Introduction

Over the last two decades, there has been an increase in discussion worldwide about Ibogaine, which is a plant-based medicine native to western Africa.  According to drugscience.org.uk, Ibogaine is ”an alkaloid found in the root bark of the Apocynaceae family of plants, most notably the Tabernanthe iboga shrub”, it also produces a psychoactive effect.  

Where Research Is Going

The USDA is opening up to research involving psychedelics to address depression, anxiety, and trauma because of its positive impact on serotonin. For example psilocybin has been legalized for use in Oregon, and ketamine has been in use for decades as an ER anesthetic, now used for addressing depression. Other states in the US are approving psychedelic medicines for clinical trials and use, including California, Washington, Kentucky, and Utah, in spite of federal law in the US that retains a Schedule 1 or Schedule 3 designation for the main psychedelics.

According to researchers at Weill Cornell, “The minimum energies required to transition between states while under the influence of LSD [and] psilocybin…found that the psychedelic drugs lowered, or ‘flattened,’ these normal energy barriers, allowing the brain to transition from one state to another much more readily. (Carhart-Harris, et al, 2022). This is colloquially called “neuro-plasticity”.

Meanwhile, indigenous shamans and free-thinking intellectuals have touted the value of psychedelics to open one’s mind, release pent-up feelings and memories which lead to maladaptive lifestyle choices and behaviors.  Ritual rites of passage, vision quests, and psychological problems have been addressed for many centuries by psychedelics through indigenous healers, and the liberal subcultures of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s have resulted in people looking beyond traditional medicine, which is reactive and chemical, for medicines that can be proactive and organic, such as with psychedelics.  Ibogaine is one such psychedelic medicine, and it provides a reset of dopamine receptors in the brain.

Dopamine

According to Healthline, dopamine is a neurotransmitter important in motivating behavior, mood, and cognitive function. It influences your mood and feelings of reward and motivation.  Many medical conditions are linked to low levels of dopamine, including Parkinson’s disease, restless legs syndrome, depression, schizophrenia and ADHD. 

Dopamine also plays a role in addiction.  Because Ibogaine is not an approved remedy in many countries for dopamine problems, the standard answer we’ll read and hear goes like this: “Physical exercise, meditation, exposure to sunlight, engaging in hobbies, and listening to music can naturally increase dopamine levels.” (ibid)  We now understand addiction to be more complicated than a mere social disease, as has been depicted for many centuries.

Addiction Is A Threefold Problem

1. There are the physiological problems of the substance – its addictive properties, its health risks, and how those impact the body through damage and dependency. Certainly, the medicinal effect of Ibogaine restores dopamine functioning and removes all dependency. According to Internal Medicine specialist Dr. Carlos Silva, Ibogaine serves as an “addiction interruptor”;
2. There are also those problems that are environmental – the social impact of addiction, such as broken families, psychological and physical abuse, bad habits, and social circle – impact on society through lost work, dereliction, incarceration and other legal issues;
3. There is the psychological – the pre-existing emotional and relational trauma leading to using. Current addiction research has moved in this direction over the past two decades, especially through the work of noted Canadian physician/psychologist Gabor Mate, MD.

How Psychedelics Help 

Psychedelics, once called ‘mind-expanding drugs’, open up our thought processes to perceive ourselves and our environments, our influences and our spiritual paradigms, much differently than our normal, waking, conscious state.  This has frequently led to people changing their lifestyle, their attitude, their worldview, and their sense of self in a way that sets them on a path away from addiction. For people with substance dependency, who choose Ibogaine as part of their treatment, this psychological effect can be crucial to recovery. The psychedelic medicines that offer these insights include psilocybin (aka Magic Mushrooms), Ketamine (formerly nicknamed Special K), Ayahuasca, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT, aka Toad Medicine, God Molecule), and Ibogaine.  Regarding Ibogaine, not everyone experiences the psychedelic effects, particularly those who are using benzodiazepines, and without the proper professional support to help “unpack” the information and feelings that come from the effect, some have lost a great opportunity for introspection.  Nevertheless, the dopamine reset offered by Ibogaine is effectively 100% guaranteed, and this reset is not available with any other medication or psychedelic medicine.

Two Types of Psychedelic Clientele

Current research and results indicate that the majority of “street” drug addiction is a problem secondary to mental health issues, both psychiatric and emotional.  People are self-medicating their conditions, since they have found no success or support from traditional approaches such as prescription medications, psychotherapy, and social services. 

For those struggling with prescription medication dependency, often through a surgery or injury, securing ongoing prescriptions may be impossible, and prolonged use of prescription opioids leads to tolerance of the medication, which in turn leads to a need for higher doses.  Pain management clinics lack the resources necessary to assist such people in weaning off the medications and securing a pain-free existence. Many such people have gone to Ibogaine for a solution – they are not part of the drug-abuse lifestyle, yet suffer stigma; they are not interested in the “maintenance drugs” of Suboxone and methadone, which is a path without a drug-free end, but still endure chronic physical pain.

Conclusion

There is therefore an immense potential for psychedelics, even if not done in a clinical setting. Ibogaine is proving the only medicine known that can address that first problem of physiological dependency, which is an important part of the solution; we must also be aware how environmental and psychological issues are equally important. Psychedelic effects can bring about insight into one’s beliefs, feelings, and goals, but this is not guaranteed – serious post-Ibogaine follow-up is necessary for a complete recovery.