Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an intoxicating effect. Recreational drugs are commonly divided into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
Entheogens are psychoactive substances, including psychedelic drugs used throughout history in sacred contexts.
Tabernanthe iboga (iboga) is an evergreen rainforest shrub native to Central Africa. A member of the Apocynaceae family indigenous to Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo, it is cultivated across Central Africa for its medicinal and other effects.
MindVox was an early Internet service provider in New York City. The service was referred to as "the Hells Angels of Cyberspace".
Psychedelic therapy refers to the proposed use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, psilocin, mescaline (peyote), DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, Ibogaine, MDMA, to treat mental disorders. As of 2021, psychedelic drugs are controlled substances in most countries and psychedelic therapy is not legally available outside clinical trials, with some exceptions.
Irvin Dana Beal is an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana and to promote the benefits of Ibogaine as an addiction treatment. He is a founder and long-term activist in the Youth International Party (Yippies), and founded the Yipster Times newspaper in 1972. The Yipster Times was renamed Overthrow in 1978, and ended publication in 1989.
Howard Lotsof was an American scientific researcher who discovered and pioneered the use of ibogaine as an approach in Western medicine in the treatment of substance addictions. In 1962, at the age of 19, Lotsof was addicted to heroin and accidentally discovered the anti-addictive effects of ibogaine. He later attended Fairleigh Dickinson University and then New York University, graduating with a degree in film in 1976.
Ibogaine is a psychoactive indole alkaloid obtained either by extraction from plants in the family Apocynaceae such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana, and Tabernaemontana undulata or by semi-synthesis from the precursor compound voacangine, another plant alkaloid. The total synthesis of ibogaine was described in 1956. Structural elucidation by X-ray crystallography was completed in 1960.
Deborah Carmen Mash is an American professor of neurology and of molecular and cellular pharmacology at the Miller School of Medicine and director of the Brain Endowment Bank at the University of Miami. She is also the Chief Executive Officer and founder of DemeRx.
Voacanga africana is a small tree native to tropical Africa belonging to the family Apocynaceae that grows to 6 m (20 ft) in height and bears leaves that are up to 30 cm (12 in) in length. The yellow or white flowers are succeeded by paired, follicular, dehiscent fruit with a mottled green exocarp and a pulpy, yellow mesocarp surrounding the seeds. The plant contains alkaloids acting as CNS depressants and hypotensives.
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue.
Entheogenic drugs have been used by various cultural groups for thousands of years, traditionally in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context.
The peyote is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. Peyote is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl peyōtl, meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root peyōni, "to glisten". Peyote is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas. It is found primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Chihuahuan Desert and in the states of Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers.
Patrick Karel Kroupa, known colloquially as Lord Digital, is an American writer, hacker, and activist. Kroupa was a member of the Legion of Doom and Cult of the Dead Cow hacker groups and co-founded MindVox in 1991 with Bruce Fancher.
Dimitri Mugianis is a harm reductionist, activist, musician, poet, writer, anarchist, and psychedelic practitioner.
A psychoactive drug, mind-altering drug, or consciousness-altering drug is a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior. The term psychotropic drug is often used interchangeably, while some sources present narrower definitions. These substances may be used medically; recreationally; to purposefully improve performance or alter consciousness; as entheogens for ritual, spiritual, or shamanic purposes; or for research, including psychedelic therapy. Physicians and other healthcare practitioners prescribe psychoactive drugs from several categories for therapeutic purposes. These include anesthetics, analgesics, anticonvulsant and antiparkinsonian drugs as well as medications used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders, such as antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, and stimulants. Some psychoactive substances may be used in detoxification and rehabilitation programs for persons dependent on or addicted to other psychoactive drugs.
This is an overview of the legality of ibogaine by country. Ibogaine is not included on the UN International Narcotics Control Board's Green List, or List of Psychoactive Substances under International Control. However, since 1989, it has been on the list of doping substances banned by the International Olympic Committee and the International Union of Cyclists because of its stimulant properties.
The International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS) is a non-profit organization (NPO), headquartered in Barcelona. ICEERS is dedicated to transforming society's relationship with psychoactive plants by engaging with some of the fundamental issues resulting from the globalization of ayahuasca, iboga, and other ethnobotanicals. Founded in 2009, ICEERS is registered as a non-profit organization, and has charitable status in the Netherlands and Spain, and through partner organizations in the US and UK. ICEERS also has consultative status with the United Nations' ECOSOC.
Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc., doing business as MindMed, is a New York-based biotechnology company that is currently developing clinical and therapeutic applications for psychedelic and, more broadly, psychoplastogenic drugs.
A psychedelic retreat is a guided, multi-day program with a set or semi-set itinerary hosted by one or more facilitators where psychoactive substances or processes are administered to guests to improve their mental well-being. The program includes learning and lifestyle workshops on topics such as meditation and healthy eating. These retreats may include an overnight stay, ranging from just one night to one month or more, with meals, a variety of healing modalities, and other activities. A retreat may own its own facility or rent a space to provide suitable accommodation.
