HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/drugs/iboga.info

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Here is an article on ibogaine from the July 4 1992 issue of  _The Philadelphia
Inquirer_. Got it from  Dana Beal, who has been doing a lot of work on subject.
(w/o permission, typos mine)

**** Begin quoted article ****

It's from an African shrub. Howard Lotsof says it got him off heroin and
cocaine.

To help battle addiction, he advocates the use of a drug

By Andrew Maykuth
Inquirer Staff Writer.

NEW YORK - Howard Lotsof was a 19-year old college dropout hungering for a new
drug adventure in 1962 when somebody gave him a hallucinogen called ibogaine.

He sampled the drug, derived from the root of an African shrub, and
experienced strange, colorful three-dimensional visualizations that kept him
awake for more than a day.

In a sense, the trip has lasted for 30 years.

For what Lotsof said he discovered in 1962 is a drug that treats addiction. He
said that ibogaine erased his dependency on heroin and cocaine without the
agony of withdrawal-- a claim endorsed by other addicts who have tried it.

Lotsof has become the guru of a small band of evangelists, who speak of the
drug almost reverentially. They accompany addicts to the Netherlands for legal,
experimental treatment. Lotsof says the drug's effect "is like going through 10
years of psychoanalysis in three days."

Scientists regard the claims about ibogaine skeptically. But several studies
have shown that Lotsof may be right.

"I decided to pursue a preliminary study as a lark, and it turned out it has
some interesting effects," said Stanley D. Glick, chairman of the department of
pharmacology and toxicology at Albany Medical Center.

"I think it merits further attention," said Patricia A. Broderick, a
pharmacologist at the City University of New York Medical School, whose studies
indicated that ibogaine inhibited the pleasurable effects of cocaine in
laboratory rats.

The preliminary studies helped convince the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA) to add ibogaine to its list of about two dozen drugs that merit research
for addiction therapy. This year, NIDA is funding 10 studies to explore
ibogaine's potential.

"This drug at first I found a little hokey," said James W. Cornish, director of
pharmacotherapy at University of Pennsylvania's Treatement Research Center.
"But the fact that NIDA is doing a study is very important."

The medical community's interest has given a measure of legitimacy to a
compound that the Drug Enforcement Administration lists as a dangerous
controlled substance, although there is no record of ibogaine addiction.

"I don't like to take it," said Lotsof, who formed a small company that
operates out of his Staten Island home, which has obtained the patents to use
ibogaine in addiction treatment.

"Ibogaine kind of knocks you on your butt, which is good because you can't go
out and get drugs," said Dana Beal, a former Yippie and smoke-in organizer, who
has become the drug's leading promoter. "By the time the ibogaine wears off,
you don't have any craving."

Getting mainstream medical laboratories to look at ibogaine is largely the work
of Lotsof and his disciples in New York's counterculture-- an alliance of aging
hipsters, Lower East Side political activists and drug-decrimnalization
advocates.

Lotsof's appearance is not outlandish. He has short, thinning gray hair and a
trimmed mustache and wears conventional clothing. He speaks in humorless,
measured, hushed tones. He accknowledges he has a history of drug abuse. He
spent 18 months in jail in 1966 for conspiracy to sell LSD.

In the early 1980's, after he was disabled with a back injury from his job as a
film producer, Lotsof harkened back to his experience with ibogaine and decided
to promote it as a treatement for addicts who were unable to cope with the
debilitation of withdrawal.

Lotsof learned that ibogaine is derived from the iboga shrub, native to West
Africa. Natives use it as a stimulant to keep hunters awake, and members of a
religious sect in Gabon consume it in initiation rites, allowing them to speak
with their ancestors.

Ibogaine had received little notice in the West, except for Hunter S. Thompson,
the writer and noted drug sampler, who commented satirically that the
statements of some candidates in 1972 presidential campaign were probably
caused by ibogaine hallucinations.

Some pharmaceutical companies studied ibogaine over the years as a heart
treatment or as a psychiatric medication, but they developed no drugs and their
patents expired in the 1960s.

Lotsof got his friends to invest-- he says that his company, NDA International,
has spent about $1 million-- and persuaded a few pharmacologists to study
ibogaine's effect on addiction.

While researchers are interested in ibogaine's apparent ability to inhibit drug
dependency and are leery of its hallucinogenic properties, Lotsof and his
followers argue that the drug's psychoactive nature is an essential part of its
healing power. The "visions"-- Lotsof denies they are hallucinations-- help
addicts deal with the underlying behavioral problems that cause their
addiction.

