Alternative visions: The strategic partial medicalization of ibogaine treatment

Ibogaine is a psychedelic substance classified as an illegal drug that has been found to have addiction interrupting properties. Over decades of uncontrolled experimentation, user groups in semi-clandestine networks have developed treatment protocols for substance abuse disorder using ibogaine. However, in the ongoing psychedelic renaissance, investors and startups are exploring the possibilities of using ibogaine or chemical analogs in mainstream therapy. This medicalization of ibogaine is viewed with ambivalence among ibogaine providers. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with providers, community organizers, medical professionals and venture capitalists, complemented with ethnographic observations of ibogaine conferences and clinics, we argue that a subset of the ibogaine community engage in a strategic partial medicalization, embracing some parts while rejecting others. Striving to legitimize their own healing practices, they embrace biomedical explanations of the substance's action but reject the idea of pharmaceuticalizing its administration. The case is illustrative of trade-offs that need to be made when alternative healing practices struggle for legitimacy. It provides a complementary perspective on the psychedelic renaissance that can inform ongoing debates about medicalization and pharmaceuticalization.