GABON, WEST AFRICA (2026)

Iboga is one of the most powerful psychoactive plants on earth. It is also one of the most wanted.

The iboga shrub has been central to Bwiti spiritual practice in Gabon and Cameroon for generations. In recent years, it has drawn intense commercial interest from the Western psychedelic industry, where its active compound ibogaine is being studied and patented as a treatment for addiction and mental health conditions. The communities who have held this knowledge for centuries are watching it leave.

Molly is on the ground in Gabon reporting on iboga, biopiracy, and the question at the center of the psychedelic boom: who owns a sacred plant once the rest of the world decides it is valuable. The story follows indigenous custodians, scientists, patent holders, and activists, and asks what consent, sovereignty, and benefit sharing actually look like in practice.

The assignment connects to her broader investigation into the globalization of plant medicine and the legal and ethical frameworks, or the absence of them, that govern what happens when traditional knowledge enters the international market.