Ibogaine

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants in the Apocynaceae family such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana and Tabernaemontana undulata. A psychedelic with dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is used by proponents of psychedelic therapy to treat addiction to methadone, heroin, ethanol, cocaine, methamphetamine, anabolic steroids, and other drugs. Ibogaine is also used to treat depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Derivatives of ibogaine that lack the substance's psychedelic properties are under development.Ibogaine-containing preparations are used for medicinal and ritual purposes within African spiritual traditions of the Bwiti, who claim to have learned it from the Pygmy peoples. Although it was first commonly advertised as having anti-addictive properties in 1962 by Howard Lotsof, its Western use predates that by at least a century. In France it was marketed as Lambarène, a medical drug used as a stimulant. Additionally, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) studied the effects of ibogaine in the 1950s.Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid that is obtained either by extraction from the iboga plant or by semi-synthesis from the precursor compound voacangine, another plant alkaloid. A full organic synthesis of ibogaine has been achieved and was published in a patent in 1956. The synthesis process is too expensive and challenging to be used to produce a commercially significant yield. The free base and the HBr salt have both been characterised by X-ray crystallography.While ibogaine's prohibition in several countries has slowed scientific research into its anti-addictive properties, the use of ibogaine for drug treatment has grown in the form of a large worldwide medical subculture. Ibogaine is also used to facilitate psychological introspection and spiritual exploration.