An Introduction to Ibogaine- Herbal cure/trip for addiction- Ibogaine is used to treat both drug and alcohol addiction.

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An Introduction to Ibogaineby Nick Sandberg ISBN 0-9538348-1-6 www.ibogaine.co.uk This piece is not subject to copyright and may be reproducedChapters Introduction Ibogaine The Problems of Developing Ibogaine Casual Ibogaine Treatment Ibogaine Treatment How Ibogaine Works The Bwiti Ibogaine for Self-development Iboga Visions Bibliography IntroductionIbogaine is a psychoactive indole alkaloid derived from the rootbark of an African plant - Tabernanthe iboga. In recent years it has been increasingly noted for its ability to treat both drug and alcohol addiction. Both scientific studies and widespread anecdotal reports appear to suggest that a single administration of ibogaine has the ability to both remove the symptoms of drug withdrawal and reduce drug-craving for a period of time after administration. In addition, the drug's psychoactive properties (in large doses it can induce a dreamlike state for a period of hours) have been widely credited with helping users understand and reverse their drug-using behaviour. Studies suggest that ibogaine has considerable potential in the treatment of addiction to heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methadone, and alcohol, with some suggestion that it further be useful in treating tobacco dependence. It has also been suggested that the drug may have considerable potential in the field of psychotherapy, particularly as a treatment for the effects of trauma or conditioning. A single administration of ibogaine typically has three effects useful in the treatment of drug dependence. Firstly, it causes a massive reduction in the symptoms of drug withdrawal, allowing relatively painless detoxification. Secondly, many users report, and scientific studies confirm, a marked lowering in the desire to use drugs is experienced for a period of time after taking ibogaine, typically between one week and several months. Finally, the drug's psychoactive nature is reported to help many users understand and resolve the issues behind their addictive behaviour. Ibogaine can be easily administered, in capsule form, and has no addictive effects itself. It is essentially a "one-shot" medication and, used in a clinical setting with proper client screening procedures, the drug thus far appears to be safe to use. Whilst it is rare for an individual to stop using drugs permanently from a single dose of ibogaine, as the initial component in an overall rehabilitation programme the drug would appear to offer much potential. Although approved for clinical trials (trials on humans) for the treatment of addiction in the US in the early 1990s, problems with financial backing have so hindered the development of ibogaine that, as of mid 2001, it remains undeveloped and thus unavailable to the majority of addicts worldwide. There are however a couple of private clinics, located around the Caribbean and in Mexico, that offer ibogaine treatment at prices starting around £4,000, and some lay treatment providers offer lower cost treatment, without medical facilities, in Europe. In addition, ibogaine, either in pure form or as a plant extract, has become available from some lay sources on the internet. Ibogaine's current legal status in the UK, and much of the rest of the world, is that of an unlicensed, experimental medication, and it not therefore an offence to possess the drug, though to act as a distributor may be breaking the law. Ibogaine is a restricted substance (possession is illegal) in some countries, including the US, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium. IbogaineOf the various substances that have, at one time or another, been proposed as being useful in the treatment of drug or alcohol dependence, ibogaine would certainly appear to be the one offering the greatest real potential. A slightly psychoactive indole alkaloid derived from an African plant, the drug, in plant form, has been used by indigenous groups for millenia. The Bwiti, a Central African religious group, use the rootbark of the Tabernanthe iboga plant for a variety of social and religious purposes, most notably as the central component of a "rite of passage" initiation ceremony intended to confer the status of adulthood upon new group members. In the West, ibogaine is usually administered in the form of the hydrochloride - a fine off-white powder either lab synthesized or chemically extracted from the rootbark. When administered to persons seeking to beat addiction to heroin, methadone, cocaine or alcohol, a single dose of ibogaine typically achieves the following. Firstly, the complete removal or severe attenuation of the symptoms of drug withdrawal, allowing painless detoxification (occurs with approx. 90% of subjects). Secondly, the removal of the desire to use drugs for a period of between one week and three months (occurs with approx. 60% of subjects). Finally, the revealing of personal issues underlying drug-using behaviour, leading to long-term drug-abstinence (occurs with approx. 