What’s the Deal with Ibogaine?
The promise and perils of the psychedelic few people know.
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On November 5, Massachusetts voters will decide whether or not to pass the Regulated Access to Psychedelic Substances Initiative, a/k/a Question 4 on this year’s ballot, which would create legal access to five natural psychedelic substances including psilocybin (the trippy compound in “magic mushrooms”) and ibogaine. Maybe you’ve heard the word, but what is ibogaine exactly?
For time immemorial, people in the Central Africa region have used ibogaine, the psychedelic derived from the root bark of the iboga tree, to induce a hallucinogenic experience as a rite of passage. But it wasn’t until recently that medical professionals around the world began tapping it as a treatment for opioid addiction, PTSD, and chronic pain. Since it’s illegal in the United States, Americans have been traveling to places such as Mexico, Brazil, and New Zealand to experience the benefits of the drug.
One day, however, they might not have to travel so far. Some of the nation’s top-tier research institutions are pursuing clinical trials on ibogaine combined with therapy as a treatment for addiction and PTSD. “Even though we have effective addiction therapies available today, we need additional options,” says Joji Suzuki, director of Brigham and Women’s Division of Addiction Psychiatry, who conducts research on psychedelics and addiction. He is currently seeking approval for a clinical trial that examines the effects of ibogaine on opioid addiction. Despite the promise, ibogaine is not without its downsides. In earlier studies, researchers have reported life-threatening complications, including fatal cardiac arrhythmias.
Still, Suzuki says, “risk alone doesn’t determine whether or not we offer” a treatment, adding that all treatments come with risks that must be balanced with the potential benefits. Only time will tell whether the U.S. government decides that ibogaine’s benefits outweigh its risks and legalizes the drug for use.
A version of this sidebar was published in the print edition of the October 2024 issue with the headline, “A Miracle Drug?”
Related
- Inside Boston’s Psychedelic Revolution
- Massachusetts Question 4 on Psychedelics: What You Need to Know
- Eliza Dushku‘s Bold New Journey