"If people don't see anything, you're interrupting the therapy," said Bob
Sisko, 46, a new York activist who kicked heroin with ibogaine and has helped
promote its legalization. "Forget about that."

But the descriptions of ibogaine's hallucinatory effect hardly appear to
conform with conventional pharmacology's preference for predictable results.

In a recent presentation to the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power-- ACT UP is
interested in treating drug addiction because of its relation to the spread of
AIDS-- Lotsof described a two-day treatment of ibogaine as a kind of high speed
home movie.

"You are literally speeding through your life's decision-making history," he
said. "Whoa! I did that and there were four other things I could have done.
Zap. Next situation."

In an interview, Lotsof was more restrained in his description. He said that
the release of memories is followed by "a period of intellectual evaluation,"
followed by "residual stimulation" and then sleep.

But not everybody gets the this-is-your-life treatment that Lotsof describes.

Carol-- not her real name-- is a 39 year old HIV-positive real estate
saleswoman who has been addicted to heroin and methadone for 25 years. She
recently paid about $5,000-- the amount she would spend in a month on heroin--
to travel to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Lotsof to undergo a medically
supervised ibogaine treatement.

"It's like seeing a movie on your eyelids," said Carol, a plump woman who wore
a black jumpsuit with an abundance of zippers. She said the visions-- which
appeared only when her eyes were closed-- were mostly unfamiliar faces of
medieval, mythological characters.

"If I would concentrate too long on one they would get ugly and I would get
scared," she said.

But Carol said she saw no visions from her own life.

"I did have one vision that stuck with me," she said. "That was my brain, like
a hand holding my brain, and this deep brown liquid dripping in thick oozy
drops out of it. I felt in myself that my brain was soaked with ibogaine."

Carol said the 22 hours of visions were unpleasant-- she vomited frequently and
her legs were so wobbly she could not stand. For days afterward, she said, she
had no appetite and suffered from hand tremors and sleep disruption.

But Carol said that as uncomfortable as the experience was, it was mild
compared to her previous attempts at drug withdrawal, during which she was
overcome with pain, weepy eyes and discomfort for weeks.

"There was no sweating, no sniffling, no diarrhea, no cramps," she said.  She
has not taken any narcotics wince the treatement in early April.

"This is like an amazing miracle."

Lotsof said that he and other ibogaine advocates have taken about 30 addicts to
Amsterdam for treatment in recent years and few of them suffered withdrawal.

Lotsof has refused to make the drug available to desperate addicts in the
United States because possission of ibogaine is illegal. "If we want to get
this to the market, we have to do it properly," he said.

That is not entirely true.

"The people advocating ibogaine make it sound like the fact that NIDA is
looking at, that's a validation that the drug works," said Charles Grudzinskas,
director of medications developement for NIDA. He said it could be years-- if
ever-- before NIDA develops a useful drug from ibogaine.

"These claims are made about almost every drug," said Ronald Siegel, a UCLA
psychopharmacoligist. "Cocaine was once promoted as a cure for morphine.
Morphine was promoted as a cure for cocaine. Psychedelics, including ibogaine
and LSD, were all promoted as psychotherapeutic cures for all kinds of
ailments, including drug addictions."

Undeterred, Lotsof said physicians are envious that somebody outside the
medical field devised a treatment.

"If you're the person at the cutting edge," he said, "there's very little
training to be obtained."

**** end of article ****

For more info: [phone] [ACT UP NIDA Working Group]


regards.max
[e-mail]

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 Ibogaine is n indole found in Tabernanthe iboga, an African plant (shrub).
It is used by some tribes in rituals such as initiation rites. It is an
hallucingoen and a stimulant. I think that I have read that it also has
some mild acetylcholinesterase inhibitor activity as well. (I have also
reda this about LSD, but I can site no reference.) At any rate this
activity is not so profound as to make ibogaine incredibly toxic. However,
ibogaine is considerably more toxic than other common hallucinogens.
 A modest overview of ibogaine can be found in Ann. New York Acad. Sci.
66, 765 (1957).
 The Merck has this to say about ibogaine: "Iboga extracts said to be used
by African natives while stalking game, to enable them to remain motionless
for aslong as two days while retaining mental alertness."
 William Eboden's book _Narcotic Plants_ has a good overview of ibogaine
as well.
 If anyone is interested in synthesis procedures, I can provide refs.

