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 unknown1123
Experimental
Registered: 05/15/08
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 Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? 
#16083805 - 04/13/12 10:05 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17666589
By Stephanie Hegarty BBC World Service
Bwiti tribe Ibogaine is used by the Bwiti tribe in Gabon
Continue reading the main story
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Since the 1960s a disparate group of scientists and former drug addicts have been advocating a radical treatment for addiction - a hallucinogen called ibogaine, derived from an African plant, that in some cases seems to obliterate withdrawal symptoms from heroin, cocaine and alcohol. So why isn't it widely used?
For nearly 15 years, Thillen Naidoo's life was ruled by crack cocaine. Growing up in Chatsworth, a township on the outskirts of Durban in South Africa, he was surrounded in drugs.
After a troubled childhood and the death of his father, he turned to cocaine.
Though he held down a job as a carpenter and could go for days or even weeks without a hit, his wild drug binges often ended in arguments with his wife Saloshna and sometimes even physical abuse.
By the time he met Dr Anwar Jeewa at the Minds Alive Rehab Centre in Chatsworth, Naidoo had tried to quit several times and failed. "Those were dark, dark days," he says.
Saloshna and Thillen Naidoo Thillen Naidoo and his wife were desperate and willing to try anything to ease his addiction
Jeewa offered a radical solution, a hallucinogenic drug used in tribal ceremonies in central Africa that would obliterate his cravings.
But Naidoo was anxious. "I didn't know what this ibogaine thing was," he says. "I never expected it to work."
After several medical tests he was given the pill.
A few hours later he lay in bed, watching flying fish swarm above his head. He felt the room move around him and a constant buzz rang in his ears. Scenes from his childhood flashed up briefly before his eyes and each time someone approached to check he was OK he felt a rush of fear.
The hallucinogenic effect wore off overnight but for the next few days Thillen was in a haze. When he returned home a week later, he realised he no longer craved cocaine. Six months later, he is still clean.
Continue reading the main story
Ibogaine: The risks
Ibogaine has been associated with 19 deaths and given it is largely unregulated, the actual toll could be much higher
According to a report published in the Journal of Forensic Science, 14 of these deaths were due to pre-existing health problems
In New Zealand, the only country to have regulated the drug, the medical advisory board Medsafe reported that "the number of deaths due to methadone, the most controlled substance, were a little higher that those associated with ibogaine"
Ibogaine is illegal in the US, France, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Croatia and Switzerland
In the UK, it is neither banned nor licensed
He attends a therapy group two days a week, where he learns the skills necessary to maintain a lifestyle without drugs.
"My mind has shifted now from what I used to be," he says. "I can look back at my childhood and deal with those issues without sobbing and feeling sorry for myself."
Jeewa estimates he has treated around 1,000 people with ibogaine but it remains largely unacknowledged by the medical mainstream.
The drug, derived from the root of a central African plant called iboga, had been used for centuries by the Bwiti people of Gabon and Cameroon, as part of a tribal initiation ceremony.
But it wasn't until 1962, when a young heroin addict called Howard Lotsof stumbled upon ibogaine, that its value as an addiction treatment was uncovered.
Lotsof took it to get high but when the hallucinogenic effects wore off, he realised he no longer had the compulsion to take heroin. He became convinced that he had found the solution to addiction and dedicated much of his life to promoting ibogaine as a treatment.
As far as scientists understand, ibogaine affects the brain in two distinct ways. The first is metabolic. It creates a protein that blocks receptors in the brain that trigger cravings, stopping the symptoms of withdrawal.
"Ibogaine tends to remove the withdrawals immediately and brings people back to their pre-addiction stage," says Jeewa. With normal detox this process can take months.
Its second effect is much less understood. It seems to inspire a dream-like state that is intensely introspective, allowing addicts to address issues in their life that they use alcohol or drugs to suppress.
A man picking the iboga plant Ibogaine is derived from the bark of the root of the iboga tree
Howard Lotsof's early campaign had little success and ibogaine was banned in the US, along with LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, in 1967.
In most other countries it remains unregulated and unlicensed. Lotsof set up a private clinic in the Netherlands in the 1980s and since then similar clinics have emerged in Canada, Mexico and South Africa.
These clinics operate in a legal grey area. But a small group of scientists is still working to bring ibogaine into the mainstream.
In the early 1990s, Deborah Mash, a neuroscientist and addiction specialist at the University of Miami, came upon the work of Dr Stanley Glick, a scientist who had researched the effect of ibogaine on rats.
Glick hooked rats on methadone, a heroin substitute, by allowing them to self-administer the opiate through a tube. He then gave them ibogaine and found they voluntarily stopped taking methadone.
