Author: Matthew Davis / Source: Big Think
Some opioid addicts are flying outside of the U.S. for addiction treatment using the psychedelic drug ibogaine. It has yet to be studied comprehensively, and it comes with its own set of risks.
- The opioid crisis in the U.S. isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, and tens of thousands of addicts die every year from opioid abuse.
- Some centers outside of the U.S. are treating opioid addiction with ibogaine, a powerful hallucinatory drug.
- The drug is understudied and known to be toxic to humans, but some addicts are willing to take the risk.
Across the U.S., opioid addicts are boarding planes to fly to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and other countries in pursuit of a high-risk, high-reward treatment for their addiction. This treatment is illegal in the U.S. — it’s caused deaths before, and the research on its efficacy is still in its infancy. It’s called ibogaine, a hallucinatory, toxic drug extracted from the root bark of the iboga tree in Western Africa.
It’s no surprise, that opioid addicts are going to these extreme lengths to get clean. The rehabilitation community claims that it only has an overall 30% success rate for treating opioid addiction, and there’s evidence that even that modest number is inflated. Meanwhile, deaths from heroin use have increased seven-fold between 2002 and 2017. Even if the treatment is dangerous and untested, for some, the risk is worth it.
The effects
Powdered ibogaine.
Ibogaine produces powerful hallucinations for four to six hours. As a psychedelic, its most distinguishing characteristic is its oneirogenic quality, meaning that it produces a dream-like sensation. Users have reported it feels like “a waking dream.
” During an interview with the New York Times, one user said that after taking the drug, “My face opened up like a zipper […] It’s like somebody pulled my face apart and looked into me. Then a white light came on, and suddenly I saw all these faces, like on a movie screen.” Although it might not sound like it, the user said, “It was pleasurable, relaxing.”In the Bwiti religion in Western Africa, the drug is believed to enable communication with the dead. In light doses, Gabonese hunters use the drug as a stimulant to assist in chasing their prey, and it was sold as a…
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