Why is ibogaine illegal in the United States?

The drug ibogaine in the United States is categorized as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, even though the Iboga tabernanthe plant itself is unscheduled. 

Schedule I drugs can be defined as those substances that have no currently appropriate medical use and have a high potential for abuse.

Ibogaine is a psychedelic substance extracted from a Western African shrub called tabernanthe iboga, which has traditionally been used by followers of the Bwiti religion. Iboga was used for ceremonial healing and initiation ritual purposes.

Despite all scientific research proving ibogaine may be effective in treating addictions when used in clinically supervised settings, the United States government has nevertheless put ibogaine in the same category as opiates.

Therefore, the use of ibogaine is illegal in the U.S. and can lead to arrest and probable jail time.

Not only was Ibogaine made illegal to use on a personal level, but it was also made illegal for scientific testing.

The Ibogaine drug may have been relatively new, but drugs like LSD were already showing huge promise in treating addictions. But the data didn’t matter. 

The ibogaine drug itself has certain psychedelic and dissociative effects and is being used to treat patients who are already addicted to other substances, such as opiates. 

So if a patient is directing their mind toward using ibogaine for his or her treatment, they will need to travel to another country where the medicine is legal, buy it, and use it in an ibogaine treatment center or at home.

In the United States, however, the answer seems to be jail time. But, no matter how many times you throw an addict in jail, you still don’t treat the principal cause of their addiction.

What we should know is that addiction is more powerful than its consequences.

How does ibogaine cure addiction?

Although the numerous positive results ibogaine has had in curing addiction in the past, ibogaine still remains an experimental and poorly studied drug, proponents of the shamanic hallucinogen say the following about ibogaine treatment:

• Ibogaine drug almost immediately stops opioid withdrawal symptoms.
• Ibogaine treatment reduces drug cravings.
• Ibogaine treatment grants one insight into why they use drugs or alcohol and gives them the possibility to stop.

Treatment with ibogaine has been said to resemble what they describe as “a reset switch for life.”

There are three stages in the ibogaine treatment process, which include “The Acute or Dreamlike Stage,” which involves the typical and initial effects of withdrawal: vomiting, vivid dreamlike hallucinations, and an introspective memory journey of why the person indulged in addiction in the very first place.

This phase will last for a period of 4–8 hours. The second stage is known as “the evaluative stage” and will last for 8 to 20 hours.

After having a revelation of the reason for their addiction, the addicts go through a self-evaluative process where they have a better understanding of why they acted the way they did, leading to a greater personal understanding.

From this stage, significant behavior change such as stopping drugs or alcohol for good is observed. The third and final stage, known as “the stimulation stage,” will last for 24 to 72 hours or even more. In this stage, the body experiences fatigue but finds it difficult to sleep.

Many people will experience a great reduction in the desire to sleep and will be given sedatives or sleeping aids to facilitate some rest. This feeling of sleeplessness may linger for weeks or even months following ibogaine treatment.

Ibogaine is a psychedelic drug that helps relieve the negative side effects of opiate addiction in the human body.

The opiate receptor sites in the human brain are completely reconfigured after the patient is administered a particular dose of the ibogaine drug, which accelerates the opiate detoxification process in the human body.

Once the opiate detoxification process is complete and the brain’s neuron chemistry is reset to normal, ibogaine administration can be discontinued.

Contrary to popular de-addiction or detoxification drugs such as methadone, which are highly addictive, the most important quality of the ibogaine drug is that it is non-addictive in nature.

Other detox drugs like methadone will compel the patient to continue taking them despite having fully recovered from addiction.

When an addicted person consumes ibogaine, the liver later converts it to nor-ibogaine. Noribogaine is then stored in the fat cells of the human body. It acts as a repellent to negative thoughts and any substance-related cravings.

The ibogaine drug works by altering the levels of endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline, and other relevant brain chemicals, thereby forcing them to reach their pre-addiction state.

Re-balancing the brain chemistry may take several weeks or even months, depending on the severity of the addiction problem.

It’s important to note that patients suffering from anti-depressant addiction take longer to heal compared to roadside drug addiction.

How to get treatment with iboga?

There are several ways in which you can get treatment with iboga. You can either self-medicate or look for an ibogaine treatment center where you will be administered ibogaine by professional health care providers.

Iboga can be used to treat several diseases, including influenza and fever. But the most common use of iboga is to treat addictions.

If you are an addict seeking to make a change, then iboga is for you. It will help you deal with the adverse effects of withdrawal symptoms.

Tabernanthe iboga is a shrub-like tree native to the central West African countries of Gabon and Cameroon.

Ibogaine can only be used by licensed medical professionals in Brazil, South Africa, and New Zealand. It remains unregulated in other parts of the world, like the US.

But if you are in the US and wish to be treated with ibogaine, you will only need to travel to a country where ibogaine is legal and buy or get treated at any of the ibogaine treatment centers in any of those countries where ibogaine is legal.