Robert F. ServiceThe Bwiti tribe in Gabon has used the hallucinogen ibogaine for centuries in spiritual ceremonies. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that the drug caught on in the West—not as a psychedelic, but as a treatment for addiction and depression, conditions that today’s medical interventions still struggle to treat.Unfortunately, ibogaine isn’t much of a medicine.
Besides triggering hallucinations, it can cause heart attacks and is illegal in much of the world. An alternative may be on the way, however.Researchers report today that they’ve created a nontoxic and nonhallucinogenic chemical cousin of ibogaine that combats depression and addictive behaviors in rodents.