ibogaine

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga). A hallucinogen with both psychedelic and dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is being used to treat addiction to opiates, methamphetamine and other drugs. Derivatives of ibogaine that lack the substance's hallucinogen properties are under development.

Ibogaine-containing preparations are used in medicinal and ritual purposes within African spiritual traditions of the Bwiti, who claim to have learned it from the Pygmy. 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 Lambarene, a medical drug used for dieting. Additionally, Freedom of Information Act documents released in the 1980s show that 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. The synthesis process is too expensive and challenging to be used to produce a commercially significant yield, primarily due to the need to conduct the synthesis in an anoxic environment.^{[citation needed]}