reason is the safety profile. Iboga carrie's known, documented cardiac risks that have killed people. So we're not talking about a theoretical concern, we're talking about deaths and the population being marketed to people with active opioid use Disorder is a population that. Often has additional medical complications from years of substance use.

[00:07:16] Jason Coombs: You know, they have damaged livers, damaged hearts, untreated conditions, polysubstance use, co-occurring mental health issues. This is not a healthy population walking into this controlled medical environment. This is a vulnerable population and often desperate, often chasing something dramatic. Often it mirrors med seeking often without a medical screening or follow-up care that Ibogaine actually requires to be even somewhat safe.

[00:07:44] Jason Coombs: So the second reason is the evidence base. We have only two randomized controlled trials. Two. So for a treatment being marketed as a potential cure for the deadliest. Drug crisis in American history. That is not enough. And I'm not saying that because I'm anti research, I'm saying it because I'm pro evidence.

[00:08:08] Jason Coombs: If we held Iboga to the same standard, we hold every other treatment in the addiction space, it would not be on the table yet. And the only reason it's on the table is because the political and cultural moment has gotten ahead of the science. The third reason is this. This is the one I care about most, and it's the population that this is being marketed to.

[00:08:35] Jason Coombs: Substance use disorder is not just a disease of the body. It is a disease of decision making. It is a disease that hijacks judgment that creates impulsivity. That builds elaborate justifications for risk, risky behavior. And when I was in active addiction, I could make anything make sense, anything. If I wanted something bad enough, I could build a courtroom in my head and appoint myself the judge and appoint addiction as my attorney and win the case every single time. And that is what addiction does. Does not just destroy your life from the outside. It is the corruption of the decision making from the inside. And so when you take a treatment with serious cardiac risk, limited evidence, and this massive hype, then you offer it into a population whose disease specifically distorts risk assessment.

[00:09:39] Jason Coombs: What you have is really a setup for tragedy. Now, that's, that is my concern, not the the molecule, the match between the molecule and the population like that. That's my concern. Now, I wanna tell you this story because. I have not always handled controversial treatments well, and I want you to know that. So if we go back to the early days of when I first got sober and that, that's around 2000 no, I got sober in 2009 and I, jumped into the, the space of being a sponsor and then began working in the field of.

[00:10:22] Jason Coombs: Substance use disorder and treatment. And so back in 2010 to 2015 window, during those years, there was a massive fight in the addiction field over medicated assisted treatment, especially suboxone or otherwise known as buprenorphine and methadone. So some people said that this is evidence-based, this saves lives, this should be widely available.

[00:10:50] Jason Coombs: Now, on the other extreme, other people said, no, this is just replacing one drug with another drug. And I was in that second camp hard black and white like, and I had a reason. When I was being treated for opioid use disorder, I was prescribed Suboxone and I abused it. That was my experience. So based on that experience, I formed a strong opinion.

[00:11:18] Jason Coombs: My opinion was that this is dangerous, this is addictive, and nobody should use it, and I was missing something. I was taking what was true for me and turning it into a universal law for everybody else. And I was humbled through a real life situation. See, my cousin Amanda five months pregnant. This was in 2000 18 actually the end of 2017.

[00:11:46] Jason Coombs: Five months pregnant. Came to to live with me and my wife. She was homeless living out of her car, and she was strung out on heroin again, five months pregnant at this point. So if you know anything about opioid use disorder during pregnancy, then you know that. That is a high risk situation for both the mom, but especially the fetus.

[00:12:10] Jason Coombs: And Buprenorphine is one of the accepted medical protocols for pregnant women with opioid use disorder. So here, here I was carrying this strong opinion against Suboxone and Buprenorphine, and now someone I loved, someone pregnant. Someone in a desperate situation was being treated with the very medication I had been judging so harshly, and I had to wrestle with that because in her situation it was not about ideology.

[00:12:43] Jason Coombs: It was not about winning an argument. It was not about my personal experience. It was about stabilization. It was about keeping the fetus alive. It was about reducing harm. It was about protecting her and the baby, and I had to face something uncomfortable, and my personal experience, although it was valid, it was incomplete.

