Featured Session: Ibogaine in America: The Parable of Our Time

Event ID: PP1150522

Wed, Mar 18, 2026 | 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Venue: Salon 1-4 (JW Marriott)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

An ancient African medicine, Iboga, contains the most powerful psychedelic on the planet - ibogaine. Known for decades in the underground of the West as a profound interrupter of drug addiction, U.S. military veterans have been fleeing to Mexico to access ibogaine treatment in a desperate struggle to save themselves from the physical, psychological, and spiritual ravages of war. Recent medical discoveries related to ibogaine’s impact on the brain suggest that it may also be the most sophisticated molecule on the planet, holding revolutionary potential to transform the lives of millions across the world whose debilities are not responsive to synthetic pharmacology. The pursuit of ibogaine’s medicalization within the United States is a daunting mission uniting diverse communities with common afflictions against institutional obstacles which expose and illuminate the dysfunctions of power over people as well as the monumental opportunity we now have for people to prevail over power.

Contributors

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