30% of subjects). Ibogaine is not itself addictive and the drug may be taken a second time to help preserve a drug-free state. It should be noted, however, that relatively few people permanently beat addiction solely through using ibogaine, and the treatment should thus be regarded as simply an initial component in an overall rehabilitation strategy. The discovery that ibogaine could treat drug addiction is usually credited to Howard S. Lotsof - a New York based former heroin user who first took ibogaine in 1962. Lotsof took ibogaine believing it to be a new recreational drug but, 30 hours later, suddenly realized he wasn't experiencing heroin withdrawal, and had no desire to seek drugs. Subsequent casual experimentation by addict friends revealed that this effect was common to others. Some 20 years later, Lotsof returned to his discovery and set about trying to bring it to the market. He initially set up a charitable foundation with the aim of promoting and developing ibogaine as an anti-addiction medication but, dismayed by the lack of interest shown, later decided to form a company, NDA International, believing a business concern would more likely attract the necessary financial backing. NDA filed patents for the use of ibogaine in the treatment of addiction and began to carry out treatments to better evaluate the drug's potential. Because, by this time, ibogaine had been made a Schedule 1 restricted substance in the USA (ibogaine was banned along with LSD and psilocybin in the early seventies) NDA chose to carry out experimental ibogaine treatments in Holland. Jan Bastiaans, a highly-regarded Dutch psychotherapist, partnered him and, over the early years of the nineties, they treated some 30 addict volunteers, the results of which were later medically assessed by Dr Ken Alper in a scientific paper (see How Ibogaine Works for ref). The nineties, after a promising start, proved to be a tough time for ibogaine. In 1991, the US National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), impressed by case reports and animal studies, began studying ibogaine with a view to evaluating its safety. They constructed protocols for the treatment of addiction. In 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who oversee the development of new drugs, approved clinical trials with ibogaine, to be carried out by Dr Deborah Mash of the University of Miami School of Medicine, on behalf of Howard Lotsof's corporation, NDA International. It was at this point that things started to go astray. The death of a young female heroin addict during treatment in Holland brought an abrupt end to the Dutch project. A subsequent inquest did not find the project organizers guilty of negligence but the lack of scientific knowledge about the effects of ibogaine hindered the establishing of an actual cause of death. (It was believed that the surreptitious smoking of opiates during treatment may have been responsible). The approved clinical trials commenced but contractual and funding problems that arose between NDA International and the University of Miami brought the trials to a close before completion, (the drug's safety was not an issue). A lengthy legal battle between the two ensued, and developmental work came to a standstill. In March 1995, after several years spent progressively becoming more interested in ibogaine, a review committee at NIDA suddenly decided to greatly reduce further activity with the drug, apparently having been influenced by critical opinions from the pharmaceuticals industry. Officially, it was reported that the death in Holland was of concern, and that NIDA were disappointed that ibogaine was only shown to keep people off drugs for a period of months, not forever. Howard Lotsof has subsequently pointed out that the death, whilst tragic, was likely caused by concurrent opiate usage and, with regard to the second point, that any drug that could put, say, cancer or AIDS into complete remission for a period of months would be being developed as a matter of national urgency. Over the last five years, very little has happened. The escalating legal battle between NDA International and the University of Miami, each suing the other for alleged breaches of contract, appears to have ended with the bankruptcy of the former. Yet, as of mid 2001, the precise outcome is not clearly established. Meanwhile, widening knowledge of the effects of ibogaine has resulted in casual treatments being provided by various individuals in different countries. Though usually undertaken with good intentions, these treatments have frequently been carried out by people with little medical knowledge, and this may have resulted in further tragic incidents. A couple of small countries, notably Panama and St Kitts, have made ibogaine treatment legally available at private clinics, but only at prices starting around UK?,000 per treatment (approx US$10,000. Unlicensed medical clinics in Mexico currently offer the treatment slightly more cheaply). As of mid 2001, ibogaine remains in a legal nowhere-land, desperately needed by millions of addicts worldwide, but, tragically, little closer to becoming easily available. The Problems of Developing Ibogaine More- http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/ibogaine6.htm