[00:13:06] Jason Coombs: It was true that Suboxone had been risky for me. It was true that I had abused it, and it was true that for me, that medication was not a part of my recovery path once I did finally achieve sobriety, but it was not true that nobody should ever be treated with it. That experience changed how I form opinions and it forced me to stop making my story, the whole story.

[00:13:37] Jason Coombs: And I'm telling you that story for a specific reason today because you fast forward, oh God, what has it been? Eight years I believe. And Amanda is sober her. She has three kids now and, her oldest Scotty is healthy and Amanda works in the addiction treatment field. And so I, I want, I want you to know that I do update my views.

[00:14:05] Jason Coombs: I've done it before and I will likely do it again. I'm, I'm not the guy that. Plants a flag and then dies on the hill no matter what. So when I say like, no on ibogaine right now, I want you to understand what that no actually means. It is not the no of someone who refuses to look at evidence like it is the no.

[00:14:31] Jason Coombs: Of someone who has looked at the evidence and concluded that today, the evidence doesn't justify the risk because the risk is so high. If the evidence changes, I will change. If I have a personal experience with someone I love, like I did with Buprenorphine, that might influence a change. But if the safety protocol improves, especially with no ibogaine, I will revisit this.

[00:14:58] Jason Coombs: And if we could get, you know, five or 10 well-designed like large scale randomized control trials with substantial solid safety data, then I'll be the first one to say that I was wrong about the timeline. But until that happens, I'm not gonna soften my position because the conversation. Just because as right now, it's fashionable.

[00:15:19] Jason Coombs: Like that's there, there are a lot of people out there pushing it for a reason, and I don't think all of their reasons are known. You know, they're, they're trick supposedly trying to save lives, but, you know, I, I am not gonna hedge because Joe Rogan likes it. To my knowledge, he doesn't even have substance use disorder.

[00:15:39] Jason Coombs: So does he have a dog in the fight? You know, I, I don't know, maybe there's something financial he has to gain. And I'm not gonna say maybe because there's political pressure to say, maybe because the cost, the cost is real now. there is. Recently I had a, a mother reach out to me and, her loved one is on Fentanyl, daily user of Fentanyl.

[00:16:03] Jason Coombs: Now, if we're looking at a situation where

[00:16:07] Jason Coombs: IGA could, could be a, like a disruptor to pivot someone away from using. Fentanyl daily. I think that there's probably less risk in ibogaine than there is daily fentanyl use. So the, based on the, the individual's circumstance, it's about weighing, you know, good, better, best, like if that were the case that someone's iboga use launched them at a daily Fentanyl use, then I look at it as a harm reduction play.

[00:16:42] Jason Coombs: But that doesn't mean it's not potentially harmful. But I also worry about all of those individuals who are thinking that it's the magic bullet. So. No, I, I wanna address something directly because I want to be fair to the other side of this, this conversation and the treatment system in this country has not earned an anyone's complete trust, and the system has failed people, and we have over promised, and we've underdelivered we discharged people too early.

[00:17:14] Jason Coombs: We've let insurance companies dictate clinical care. And we've turned recovery into paperwork and we've sometimes cared more about compliance than transformation. So when families look outside the system, I get it. Like when veterans go to clinics in Mexico because the VA hasn't helped them, I get it.

[00:17:36] Jason Coombs: And when people lose faith in, you know, the conventional treatment path after their. Their fifth rehab. I get it. You know, I went through five rehabs myself. I know, I know what it feels like to think that the system has nothing left to offer you, and that is a painful place to be. And frustration that's frustration is real and so is the desperation.

[00:18:00] Jason Coombs: And so I think, I think about that pain and that it's a part. Of what's driving the Iboga movement right now. And people aren't crazy for wanting something better, you know, and they're, they're not stupid for asking the question, and they're not weak for, for hoping for something, you know, kind of look at it as peptides for people that wanna lose weight, you know, that it was this big.

[00:18:24] Jason Coombs: I mean, peptides been around a long, long time. And I've seen it change people's lives. So, you know, I just hope that, that the hype for Ibogaine is not going to lead people into this cycle all, all over again because. You combine desperation and then it meets marketing. You know, people get hurt and you know, I wanna say something about the people that are promoting Iboga because I think we have to be honest about what's happening.