Continue reading the main story
The problem with addiction research
Measuring success scientifically with addiction is problematic - addicts can be clean for months or even years before relapsing
Most existing addiction treatments were created as a by-product of other research. Methadone was initially developed as a pain killer for German soldiers during WWII
In the last 20 years, only one new drug has been developed for opiate addiction
Buprenorphine, sold as Suboxone, is a substitute drug much like methadone but it can be subscribed by a doctor and taken at home rather than in a clinic
"The treatment of addiction is woefully poor in the western world," says Ben Sessa. "After about 150 years of study into alcohol addiction, abstinence rates after a year are no better than about 25%."
For opiates, abstinence rates after a year are about 10%
Around the same time, Mash was contacted by Howard Lotsof. They began working together and in 1995 secured full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate its potential in humans.
But these tests cost millions of dollars, and Mash applied for five separate public grants but each one was declined.
Usually, this money would come from big pharmaceutical companies but drugs like ibogaine offer little potential for profit.
It only has to be taken once, unlike conventional treatments for heroin addiction such as methadone which is a substitute and addictive itself.
"One very cynical reason they are not being developed is that there is no patent on these drugs anymore so there is no pharmaceutical company involvement," says Ben Sessa.
Pharmaceutical companies make money by patenting new chemicals but ibogaine is a naturally occurring substance and is difficult to secure a patent on.
It also comes with some risks. Ibogaine slows the heart rate and when administered to rats in very high doses, it has been proved to damage the cerebellum, a part of the brain associated with motor function.
There are 10 deaths known to be associated with the drug and its unregulated use has prompted some horror stories. Online forums are littered with stories of unscrupulous practitioners administering ibogaine in hotel rooms or in the patient's home with no medical support.
One alcoholic says he paid $10,000 (£6,279) and it didn't work at all. His respiration was not monitored and he didn't have any physical or psychological check-ups beforehand.
"The 'visions/trip' were so excruciating I never wanted to be altered again. I felt I was near death during the trip because I was having trouble breathing."
Ibogaine also has something of an image problem, says Glick.
"It has too much political baggage associated with it. By the time everybody became aware of it there was already scepticism because this was not something that came from a drug development programme."
After failing to get funding, Mash opened a private clinical research centre on the island of St Kitts in the Caribbean in 1996. There she collected data on 300 addicts detoxed through ibogaine.
Two European women rest in a temple in Gabon after taking ibogaine with the Bwiti tribe Two European women rest in a temple in Gabon after taking ibogaine
She says all patients showed an effect on their addiction, 70% went into remission for several months and many for years. The clinic's first two patients are still drug-free 16 years later.
"Cocaine addiction is a terrible addiction," she says. "Getting people off crack? Good luck. We did it, we were able to break out intractable addicts."
Determined to bring the treatment to more people, Mash is now working with the private sector to create a version of the drug that will be more attractive to pharmaceutical companies.
She is working to isolate noribogaine, a substance created by ibogaine in the liver, which she believes is responsible for inhibiting cravings, taking away the hallucinogenic effect. But she continues to push for research into the whole drug.
Continue reading the main story
Find out more
Thillen Naidoo and Dr Anwar Jeewa spoke to Chevron Chetty for Your World on the BBC World Service.
The programme was made in conjunction with SAfm
First broadcast at 12:05GMT on 14 April
Listen to the programme
More from Your World
More from BBC World Service
Glick doesn't believe noribogaine will ever be approved in the US. "If for no other reason than that it is too closely related to ibogaine," he says.
He is developing an alternative but he regrets that significant testing into ibogaine has never been done.
According to a psychiatrist and addiction specialist, Dr Ben Sessa, the timing for this research could finally be right.
The past two years have seen the first scientific study published into the use of MDMA on trauma victims and psilocybin for psychotherapy, and a similar study into LSD is expected this year.
"Radical options are needed," says David Nutt, head of the UK's Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, but he maintains some scepticism about so-called wonder cures.
"The history of medicine is littered with people doing interesting, challenging things, but when you do proper control tests they reveal a massive placebo effect," he says.
Continue reading the main story
Ibogaine and alcohol
Deborah Mash found that ibogaine helped alcoholics in her centre, especially those with a family history of, or genetic disposition to, alcoholism
Alcoholism is one of the biggest problems facing the US and UK so drugs for alcohol addiction have the potential to be much more lucrative
In 2006 excessive drinking cost the US and estimated$223.5 billion (£141bn) and £3bn in the UK
Alcohol is the third highest risk factor for ill-health in the EU, ahead of obesity and behind tobacco and high blood pressure
What is needed, he says, is a single blind study in which one group of addicts takes a standardised dose of the drug and another group takes a placebo, both followed by a full 12-step detox treatment plan. He estimates that would cost about $2.37 million (£1.5 million).
Clinicians like Jeewa would like to see the drug licensed but says people need to understand its limits.
