A new centre for the study of African psychoactive plants has been launched at the University of Pretoria. The Southern Centre for Indigenous Psycho-Pharma (SCIPP) was set up earlier this year as an inter-disciplinary research and development (R&D) unit to explore how African plant medicine can be developed to deal with mental health problems.

The Centre is supported by eight government departments, including SAHPRA, Health, the DTICC, the CSIR and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). It. is also heavily-backed by academia – the Imperial College of London, the Universities of the Free State, Stellenbosch and Kwazulu Natal, and the National University of Lesotho.  Private partners include leading Gauteng cannabis cultivators, Druids Garden and Psyence, a psychedelics company listed by South African entrepreneurs on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

SCIPP has also enlisted the help of the African National Healers Association and the Traditional Healers Organization.

Under the leadership of Pretoria University’s Professor Vanessa Steenkamp, the primary aim of the Centre is to research medicines that:

• Are natural (derived from plants, fungi, biological organisms)

• Include traditional rituals and ceremonies (music, dance and movement)

• Assist in the treatment of mental health conditions (psychological, neurological and substance addictions)

• Originate from traditional medicine and indigenous knowledge systems of the traditional healers of Africa and the global South

SCIPP says: “Africa encapsulates a deep and rich history of ancient medicines derived from a bedrock of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) rooted in soil, society and spirituality. Scientific discoveries resulting from local knowledge of plants, fungi and numerous biological materials have been applied as treatments for ailments across physical, neurological and psychological spectra, with tremendous untapped potential awaiting refinement and alignment to the pressing mental health problems present in our communities today.”

According to SCIPP's website, these are the initial five research projects.

Traditional Healers & Mental Health

Ethnographic study on mental health in traditional health practice

1. Focus Group with indigenous and allopathic mental health practitioners to bridge the two medical knowledge systems.

2. Survey through THPs on prevalence of Mental, Neurological and Substance use disorders (MNS) and their diagnosis, prevention and treatment in under-serviced communities.

Psychotropic Plant Medicine

• Scoping review of traditional uses & pharmacology of SA indigenous medicinal plants for potential treatment of MNS conditions

• Meta analysis of efficacy of South African sceletium to treat depression and anxiety

Mycology & Indigenous Mushrooms

• Pharmacology & clinical trials on indigenous psilocybin mushrooms of Southern Africa

a.      Macro-dosing for treatment of alcohol addiction and depression

b.     Micro-dosing for improved cognitive performance and productivity

• Economics of psilocybin, export potential and market study

Music, Dance & Movement Therapy 

Traditional medicine practices of indigenous peoples have long incorporated music and dance into rituals and ceremonies to:

• Shape and enhance healing journeys into altered states of consciousness

• Provide a non-verbal channel for processing emotions and memories

• Support the construction of cohesion in community

It is for this reason that modalities such as music and dance are taken up in the study of IKS related to psycho-pharma and the multi-modal applications they allow. Music and art play an integrative role across all SCIPP projects instead of serving as a stand-alone study.

Entheogens of Africa & the Amazon

Research on DMT, mescaline, ibogaine, and other psychedelics contained in amphibian and plant medicine of Africa and South America.

• Anthropological studies on ethnographic uses by indigenous people of Africa and the Americas of natural medicines for healing and spiritual rituals

• Identification of psychoactive material in the Southern African eco-system, and cultivation of Amazonian psychoactive medicines in re-created local environments

• Extractions, preparations and pharmacology of psychoactives of Africa with comparisons regarding similar psychotropic species of the Americas

• Clinical trials of ancient indigenous entheogens for the potential treatment of current mental health conditions

• International symposium on BRICS countries traditional medicine for mental health treatment.

SCIPP in its own words:

SCIPP is an inter-disciplinary research centre integrating advanced specialisations in Pharmacology, Botany, Mycology, Chemistry, Psychiatry, Psychology, Sociology and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) to conduct cutting-edge research and development (R&D) on naturally derived materials, which may assist in the effective treatments for the most prevalent mental health conditions affecting people today.

Some of the activities of SCIPP include:

• Development of natural psycho-medicines for clinical and complementary uses

• Publication of scientific research papers

• Support and supervision of student research projects in these domains

• Development and facilitation of academic teaching and capacity-building programmes for practitioners (i.e. traditional healers, community health workers, IKS and local psycho-pharma fraternities)

• Engagement with public health policy and advocacy around scheduling, access, guidance and use of natural psychedelic and psycho-active compounds for therapeutic purposes

• Inform economic policy regarding novel medicines derived from psychedelic and psycho-active plants, fungi and biological organisms

  
  

  Click here to contact SCIPP

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