St. Anthony

--
        CH3  O            CH(CH3)2        |      dadaMatrix
           >-P-S-CH2CH2-N<            VX  |
    CH3CH2O               CH(CH3)2        |     [e-mail]
                                          | A kinder gentler lobotomy...



I've read a number of descriptions of the ibogaine experience, from
anthro sources, and from those who are using it as a counter-addiction
treatment.

The experience is described as very intense, and not necessarily present.
In smaller doses it seems to lead to hours of "life-review", in which
your past behaviors are played out before your minds eye. This process
tends to lead to radical decisions for life-change; by being shown your
past behaviors in an inescapable, intense visionary sequence, a persons
can get an emotional lever into their own psyche.

(This appaerently is combined with some sort of biophysical effect--
there were many reports of a comnplete cessation of craving for heroin,
cocaine, alcohol, and even tobacco.)

The larger doses used in tribal initiations lead to an astral travel like
experience, which sounds similar in ways to the effects of
hyoscamine/scopalimine and ibotenic acid/muscarine/muscimol-- that is,
rather delerious and out of control. Again, the anthro reports describe
meetings with ancestors or people you have wronged, a reliving of the
events of your past, and an initiatory experience in which old habits are
thrown off and a new person emerges.

I've spoken with people who have used it for it's anti-addictive
purposes, but never to anyone who has taken it in initiatory doses. It
does not sound like a recreational compound, but it might be a very
educational one, for pharmocological sorcerers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The following comes from Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered, a reference
I thoroughly recommend. Perhaps this should be in the Natural Highs
FAQ.

Ibogaine:
Chemical structure and source: Resembles the harmala alkaloids. The
Chemical formula is:
(something I can't represent in text. take a tetra-hydro-harmine,
make the 3rd ring symmetrical by adding an extra carbon, to these
two lower carbons fuse a cyclohexane, add a 1 carbon bridge to
this ring from the nitrogen forming two 6-membered rings, and
add an ethyl group on the cyclohexyl ring 2 carbons from the N).

It is one of twelve alkaloids extracted from the root of the
West African plant Tabernanthe iboga. Africans use the root as
a stimulant and an aphrodisiac at low doses, and ritually, at
higher doses.

Dose: from 200 to 400 mg produce psychedelic effects orally.

Physiological effects: Resembles the harmala alkaloids; can
cause paralysis, convulsions, and death at high doses.

Psychological effects: Little is known, but the available reports
suggest that it is like harmaline, but less purely visual and
symbolic. The images are often of fountains, tubes, marshy
creatures, white and blue light, and rotating motion.
Explosions of rage directed agains the images of persons and
situations from the past are reported. Childhood fantasies
are reenacted, and a sense of insight and heightened emotion
often accompany the images. The drug taker concentrates on his
inner world and personal past. The effect is easily distinguishable
from LSD.

Duration of action: Eight to twelve hours.
For further information see Naranjo 1975 (1973)

... I know no more about this at all, except that I think
someone mentioned to me that it has been isolated recently
from an Australian plant (Australian Phytochemical Survey
would be the place to look).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the March 1992 _High Times_ article on ibogaine.

**** Begin Quoted Article ****

By Linda Gibson

IBOGAINE
A Psychedelic Treatment for Drug Addiction.

For years, Howard Lotsof has struggled to get the government interested in a
natural, nonnarcotic treatment for addiction made from the roots of an African
shrub. Finally, the government is responding.

In July, the National Institute on Drug Abuse notified Lotsof it will begin
testing ibogaine. Dr. Charles Grudzinskas, director of NIDA's medications
development division, says the drug will be tested on animals to see if it's
toxic. If not, it then will be tested on cocaine addicts. (He was not willing
to give more information, saying that _High Times'_ questions were too specific
and that he'd have someone from the public relations office call back.)

The NIDA decision helped convince state Senator Joseph Galiber, a democrat from
the Bronx in New York, to file a bill last fall seeking state funding for
research on ibogaine. The senator's legislative director, Nathan Riley, says
the bill sets no dollar figure and he doesn't know yet what kind of support for
opposition it might attract. Natives of Gabon have long used a compound from
the Tabernanthe iboga bush to induce hallucinations during initiation
ceremonies and to enable hunters to withstand hunger, thirst and fatigue.
Almost 20 years ago, Lotsoff discovered by accident that the drug also has
profound effects on the craving and withdrawal symptoms that are the hallmarks
of adiction. A former heroin addict himself, Lotsof came into possession of
ibogaine from a drug researcher cleaning out his refrigerator. He and six other
addicts tried the stuff purely for recreational reasons back in the '60s.

