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Short abstract:

The psychedelic alkaloid “ibogaine” is said to interrupt substance dependency. As it is put under control in many jurisdictions, the protocol for administrating Ibogaine has been developed in a trial-by-error way by underground providers in a non-medical setting, or at off-shore clinics.

Long abstract:

Treatment of addiction disorder with “Ibogaine” is an unauthorized alternative to traditional rehabilitation methods and opioid substitution care. Observational studies on patients support the claim that this psychedelic plant, traditionally used in a shamanic context in western Africa, can interrupt substance dependency. It is used against opioids, cocaine, alcohol, even nicotine. The treatment was first developed by self-help opioid user groups in what qualifies as a school-book example of “citizen science” or patient-group activism. The twist is that Ibogaine is put under control in many jurisdictions. It can either be described as a medicine or as a narcotic. Depending on which perspective one takes, the Ibogaine provider will either be framed as a caregiver or as a pusher. Treatment with Ibogaine has therefore flourished in a legal greyzone, administered either by underground providers in a nonmedical context, or, for those who can afford it, at off-shore clinics. In a bid to win legitimacy for their alternative addiction therapy, Ibogaine providers have collected data on dosages, recovery, adverse events, etc. Since the 1990s, they have petitioned authorities to reclassify the substance, mostly to no avail. Now, however, with the advent of the so-called “psychedelic renaissance”, and against the back-drop of the raving opioid crisis in the US, the verdict on Ibogaine stands to change. Question is if Ibogaine will be the cure for addiction, or rather, if this alternative to mainstream pharma will succumb to the same social forces that caused the opioid crisis in the first place.