Ibogaine

Description

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants in the Apocynaceae family such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana and Tabernaemontana undulata. It is a psychedelic with dissociative properties.

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants in the family Apocynaceae such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana, and Tabernaemontana undulata. It is a psychedelic with dissociative properties.

Preliminary research indicates that it may help counter drug addiction. Its use has been associated with serious side effects and death. Between the years 1990 and 2008, a total of 19 fatalities temporally associated with the ingestion of ibogaine were reported, from which six subjects died of acute heart failure or cardiopulmonary arrest. The total number of subjects who have used it without major side effects during this period remains unknown. It is used as an alternative medicine treatment for drug addiction in some countries. Its prohibition in other countries has slowed scientific research. Ibogaine is also used to facilitate psychological introspection and spiritual exploration. Derivatives of ibogaine that lack the substance’s psychedelic properties (such as 18-MC) are under clinical trials, have been shown to be neither psychedelic nor psychoactive, and have a positive safety profile in humans.

Uses

Medical : Ibogaine is not currently approved for any medical uses. There are legal ibogaine rehabilitation facilities in Mexico. Clinical studies of ibogaine to treat drug addiction began in the early 1990s, but concerns about cardiotoxicity led to termination of those studies. There is currently insufficient data to determine whether it is useful in treating addiction. Nonetheless, some alternative medicine clinics administer ibogaine for this purpose, in what has been called a “vast, uncontrolled experiment.”  As of May 2020, there is a phase-2 clinical trial of ibogaine for the treatment of alcoholism scheduled for August 2020 in Brazil. 

Religious : In Bwiti religious ceremonies, the root bark is pulverized and swallowed in large amounts to produce intense psychoactive effects.

Side Effects

Ibogaine is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth in large doses and without medical supervision. Ibogaine might cause an irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, seizures, paralysis, difficulty breathing, anxiety, hallucinations, heart attack, and death.