When thier trips ended some 36 hours later, five of them were surprised to find
they had no desire to resume using heroin. They also suffered none to the usual
painful physical symptoms of withdrawal. Their experience has been replicated
numerous times since then by other addicts, who found additionally that their
desire for alcohol and cigarettes also was drastically lessened or eliminated
by a single trip on ibogaine.  These effects can last from six months to
several years.

An ibogaine trip is like an intensive, marathon psychotherapy session conducted
entirely within one's head. Those who've experienced ibogaine say it enabled
them to review their lives in minute detail with a new and detached
perspective. When it ended, they believed they had gained enough insight to
keep from repeating mistakes of the past.

"it's a very heavy trip," said an addict who underwent the treatment in
Amsterdam in 1990. "Like a meeting with God or the Supreme Being." He described
a voice coming from colored clouds asking him, "Do you know *now*?"

Lotsof holds patents on the use of ibogaine for the treatment of addictions in
a program he calls Endabuse. He expects to treat up to 50 addicts this year by
arranging trips for them and a treatment team to Europe or Africa, since the
drug can be obtained here only for research. The cost varies from $10,000
to $22,000. In heroin and methadone addicts, one treatment with Ibogaine has
succeeded in eliminating further craving for the drugs in 60 to 70% of the
clients, while it was 100% successful in eliminating their withdrawal symmptoms.
Endabuse has treated one coke addict: that person remains free of addiction
three years after a single ibogaine experience, says Lotsof.

In his push for federal approval, he has helped sponsor research on ibogaine by
Dr. Stanley Glick, chairman of the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department at
Albany Medical College. The published findings-- that ibogaine reduced the
intake of morphine by rats who self-administered it-- attracted NIDA's
attention.

"It's a very interesting drug and it merits further study," says Glick. That's
also the opinion of Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an assistant professor in psychiatry
at the Harvard Medical School. "I've been following it with a great deal of
interest. I had an opportunity to interview one patient who had gone through
the treatment in some detail. Her story seemed quite compelling."

Grinspoon laments the anti-drug "hysteria" that halted and still impedes
research on pharmaceutical cures for addiction after a brief heyday in the '50s
and '60s. "Psychiatrists didn't lose interest, we were compelled to stop," he
says. "There was a lot of bathwater throun out but there was clearly a baby
there, too. We should be able to open this to research. Ibogaine would
certainly be one of those areas crying for exploration."

As we went to press, NIDA approved ibogaine for "fast tracking," which means
they plan to go from chemistry to clinical studies in 12 to 18 months. This
could mean Compassionate INDs-- human testing-- within months. (See Highwitness
News, page 19). [story about the DPF and NORML conferences last November-- max]

Lotsof can be reached through NDA International Inc., 46 Oxford Place, Staten
Island, NY 10301 or at [phone].

**** end of quoted article ****

One significant thing about ibogaine is that it's being developed by what Dana
Beal refers to as the "Pot People;" Hemp activists.

An observation: if ibogaine *really* works, Lotsof and Beal are going to be
treading on some *verrry* powerful toes.

regards.max
[e-mail]

=============================================================================

From: 152.94.1.10 (Thor.Lindstrom)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Re: Ibogaine: Info wanted.....
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 17 Jun 93 10:43:45 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Paul Michael
Perry) wrote:
>
> Hey,
>
> I've read some pretty wild things about this west african substance.
> Anyone ever seen any/tried any?
>
----------------------------

For info read the ibogaine archive-file at FENRIS.CLAREMONT.EDU

ibogaine is scheduled but you can buy voacanga-tincture (extract of a
closely related specie , contains mostly the same compounds and many
african-tribes consider this specie superior to the ibogaine-schrub) from
...of the jungle (address from FTP.U.WASHINGTON.EDU /... ADRESSES FAQ..)

I have not tested this trincture.

THOR.