[00:18:57] Jason Coombs: Some of these people talking about Iboga right now, maybe they are well-meaning. Maybe they've had a personal experience or they saw something work for someone that they love or know and they believe in it. And then I'm not questioning their sincerity, but sincerity isn't the same as accuracy. And there's a difference between someone saying, this has helped me, which I can respect.

[00:19:22] Jason Coombs: And someone saying, this will cure opioid addiction, which is the claim. That the evidence doesn't support and there's like, look, there is a place for it. It's like, you know, there is a goldilock zone somewhere. I know for me it's off the table. Like I do not ever see myself considering it as a treatment for me because it's, you know, I'm not I'm not interested in the risk.

[00:19:49] Jason Coombs: I'm not interested in the risk, even if it did help me with trauma and anxiety and depression. There's also a real difference between researchers that carefully study a compound under the controlled conditions and clinics and charging tens of thousands of dollars for unregulated treatments to families in crisis.

[00:20:11] Jason Coombs: Like I'm. I'm not gonna name names, but that like, that's not the point. The point is that when something becomes a marketing opportunity, the message gets simpler and louder than the truth. And in addiction, simple and loud is dangerous. You know, families in crisis do not need big, loud, simple, pressured narratives.

[00:20:37] Jason Coombs: That are out there because of the hype. You know, they need, they need truth and something that's useful. And so here's what I, I want you guys to do. If your loved one comes to you and says, I began is the answer first, like, slow the decision down. Addiction loves urgency and recovery doesn't require it.

[00:20:58] Jason Coombs: There's, there's no version of this. Where the right answer is, oh, we gotta fly to Mexico next week. And if anyone is pressuring that timeline, then that's a red flag. Second separate the testimonial from the protocol. So a story. Is not a treatment plan. Okay, so, so if someone on a podcast had an experience and you heard about their experience, that experience is not your loved one's experience.

[00:21:28] Jason Coombs: The conditions that produced that story may have nothing to do with the conditions that your loved one would walk into. And third, ask the questions that the marketing doesn't want you to ask. What is the. Cardiac screening protocol, like what is the medical supervision during the treatment? What happens if there's a cardiac event?

[00:21:50] Jason Coombs: What is the continuing care plan after the treatment, and who's responsible for the follow-up? What does the success rate look like when you measure it at six months or 12 months or two years? Not just the day after treatment. 'cause a lot of people can say, oh yeah, I, I, I did it one time and like, I haven't gone back to opioids since, and they might be three months or, but what happens at six months?

[00:22:20] Jason Coombs: Like what happens at one month or one year? What happens? I know, I know cases of people that swore by ketamine assisted psychotherapy and they were like it. totally cured my depression. I am a changed person, and that was maybe three years ago and I look now and this one individual who I know really well is worse than he is ever been in his depression.

[00:22:46] Jason Coombs: He was on podcasts talking about how Ketamine assisted treatment was the solution for him. So it's like separating, separating it, looking at like what's the long-term impact. And you know, most clinics will not have good answers to those questions,

[00:23:04] Jason Coombs: and that is information like. It's just information. So fourth, get outside input from people who do not benefit financially from your decision. And that means like independent medical professionals, that means people in recovery who have nothing to sell you. That means a therapist or a counselor who's been working in the field long enough to have seen treatment trends come and go.

[00:23:31] Jason Coombs: They look at the whole recovery plan, not just that dramatic event. What happens before? What happens during what happens after? Who helps your loved one build a sober life when they get back? Who helps the family stop enabling? Who helps the spouse heal? Who helps the parents get out of the panic, and who helps the person tell the truth when they want?

[00:23:53] Jason Coombs: You know, they wanna isolate and hide ' cause that is where recovery actually is built or lost, not in some dramatic event. So it's in the ordinary days after a spiritual awakening is not the finish line. You know, it's the, it's the starting light. I've had powerful spiritual experiences and I've had moments where God broke through my use when I was under the influence and broke through my denial.

