24th November 2020 • Sticky Post

Iboga in 2020

Iboga has come a long way in 2020, both figuratively and literally. The psychoactive root bark of an African shrub which is a fundamental sacrament of the Bwiti spiritual tradition has been making its way around the world since American Howard Lotsof stumbled upon its efficacy in treating heroin addiction decades ago. In late 2018 the 5th international ibogaine conference, the European Ibogaine Forum was held in Porto, Portugal. The event was co-organized by Iboga Tree Healing House in concert with the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (GITA) and Ibogaine for the World. 

Iboga Tree Healing House also proudly exhibited amongst the top rehab centers from around the world to spread the word about iboga help and other recovery tools to academics, scholars, medical and mental health practitioners at the 2019 iCAAD conference in London. iCAAD is a platform dedicated to expanding knowledge, exchanging ideas, advancing well being and the prevention and treatment of Behavioural, Mental, and Emotional Health issues.

As the global opioid crisis continues to rage around the world, iboga treatment programs have been popping up in every corner of the globe, and medical science is finally beginning to awaken to the benefits it can provide in battling addiction and dealing with psychological disorders. Iboga has been in the news a great deal, with celebrity/lifestyle-guru Gwyneth Paltrow recently invoking its effects in an interview with the New York Times, and Hunter Biden, son of US Presidential hopeful Joe Biden, discussing the role iboga played in his journey towards recovery in a lengthy New Yorker profile. But is the renewed attention finally going to lead to the long-term studies needed to push this powerful treatment into the medical mainstream? Let’s take a look at where iboga is, and where it’s going, in 2020.

Iboga And The Law

In America iboga is still a schedule 1 drug, which means those desperate for treatment are forced to go abroad, often using Mexican clinics with varying levels of professionalism and attention to patient safety. While a study seeking to gain FDA approval began in the 1990s and demonstrated promising results, a host of factors including complaints from the pharmaceutical industry, mounting costs, and an ongoing lawsuit conspired to end it before legal approval could be achieved. 

But while iboga is still illegal, a pair of scientists working at the Universities of Vermont and Albany Medical College have developed a substance called 18-Methoxycoronairidine (18-MC), a derivative of iboga that aims to offer the same addiction-fighting benefits without the negative physical side-effects and psychoactive potency of the original substance. While many iboga advocates feel that the psychoactive effects are an essential part of the addictions treatment process, there’s little doubt that removing them will make the substance more palatable to the FDA. 

Word of iboga’s addiction-healing effects is reaching more ears (and eyes) than ever before in 2019. An independent film about alternative addiction treatments like iboga called ‘Dosed’ is already creating a furor in Canada. It highlights the amazing progress being made in this area of study, as well as the antiquated laws and regulations holding it back. 

As Psychedelics Today reports: “In 2014, a company called Savant HWP began pre-clinical and Phase 1 trials with 18-MC funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. These trials were successful, and Phase 2 trials are set to begin this year. If clinical trials continue to be successful, 18-MC could be an FDA approved treatment for addiction within the next decade.” While we at Iboga Tree Healing House are committed to the transformative effects of the traditional iboga journey, we would advocate for any tool that has the potential to free millions of people from addiction.

It is also worth noting that clinical trials in the US on MDMA as a treatment for PTSD are entered the third, and most rigorous phase of clinical trials last year. If successful, these trials could have a dramatic impact on attitudes and legislation regarding psychoactive substances as a part of addiction treatment and mental health. As cities and states across the USA move forward with the legalization of psilocybin, which has shown great potential in treating depression, alcoholism, and other ailments, it appears that the public will grow more receptive to treatments like iboga, and the pressure on regulators will mount.

A Time Of Progress

As news of the positive effects iboga is having on addiction reaches the public, some countries have taken positive steps. “Ibogaine is not included in the UN International Narcotics Control Board’s (INCB) Green List, or List of Psychoactive Substances under International Control,” according to the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (GITA). GITA also provides a helpful map indicating the legal status of the substance in countries around the world. 

It’s difficult to predict the future of iboga regulation, but we would expect a growing number of countries to embrace the harm reduction principles which have worked so well for Portugal, while also following Canada and the USA in their moves to decriminalize increasing numbers of substances such as cannabis products and psilocybin, which are used recreationally and therapeutically and have little potential to create addiction. The influential thinker Tim Ferriss has recently been investing a great deal of time, energy, and money into researching the benefits we can reap from psychedelics, and a fascinating recent podcast details much of his research on psilocybin as a therapeutic tool.

While widespread acceptance and promotion of iboga therapy are unlikely to come in the next few years, trends indicate that the push to legalize this invaluable addiction interrupter will only grow stronger in the coming decade.

Grey Areas: Using Ibogaine in 2020 

Iboga is illegal in a lot of countries, and its legal status is murky in a host of others. While eyes are opening to the good it can do, we still have a ways to go before those who would benefit most from the treatment can access it safely in a setting of their choice. But as the scientific community and the mainstream learn more about psychedelic and oneirogenic substances, attitudes are primed to change. As we’ve learned from the process of decriminalizing medical marijuana, once a tipping point is reached in terms of changing attitudes and accepting scientific results without the baggage of puritanical, prohibitionist prejudices, society can move quickly. As best-selling books like Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind” and Ayelet Waldman’s “A Really Good Day” teach society that these substances are, in many instances, safer than the drugs pushed on sufferers by “Big Pharma”, we’d expect to see changes begin in the very near future.

Until those changes take shape, we’d recommend seeking iboga therapy in a country where you can have a safe experience. This means choosing a country where the substance is legal, or one where its use is decriminalized. Don’t forget that this is a powerful medicine, which can cause severe side-effects, and that there is a small but real possibility that you might need urgent medical attention. At Iboga Tree Healing House we look forward to the day when iboga’s power to end addiction is available to ease the pain of addicts around the world!