=============================================================================

Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 11:43:13 +0000 (U)
From: Mark Farone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ibogaine toxicity
Sender: ALCOHOL & DRUG STUDIES <[e-mail]>
Message-id: <[e-mail]>

Someone on the list was recently discussing the toxicity of Ibogaine.
The 12 July _Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly_ briefly discusses current
research at Johns Hopkins by Dr. Mark Molliver.
He finds both high and low level dosages to be toxic to the cerebellum in
animal studies.
It is a NIDA funded study, published in the 21 June issue of _Neuroscience_.

[e-mail]

=============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Shecky Green)
Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives
Subject: On Ibogaine
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 28 Nov 93 13:32:01 CST

     Ibogaine is the primary psychoactive alkaloid found in the African shrub
Tabernanthe iboga.  Ibogaine is one of at least 12 alkaloids found in the
plant, and is in highest concentration in the root bark.
     The T. iboga bush grows only in the equatorial rainforests of Gabon,
westernmost Congo, and portions of Zaire on the west coast of Africa.  It
grows to about five feet in height, and is cultiavted by villagers as a
decorative shrub near their homes.  There are at least seven other species in
its genus, but only one other plant is known to be psychoactive (Tabernanthe
manii).
     T. iboga is traditionally known by any of number of variations on the
word "eboka".  It has been used for centuries as a ceremonial sacrament in the
rituals and initiation ceremonies of several West African religions.   The two
"cults" which have been most extensively covered in western literature are the
Bwiti and the MBiri.  Both "cults" are practiced among the Fang.
     These tradtional religions which use eboka have been gaining in
popularity in recent years.  They have even hampered the spread of
Christianity and Islam.

CHEMISTRY/TOXICITY
     Ibogaine is a choline-esterase inhibitor, a stimulant which affects the
central nervous system.  The molecule exhibits the two-ring indole nucleaus
structure common to most hallucinogens.  It's stereochemirty was established
in the late 1960s.
     In small doses, much like coca leaves in South America, eboka is eaten to
stay awake and alert long hunts and canoe trips, which can last two days or
more.  It is also reported to have aphrodisiacal properties.  (The olive-sized
yellowish-orange fruits of T. iboga, while not psychoactive, are sometimes
used "for barrenness in women".)
     In larger amounts, ibogaine acts as a hallucinogen.  It causes nausea and
vomiting, much like peyote.  At this level, it puts the user in an intense,
deep trance state in which physical movement is all but impossible.  The
trance is intensely visual, and ususally manifests as a long journey.
     At excessive levels, ibogaine causes convulsions, paralysis and death by
arrested respiration.  Toxicity levels are weight-related.
     Traditionally, the root bark is scraped and dried to a yellowish-brown
powder.  Sometimes it is mixed with water and drunk, but it is said to be
strongest when fresh.  Usually it is taken by itself, although some sects use
it with marijuana (which is called "yama" or "nkot alok").  The smoke
represents the soul leaving the body and traveling to mix with the ancestors'.
     "First tier" dosage (for stimulant, nonpsychedelic effects) average
around two to three teaspoons for women and three to five teaspoons for men.
WESTERN MEDICINE
     The earliest record of Western scientists studying T. iboga is in 1864,
when Griffon du Bellay took specimens to Europe.  His writings clearly show
that he was aware of the plants psychoactive effects.
     Around the 1880s, the colonizing Germans "permitted and possibly
encouraged" eboka use for stamina by the African slaves working on the
Douala-Yaounde railroad and other colonial projects.
     The first botanical description of T. iboga was made in 1889.  In 1901,
two teams of chemists isolated the major alkaloid, ibogaine.  There followed a
flurry of French and Belgian studies.
     In 1905, a Dr. Huchard used doses of 10 to 30 mg. of ibogaine for the
treatment of influenza, neurathenia, and depresssion, as well as some cardiac
disorders.  Huchard reported that he observed improved appetites, muscle tone,
and generally improved raates of recovery.
     Huchard and a M.C. Phisalex were apparently the only Westerners to use
ibogaine medically, and neither of them used it for its psychoactive
properties.  It was for another 50+ years until this was explored.

PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC EXPLORATION
     The first Westerner to explore the psychoactive properties of ibogaine
was Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo.  In his book, "The Healing Journey"
(1973), Naranjo cites extensive case notes from 40 therapeutic sessions with
30 patients in which he used either ibogaine or total iboga extract.  He also
describes 10 sessions with a different group in which he used iboga extract
with another amphetamine.
     (Naranjo was a pioneer in psycholytic therapy--psychotherapy using
psychedelics as an adjunctive tool.  He did important early research on LSD,
MDA, yage/ayahuasca, and other psychededlics, much of it the first in the
literature.  He even exchanged LSD for ayahuasca with Amazonian shamans.)
     In his book, Naranjo writes that "Ibogaine is most suited to the
exploration of the past, in contrast to MDMA, which is most adequate for the
clarification of the present...[T]he reaction to ibogaine is noteworthy for
its emphasis on symbols, and only by means of symbols--conceptual or
visual--can we deal with a reality which is not present...Parental images
evoked by means of ibogaine probably correspond to the child's conception of
his parents, which still lies in the subconscious of the adult--but these do
not necessarily match the patient's reality.  The therapeutic process with
ibogaine may be depicted as that of seeing such constructions for what they
are and being freed through confrontation with them...."
     In short, ibogaine permits unusual access to past memories and feelings,
while simultaneously allowing an extraordinary degree of symbolic objectivity.
 Such objectivity permits the subject to place these events and feelings in
their appropriate context, and thus make progress which would take months or
years under traditional therapeutic techniques.
     Naranjo's work dates to at least 1966, when he presented a paper on his
preliminary work with 15 cases to a psychedelic conference in San Francisco.

ADDICTION CURE?
     In 1962, Howard Lotsof, a 19-year-old junkie from the Bronx, somehow got
hold of a dose of ibogaine and took it.  The trip itself was apparently quite
remarkable.  Far more incredible was the fact that when he came down, he no
longer had any desire to take heroin.  He evetually took ibogaine on five
occasions, one week apart, in a dose-increasing regimen.  From this
self-administered treatment, Lotsof stayed clean for three and a half years.
Later his urge to take heroin returned, but he was unable to obtain ibogaine.
He became readdicted for a year and a hlaf, eventually entered a methadone
program.  Realizing he was still trapped in a vicious circle, he was able to
detox from methadone largely due to the experiences he'd had years previously
with ibogaine.
     In 1980, after his life had stabilized, Lotsof began to work toward
making ibogaine available to the public as an addiction interrupter.  (Such a
treatment modality is completely new; the usual methods are either cold-turkey
withdrawl or replacement addiction --e.g.-methadone, which is an opiate just
like heroin.)  In 1986 he opened NDA International, INc. a company based in
Staten Island, NY to promote research into the substance, and ultimately to
market ibogaine under the tradename Endabuse.  (He is still forbidden by law
from doing so.)
     Lotsof has also been awarded five US Patents for various ibogaine
treatments.  This is despite the fact that ibogaine is illegal:  somehow it
would up a Schedule I substance, right alongside LSD, heroin, marijuana,
psilocybin, etc.  Paradoxically, ibogaine is all but impossible to obtain in
the US:  one source reports that less than 4 grams have been seized in over 20
years.
     What is especially remarkable about ibogaine as an addiction interupter
is that it not only blocks the addiction drive for approximately six months,
but it also nearly totally nullifies withdrawl symptoms.  Withdrawl is a
debilitating experience for addicts, and can even be fatal in extreme cases.
Ibogaine is so effective in this regard that junkies undergoing ibogaine
treatment will even request and eat sizeable meals 24-36 hours after their
last fix, something unimagineable in normal circumstances.
     But this unexplained chemical process is but one aspect of the ibogaine
treatment.  Crucial to recovery is the trip experience itself.  As Naranjo
noted in his research, the experience allows the addict to come to terms with
life experiences which lead them to manifest addictive behavior.  As any
recovery specialist will tell you, it is this which must be addressed to truly
effect recovery on a long-term basis.
     Lotsof's findings were replicated in 1990, when the International
Coalition for Addict Self-Help (ICASH) reported their findings relative to
nine individuals treated with ibogaine for drug dependency.  Since then, that
body of work has been elaborated on to include 21 case histories of treatments
conducted over the last five years.
     ICASH has pioneered the paraclinical application of ibogaine by addicts
for addicts, using treatment methodology acquired from Dutch counterparts who
formed guerilla treatment programs under the banner of DASH (Ducth Addict
Self-Help).
     These and other studies have confirmed that ibogaine is an effective
addiction interupter for a wide range of addictive disorder including heroin,
methadone, cocaine and amphetamine, alcohol, nicotine, and even poly-drug
dependency.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
     This past year, NDA International (Lotsof's organization) sponsored the
First International Ibogaine Treatment Symposium, which was held just outside
the town of Leiden in the Netherlands.  Researchers from Holland, Germany,
Israel and the US were present.  During the three-week seminar, participants
were able to observe the treatment of patients by the world-renowned Dutch
psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Jan Bastiaans, widely know for his work treating
Holocaust survivors and victims of trauma with LSD-assisted psychotherapy.  In
all six addicts received successful treatment.
     A second such symposium is planned for late 1993 or early 1994.  (For
additional information about the symposium, including case histories, see the
journal of the Multidisciplinary Assoc. for Psychedelic Studies, Summer 1993
edition.)
     After some considerable foot-dragging by the National Institute for Drug
Addiction (NIDA), the FDA has finally just approved ibogaine for human testing
to determin its efficacy in addiction interuption.  Phase I studies
(determining toxicity, etc.) will begin shortly.  The study will be conducted
at the University of Miami under the direction of Dr. Deborah Mash, along with
Dr. J. Sanchos Ramos.  Both were present at the International Treatment
Symposium.
     Thus, ibogaine joins LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, and DMT as substances which
have been approved by the FDA (with the permission of the DEA and the Drug
Czar's office) for human testing for therapeutic applications.