"Once you have a patient that is drug free and whose brain is back to its full potential then you can help them change their lifestyle," says Jeewa.
"Ibogaine helps to interrupt addiction but it's not a cure or a magic bullet," he says. "It has to be taken in the right setting and treatment has to be followed up with a psychosocial care."
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Edited by koraks (04/13/12 11:46 AM)
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 istandalone
the clit commander
Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 2,353
Loc: somewhere in southern VT
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: unknown1123]
#16083911 - 04/13/12 10:37 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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ibogaine can be a great tool, but it's just that, a tool. not a cure-all.
plus, big Pharma would never want a drug available that would hurt the sales of all the addiction treatment drugs available by script today.
FTW.
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Now he's Johnny Hammersticks hammerin' away like he's friggin' Tommy Noble
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bloodsheen
ChemChaplin
Registered: 09/24/08
Posts: 2,664
Last seen: 13 hours, 32 minutes
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: istandalone]
#16084167 - 04/13/12 11:41 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Who writes an entire article one sentence at a time? Did the OP modify this? It reads like a giant post, or possibly a teenager trying to add some extra space to a report that isn't long enough
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A cautious young fellow named Lodge / Had seat belts installed in his Dodge. / When his date was strapped in / He committed a sin / Without even leaving the garage. That's clever, isn't it?-A boy and his dog
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unknown1123
Experimental
Registered: 05/15/08
Posts: 4,464
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: bloodsheen]
#16084313 - 04/13/12 12:15 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Just a copy paste...
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bloodsheen
ChemChaplin
Registered: 09/24/08
Posts: 2,664
Last seen: 13 hours, 32 minutes
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: unknown1123]
#16084331 - 04/13/12 12:19 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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I understand it makes it a little easier on the eyes but damn, I'd like to see a paragraph or two. This is a BBC article for cryin out loud
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A cautious young fellow named Lodge / Had seat belts installed in his Dodge. / When his date was strapped in / He committed a sin / Without even leaving the garage. That's clever, isn't it?-A boy and his dog
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unknown1123
Experimental
Registered: 05/15/08
Posts: 4,464
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: bloodsheen]
#16084386 - 04/13/12 12:32 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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well the margins are different on this site compared to the original site, that's why its like that. and font size 
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digitalemu
Digital Emu
Registered: 09/01/10
Posts: 283
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: unknown1123]
#16084563 - 04/13/12 01:22 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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It sure can but only if done properly, but I guess the same can be said about any addiction treatment.
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sk8ordude
Stranger
Registered: 07/12/11
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: digitalemu]
#16085041 - 04/13/12 03:29 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Yes it can help beat addiction... but it also makes people think outside the box, which is a threat to the powers that be.
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Ibogaine
Oh yea!
Registered: 04/01/12
Posts: 43
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: sk8ordude]
#16085589 - 04/13/12 05:32 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Thank you for posting this.
There is no way Anwar has 1000 treatments. This is his first ever testimonial. One of the side effects of Ibogaine is that you feel a very strong desire to tell people about your experience. I know a lot about Anwar. I have never met anyone who was treated by Anwar, and this is my profession.
This is the part that is really frustrating for me:
"There are 10 deaths known to be associated with the drug and its unregulated use has prompted some horror stories. Online forums are littered with stories of unscrupulous practitioners administering ibogaine in hotel rooms or in the patient's home with no medical support."
All of those deaths have been with a doctor present. Yet, they suggest that the underground is responsible. There are a few Mexican doctors that have had numerous deaths. If you trace to where the trash talk about underground providers comes from, it is always these same fake doctors. They kill people, then make it out like the underground is dangerous. It is a scare tactic to gather cash. They hate that we charge 1/3 the price and we have a much higher success rate.
I know this sounds counter intuitive, but drug addicts who have been through the process administer Ibogaine for detox far superior than these fake doctors.
Ibogaine was tested by NIDA, and they basically said it was no better than traditional drug rehab. The clients who have gone to treatments without doctors say otherwise. Should it become part of the medical establishment? Hell no. They have had their hands in the cookie jar for 20 years, and nothing to show for it.
The success of Ibogaine is about addicts helping other addicts.
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Wishing Well
toss me some gold
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: Ibogaine]
#16086837 - 04/13/12 10:56 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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It says in the article that Ibogaine damages a part of the brain, is this true?
I was not aware that Ibogaine could be used to treat alcoholics, I have someone close to me who needs this
How dangerous is this drug really? Would it be dangerous to try and use this without a doctor?
How practical is growing Iboga? Are there any other methods for acquiring Iboga within the US?
What about recreational use, is there any potential?
