Ibogaine
| Ibogaine | |
|---|---|
| Ibogaine | |
| Chemical name | 12-Methoxyibogamine |
| CAS number | 83-74-9 |
| Chemical formula | C20H26N2O |
| Molecular mass | 310.44 g/mol |
| |
Ibogaine is a tryptamine-related psychoactive entheogenic compound extracted from the root bark of a West African shrub known as Tabernanthe iboga. The unextracted root bark has been used for hundreds or thousands of years as part of a Bwiti coming of age ceremony, producing complex visions and insights. Extraction of the alkaloids from the root bark results in pure Ibogaine hydrochloride.
In recent years, it has been observed that Ibogaine serves to interrupt addiction to opiates, in some cases temporarily and in some cases permanently. However, due to the psychoactive nature of this drug, and possible involvement in cardiac arrhythmias, some countries have banned the sale and importation of Ibogaine. Research also suggests that Ibogaine may interrupt addiction of other substances such as alcohol and nicotine, and may even interrupt addiction-like destructive behavioral patterns not involving substance abuse.
The exact mechanism by which Ibogaine interrupts addiction is not known. However, many users of Ibogaine report seeing instructive replays of life events that led to their addiction, while others report therapeutic shamanic visions that help them conquer the fears and negative emotions that drive their addiction. Additionally, those treated with Ibogaine report an immediate cessation in withdrawal cravings.
Proponents of Ibogaine treatment for drug addiction have established formal and informal clinics in Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands where Ibogaine is administred in a controlled environment as an experimental drug. Although the full nature Ibogaine is still emerging, it appears that the most effective treatment involves visionary doses of Ibogaine producing an interruption of opiate cravings and appetite, followed by intensive counseling and therapy during the interruption period. A few patients require a second or third session over the course of the next 12 to 18 months to completely rid themselves of opiate addiction. A minority of patients relapse completely into opiate addiction.
It must be noted that the drug is experimental and controversial, and isolate cases of fatal cardiac arrhythmias during treatment are known to have occurred. Because Ibogaine therapy takes 18 to 36 hours, and is mentally intensive and often nausea-producing, it is not attractive as a recreational drug. Nonetheless, Ibogaine is now a Schedule I drug in the United States, and is also banned in Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium.
Ibogaine research was funded by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse in the early 1990's. NIDA abandoned efforts to fund this research in 1995, citing other reports that suggested a risk of brain damage with extremely high doses, and fatal heart arrythmia in patients having a history of health problems. No other source of funding for ibogaine research appeared until until 2005, when Dr. Deborah Mash received the needed funding from an anonymous source. With this funding, FDA-approved Phase I clinical trials using ibogaine on drug addicted human subjects have re-started at the University of Miami, independent of NIDA.