What is Ibogaine Used For?

Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance derived from the root bark of the perennial shrub Tabernanthe iboga, most commonly found in Gabon and other West African countries such as Cameroon. The iboga root bark has been used for centuries by members of the Bwiti tribes and the Pygmies of Gabon for spiritual development, divination, initiation rites, funerals, celebrations, and other ritualistic purposes.

The extracted alkaloid ibogaine is currently being researched as a treatment for substance use disorder. Ibogaine clinics around the world work with substance users as well as people with different mental health disorders.

There are many reasons why someone might want to buy ibogaine online, but there are also many reasons why it is not safe. This article will talk about the top three reasons why it isn’t safe to buy ibogaine online.

Why Do People Want to Buy Ibogaine Online?

There are innumerable reasons why an individual would want to buy ibogaine online. These include convenience, price, and possible privacy concerns. Some people don’t want their friends or family members to find out the reasons they want to do ibogaine. It is possible they don’t want to – or can’t – take off time from work to travel for treatment. Many people are looking for a quick cure and don’t want the extras that would come with a treatment center, like an integration specialist or additional holistic therapies. Simply put, an individual who chooses to buy ibogaine online might not be committed to safety or doesn’t have a grasp on the complexity and risks involved in ibogaine treatment.

Ibogaine treatment is expensive and also illegal in the United States and a handful of other countries. Not having access, not being able to afford an ibogaine clinic, and not being able to travel internationally may be other reasons for wanting to buy ibogaine online. Whatever the reason, it’s good to consider how much you know about what you’re getting into before making your decision.

Why Isn’t Buying Ibogaine Online Safe?

Buying ibogaine online is unsafe for a few different reasons: purity and content issues without lab certification; sustainability issues from not knowing where the product was sourced; there is also the issue that doing ibogaine out of expertise is unsafe.

Sustainability

Because of prohibition in many countries, buying ibogaine may be illegal, to begin with. Beyond legality, a reason why it might be unsafe to buy ibogaine online relates to sustainability issues. Iboga is critically endangered due to overharvesting and poaching of the plant. To add to this, there is also ongoing poaching of the animals that help spread iboga seed as well as deforestation, and climate change. Iboga and ibogaine are protected and viewed as a cultural heritage in Gabon. In 2000, iboga was recognized as a cultural heritage strategic reserve in Gabon and subject to the terms of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Despite the good intentions of protecting iboga, poaching has still continued. In 2014, the international sale of iboga and ibogaine of Gabonese origin became further protected by The Nagoya Protocol. In addition to further protections of the sale and harvest of iboga, The Nagoya Protocol can legally challenge anyone in a Nagoya Protocol country who is using iboga or ibogaine to prove the country of origin with a certificate, something an internet vendor is unlikely to provide.

There’s concern that people who sell ibogaine online are doing so illegally, which could lead to environmental damage if sustainable harvesting practices are not used. People on the internet may also be poaching directly from the forests of Gabon affecting the Bwiti people and their ability to use their sacred sacrament within the cultural integrity of their belief system. Further, it is believed that poaching could lead to a severe depletion of the supply. If we want ibogaine around for the years and generations to come, it is important to make smart decisions about where we buy it from now.

Purity and Content

The purity and content are also an issue when buying ibogaine online. It is impossible to know if an online vendor is selling a product made in a lab with rigorous standards. There’s no way for customers to know what methods and protocols their laboratory uses —therefore there is uncertainty about whether or not they’re using best practices in extraction and purification processes, which can result in sub-standard products being sold as pure ibogaine hydrochloride (HCL). It also makes it more difficult to find reliable sources because not all sellers will have certification or are able to provide lab analysis of content and purity, including the extraction process. This leaves room for fraudulent claims about purity and dosage.

There is no way for customers to know what they’re getting when they purchase from an unknown vendor. A customer might order ibogaine HCL or other iboga extracts that contain other substances in addition to the desired alkaloid, or it could contain low-quality ibogaine HCL, with only a small percentage of the active ingredients found in traditional products.

There may even be cross-contamination with other drugs during manufacture which can lead to dangerous situations. Beyond this, an additional issue is that Voacanga africana is used as a sustainable option for HCL, but it is dangerous as root bark or TA extract. Some labs may produce Voacanga as root bark due to the dire status of iboga root bark or rely on consumers not knowing that Voacanga is not safe to consume unless it’s been extracted into ibogaine HCL.

A study that looked at random samples from internet vendors of iboga root bark, ibogaine HCL, as well as other iboga extracts found no consistency in the percentage of the iboga alkaloids (purity and content), specifically ibogaine, within products. One sample had no iboga alkaloids whatsoever and all samples had unknown substances and alkaloids in their product. In general, ibogaine content was low compared to a reputable lab extraction. This is a compelling reason to avoid online vendors.

Experience Level

Finally, buying ibogaine online means you are attempting an at-home, DIY treatment. This is never safe. Ibogaine treatment should always be done with proper pre-screening, preparation, and with a reputable ibogaine provider at an ibogaine clinic that will provide medical oversight. Even individuals with considerable experience with ibogaine, need people and medical support around to monitor them. Many things can go wrong while taking ibogaine, and buying ibogaine online ensures you won’t have access to emergency medical care that is familiar with the substance should something go wrong.

What Can You Do Instead of Buying Ibogaine Online?

You can start by weighing the reasons you are seeking out treatment with ibogaine. Ibogaine treatment is often the last resort for people who have not responded to other treatment modalities. If you’re considering an ibogaine treatment for yourself or a loved one, then it’s important that you do your due diligence on where and who is a safe provider of this medicine. It might not be as easy as buying some from the internet — however, there are people who have dedicated their lives to learning how to work with this medicine. There are also a number of fatalities and adverse medical events that happen every year; safety is imperative.

If you are considering doing ibogaine for an important personal reason and to turn your life around, then it is worth taking the time to save money, research reputable and safe clinics, and book a treatment —even if this means it will take longer for you to have an ibogaine treatment.

The other thing you can do is check out other options that may be more accessible, cost less money, and carry less risk. MDMA, ketamine, microdosing psilocybin, and ayahuasca, are all options with less associated risks, parallel mental health benefits, and different levels of availability, some even being available in the United States as a legal option.