Below is a map of the legal status of ibogaine in different countries around the world. For legal references and/or a timeline of court decisions, click on the icon for each location. So, is ibogaine legal in the United States? According to the DEA. Ibogaine is a Schedule I substance. This means that it is currently unacceptable for medical use, does not lack accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and has a high potential for abuse. Therefore, it is still illegal to use it in processing. Alan Davis, an associate assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University who researches psychedelics, has been hired by several clinics outside the U.S. — including the one Laughlin visited — to talk to clients to see what, if anything, has changed in their lives after treatment. In 2017, Davis published a study in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies in which he interviewed 88 people — most of whom had taken opioids daily for at least four years — who had visited an ibogaine clinic in Mexico from 2012 to 2015. About 80% reported that ibogaine eliminated or significantly reduced their withdrawal symptoms; Half said their opioid cravings decreased and 30% said they never used opioids again after ibogaine.
Ibogaine „is not a silver bullet,” Davis says, but even a short-term disruption of the kind offered by the psychedelic can give addicts the space and time to make the necessary changes to their environment, behaviors, and relationships. Now, for the first time, some emerging pharmaceutical companies, including ATAI Life Sciences and MindMed, realize there`s money to be made here, and they`re running to develop ibogaine, or drugs that behave like that. But as they begin the long hunt for FDA approval through clinical trials — with results that are far from clear — many people are desperate enough to jump out of the U.S. and try ibogaine in parts of the world where it`s not regulated. Some countries are making efforts to relax drug laws in general. In a move unknown at the time, Portugal decriminalized the possession and use of all drugs in 2001. Although ibogaine is not legal for import, transport or sale in Portugal, a quick search on the internet shows that people feel comfortable working there without criminal prosecution. Uruguay has never criminalized drug possession or use.
A 1974 drug reform law leaves the decision on criminal intent to a judge. Fears about how ibogaine affects the heart have put off most mainstream pharmaceutical companies, but Rao calls those concerns exaggerated. „It hits some of these channels in the heart, and in very uncontrolled environments, it has certainly been linked to arrhythmia problems,” he says. „In the context of more controlled settings with medical support, it has not really been associated with any arrhythmia or significant side effects.” Careful dosing and monitoring can reduce risk, Rao says, and studies will eventually uncover ibogaine`s true cardiovascular effects. However, some risks may be worth it in the context of the potential benefits of the drug. „If this were to treat acne naturally, it`s not a good choice,” he says. But for opioid addiction, which kills about 128 Americans a day, „some level of cardiovascular risk is probably acceptable.” Other companies, like Deborah Mashs Demerx, focus on promoting ibogaine research. Universal Ibogaine, a start-up, aims to build treatment centers around the world and promote research. They are hopeful that they can change the climate of ibogaine in Canada with the introduction of clinical trials. This article explores where ibogaine use is legal, why it`s illegal elsewhere, and what other options are available if you`re looking for an ibogaine treatment center.
Many researchers believe that the role of psychedelic experiences in the context of transformative healing is crucial. Going through the psychological, emotional and often spiritual process is as important for the effectiveness of the treatment as the anti-craving pharmacological effects of ibogaine. Ibogaine is not scheduled in Costa Rica. However, Costa Rica examined ibogaine in 2015 after an autopsy of a tourist showed traces of ibogaine, around the same time Kardashian`s money was being used to promote a new ibogaine center in Costa Rica. Ibogaine could become an accepted and effective treatment for addiction. But only if we treat it with respect! More stories of irresponsible use and deaths in the media will only delay the approval of ibogaine as a drug. Ibogaine is not legal in many countries. However, it has a small gray area, so some treatment centers may use it for addiction issues.
MindMed, a U.S.-based company that aims to develop psychedelic drugs, is pursuing a synthetic derivative of ibogaine called 18-MC for opioid addiction. „We see merit in hallucinogenic drugs,” says J.R. Rahn, CEO and co-founder of MindMed. „We just don`t see the value of ibogaine because I don`t think anyone wants to take medication and is at risk of having a heart attack.” The company hopes that 18-MC will have the same impact on withdrawal as ibogaine, but will not be associated with psychedelic or cardiac effects. MindMed`s Phase 1 trial in Australia has so far found no adverse cardiovascular effects in 18-MC. Phase 2 trials to determine whether 18-MC reduces opioid withdrawal are expected to begin this year. Meanwhile in the United States, an underground culture of ibogaine suppliers operated out of hotel rooms and private homes. Perhaps due to the overwhelming feeling that ibogaine was rejected by society at large, many began to move to Mexico and countries where ibogaine was not regulated. From 2006 to 2014, the number of treatment centers around the world tripled, calling what Brian Vastag, a science journalist, called a „huge, uncontrolled experiment.” Ibogaine has been a Schedule IV drug in Australia for several years, meaning it can`t be distributed without a license – and it doesn`t appear the government has issued licenses for ibogaine.
Although ibogaine is classified as a „natural health product” in Canada and has many treatment centres, its legal status is uncertain. Recently, ibogaine has been seized by several vendors due to concerns about heart risks. ATAI Life Sciences is in Phase I trials of ibogaine and its effects on opioid abuse disorder. Dr. Srinivas Rao, co-founder and scientific director of ATAI, explains her interest in ibogaine as follows: „I was a little skeptical at first, but the stories with ibogaine keep popping up and are very similar. People seem to get a lot out of this experience. It is illegal to possess or distribute ibogaine in Switzerland because it is explicitly listed as a prohibited substance. Ibogaine is one of the most promising psychedelics for addiction. Not many people have heard of it, it`s illegal in the United States, and no one does it for fun. It is not pleasant. It could kill you.
But to erase addiction — and a host of other problems — many people swear there`s no such thing. The drug comes from a shrub called Tabernanthe iboga, native to Central Africa. Since at least the 1800s, members of the Bwiti religion in Gabon have eaten shavings of iboga bark during initiations and coming-of-age ceremonies; those who consume it report visions and contacts with their ancestors and even God. The world encountered the hallucinogenic plant in the form of ibogaine, a compound extracted from ibogarinde and packaged in a pill. In France, ibogaine was sold and prescribed for over 30 years as an antidepressant and stimulant called Lambarene until the government banned the sale of ibogaine in the 1960s. But its anti-addictive effects were unknown in the United States until 1962, when Howard Lotsof — then a 19-year-old who was completely outside the medical establishment — experimented with it and discovered it was wiping out his heroin addiction. He did the same for several of Lotsof`s colleagues when he organized 20 amateur drug experimenters, all in their late teens and early 20s, to try many hallucinogens, including ibogaine. Seven people in the group were addicted to heroin at the time. After taking ibogaine, all seven reported that they had stopped heroin withdrawal, and five of them lost their desire to use heroin for six months or more. Ibogaine was the only drug that had this effect.
„Suddenly, I realized I wasn`t in heroin withdrawal,” Lotsof later said of his own experience with ibogaine. He didn`t dream of it either. „Where I saw heroin as a comforting drug, I now saw heroin as a drug that mimics death.