[00:24:25] Jason Coombs: You know, the basement floor in Salt Lake City when I was in treatment, when I wrote, when I wrote God an honest letter and felt. Him answer it. You know, when I saw my son Nathan's face, you know, that was real. That was, that was God meeting me in my mess. But that moment still like had to become,

[00:24:48] Jason Coombs: you know, like it, it had to become a life. I had to build a life around. Not just a chemical or a compound or plant like ceremony that replaces the daily work of becoming a different person. And I also wanna be clear about something else because I don't, I don't want to be misunderstood. You know, I'm not against psychedelic research broadly.

[00:25:12] Jason Coombs: You know, I'm not anti MDMA research. I'm not anti psilocybin research. I'm not even anti iboga research. I think serious researchers should keep studying these compounds, especially in controlled settings, you know, especially for populations where conventional treatment has failed. But what I am against is the gap between what the research actually shows and what is being sold.

[00:25:41] Jason Coombs: To desperate families, you know that 'cause that gap is dangerous. And right now with Ibogaine, that gap is pretty wide. You know, let me give you a number that motivates everything I do at Brick House Recovery. So at 12 months, 39% of our our clients are sober, and the national average is 29%. Stable housing in our population goes from 81% at intake to 99% at 12 months.

[00:26:11] Jason Coombs: Healthy relationships go from 34% to 79% at 12 months, and patients who patients who complete our program are abstinent at 59%, and patients who do not complete are at 26%. So every single day that they stay in treatment, we that keeps, and if they're engaged and they're doing the, the real work, like those outcomes are measured and that.

[00:26:40] Jason Coombs: Recovery work matters. And those numbers don't come from a miracle drug. They come from consistent daily work like family involvement, structure, honesty, accountability, spiritual growth, the 12 steps, the the boring, unsexy, beautiful work of recovery. And that is what I stand behind and that is what? that is what live unhooked is built on.

[00:27:07] Jason Coombs: That is what works. So if you're, if you're here because you're trying to figure out what to do for your son, or your daughter, or your spouse, or your parent or partner or sibling or someone else you love, you know, I'd love, I'd love to give you. Additional resources so that you can dive in. I, I do have resources that are online on demand that are available.

[00:27:34] Jason Coombs: We just launched our masterclass, so, so that deadline has, has come and gone. But would love for those of you who are interested in going deeper to dive into the live unhooked experience and say, so I don't know if you got that. Link handy. You could drop in the chat, but you know what, what I'll tell you is I don't, I don't have a magic cure and I can't guarantee your loved one will recover.

[00:27:58] Jason Coombs: Nobody can, but I could teach you how to stop drowning in their addiction. I could teach you how to help in a way that actually helps I could teach you how to get out. Of the panic cycle and get into a plan. I teach you how to get off the beach and I could teach you how to become the kind of person that's no longer controlled by your loved one's addiction, whether your loved one gets sober or not.

[00:28:24] Jason Coombs: So that is the promise. So a final word on on Iboga. My answer today is no, not as a treatment for substance use disorder. I do think it has a place for veterans, for PTSD, for individuals that do not have substance use disorder. I think there's real research that's showing some promise there. But the evidence.

[00:28:47] Jason Coombs: For substance use disorder, at least in the current environment? No, not not for the population that it's being marketed to. ' cause the risks are too real and the evidence is too thin, and the disease itself distorts the judgment of the people that are most likely to chase it. I'll keep watching the research and I'll, I will keep paying attention to what they're working on with no ibogaine, and I'll keep listening to the people on both sides of this conversation.

[00:29:17] Jason Coombs: And if the science gets to the point where I need to update my position, I will. And you can hold me to that, but I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna hand my hope over to the hype. You know, I'm not gonna tell families that something is safer or more proven than it actually is, and I'm not gonna soften my position just because the conversation is loud right now.

[00:29:38] Jason Coombs: ' cause recovery is not one tool. Recovery is a lifestyle, it's an identity, and if we forget that, we will keep chasing dramatic answers. While missing the daily work that actually changes people. So that's my take. continue to stay grounded and stay honest. Stay open to the evidence, but do not let desperation make your decisions for you.

[00:30:04] Jason Coombs: And just remember this, when we know better, we do better, and then we begin again.

[00:30:09] Jason Coombs: ​