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maug
Registered: 11/28/10
Posts: 1,654
Loc: inside you
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: bloodsheen]
#16086966 - 04/13/12 11:22 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
bloodsheen said:
I understand it makes it a little easier on the eyes but damn, I'd like to see a paragraph or two. This is a BBC article for cryin out loud
Transcripts of audio or video are often formatted that way.
Because it's a 1-3 time fix, you don't need to grow it or find it in the US. Go to Canada or Mexico where it's legal. I am very doubtful that it is brain damaging, although a few people have had heart attacks. If you're old, don't drink water, or have a bad heart, you could pay $3k to take it in a hospital in Mexico.
Traditionally it's been used in doses far beyond what most people would consider a comfortable or therapeutic doses. The fact that it physically detoxes is pretty big. If you're using heroin or meth, you shouldn't need to worry about brain damage from iboga root. If big pharma got hold of psychedelics, some group like MAPS would prolly come along, keep it illegal, and make money off of analogues that don't let you hallucinate.|
Imo physical detox is the only thing iboga really has when you compare it to other psychedelics. LSD, mescalin, ayahuasca, and psilocyben have all been used to treat/cure addictions/traumas.
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I think nighttime is dark so you can imagine your fears with less distraction. -Calvin and Hobbes
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Ibogaine
Oh yea!
Registered: 04/01/12
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: Wishing Well]
#16087053 - 04/13/12 11:41 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Hello Wishing Well,
>>It says in the article that Ibogaine damages a part of the brain, is this true?
-That article has a few things wrong. Not terribly wrong, but not exactly factual. They are referring to a study done on rats in the 1990s in which doses 5 - 10 times a proper flood dose was given. Massive injected doses. Doses that no human being would take. Sometimes injected straight into the rat's brain. So, no, I do not believe it causes brain damage (on its own). Mixed with other drugs, it can cause very serious damage.
>>How dangerous is this drug really? Would it be dangerous to try and use this without a doctor?
-If a person has any kind of abnormal heart beat, it can be deadly. It prolongs the QT interval. That is the fraction of a second it takes your heart from the begining to end of one beat. If your QT is naturally long, Iboga can be deadly. People get an EKG from their doctor to clear for treatment.
Also, if your liver is not functioning properly, Ibo can be deadly. We ask for a Liver Panel.
If it is mixed with alcohol, SSRIs, meth, opiates, and most other drugs, it can be deadly.
If the provider gives you all the info, and takes responsibility by going over your health history and preparation, then administers it correct, it is safe. It is safe if you go about it right. If you take it on your own, you could die.
>>How practical is growing Iboga?
--Conditions are very specific. Humidity, soil acidity. There is a guy on this forum with a plant. It is beautiful. It looks to be about 7 months old and 8in high. It takes 7 years to mature, and perhaps 10 years before it has enough alkaloids to make it worth harvesting. I have seen plants that are 4 years old, and about 3 feet high. It is very delicate and sensitive to cold. It only grows well in equatorial regions, but indoor plants seem to make it with enough TLC. So, no, not practical at all. Most Iboga is taken from wild stocks. A lot of Ibogaine is produced from alternative sources that require a lot of chemistry know how.
>>Are there any other methods for acquiring Iboga within the US?
--If you want to get all the great things people talk about, I strongly suggest you take it with a provider. It is administered over many hours, and varying amounts based on observable tolerance. There is a lot of preparation. There is a lot of attention needed after it is finished. The whole process can take many months. It is a big commitment. One of the most complicated drugs I know of.
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/16030239/fpart/2/vc/1
>>What about recreational use, is there any potential?
--Not even a little. It is miserable. But, I love what it has done for me. I love watching the people I help improve.  It is a beautiful thing.
Thanks for the questions.
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The Vapor
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: Ibogaine]
#16087745 - 04/14/12 03:41 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Can the same article be rehashed countless times?
Apparently yes, yes it can.
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knarkkorven
Entheoholic
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Re: Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? [Re: The Vapor]
#16088096 - 04/14/12 07:42 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Fatalities temporally associated with the ingestion of ibogaine.
http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/ibogaine/attachments/20120303/7238e92c/attachment.pdf
This is a recent report about the deaths from ibogaine suggesting existing heart issues and combinations with opiates/cocaine (which is very dangerous after an ibogaine treatment) contributing to a majority of the deaths.
Quote:
Nineteen individuals (15 men, four women between 24 and 54 years old) are known to have died within 1.5-76 h of taking ibogaine. The clinical and postmortem evidence did not suggest a characteristic syndrome of neurotoxicity. Advanced preexisting medical comorbidities, which were mainly cardiovascular, and/or one or more commonly abused substances explained or contributed to the death in 12 of the 14 cases for which adequate postmortem data were available.
About the risk of brain damage: It was suggested that ibogaine damage purkinje cells in the brain, this was seen in rat brains. But in later studies this was not seen in monkey brains.
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