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Psychedelic Monographs and Essays" vol. 6 (1993), ed. by Thomas Lyttle; pp.
71-111:  R. Goutarel, et al.:  "Pharmacodynamics and Therapeutic Applications
og Iboga and Ibogaine".      Probably the best overview of ibogaine I have
come across yet.  Goutarel isolated several of the alkaloids in T. iboga, and
is considered one of the world's experts on it.  This superb article gives
historic background, details traditional use incl. a full account of
initiation rites, plus gives an extensive examination of modern ibogaine
treatment, incl. a breakdown of the various stages of the ibogaine trip.

"Ibogaine:  Howard Lotsof Taking Aim at Addiction" interview by Peter Gorman,
High Times, Nov. 1993; pp. 50-55.   Excellent.

"Psychedelics Encyclopedia" by Peter Stafford; Berekely, CA:  Ronin
Publishing; pp. 358-367.  Not as thorough as PM&E's article, but an excellent
place to start.

Bob Sisko [dir. ICASH]:  "Ibogaine and Substance Abusers:  Follow-up on Four
Case Histories", MAPS (journal of the Multidisciplinary Assoc. for Psychedelic
Studies), vol. IV no. 2 (Summer 1993); pp. 15-24.

"Flesh of the Gods:  The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens" ed. by Peter T. Furst;
NY: Praeger, 1972; pp. 237-260:  James W. Fernandez:  "Tabernathe Iboga:
Narcotic [sic] Ecstasis and the Work of the Ancestors."    Good
ethnographic/ethnobotanical study by an expert on the Fang.  Recommend the
rest of the book, too, for that matter...

Max Cantor:  "Miracle Cure?  Advocates Say Ibogaine Ends the Craving for
Dope", Village Voice; June 5, 1990

"The Healing Journey:  New Approaches to Consciousness" by Claudio Naranjo;
NY:  Pantheon Books, 1973; pp. 171-224.   Alas, out-of-print; but this excerpt
along with other choice articles on ibogaine can be obtained from Rosetta.
See below.


LOTSOF'S PATENTS:
   1985:  US Patent No. 4,499,096
   1986:  US Patent No. 4,587,243
   1989:  US Patent No. 4,857,523
   1991:  US Patent No. 5,026,697
(missing one)


CONTACTS:

International Coalition for Addict Self-Help (ICASH)
PO Box 20882, Tompkins Square Station, New York, New York  10009
Ph} [phone]    FAX} [phone]
  Director:  Bob Sisko

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
1801 Tippah Ave., Charlotte, NC  28205  USA
Ph} [phone]   FAX} [phone]
   President:  Rick Doblin.
Has successfully lobbied the FDA for renewed testing of various psychedelics
for therapeutic use.  They are also funding much of this research and are very
worth your support.  Membership incl. a subscription to their excellent
newsletter.  General Membership:  US$30-$100

PM&E Publishing Group
PO Box 4465, Boynton Beach, FL  33424 USA
  Publishes Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, referred to above.  An
excellent and scholarly annual digest.  Current edition (vol. 6) available for
US$20 ppd. (Overseas airmail add US$7.)  Back issues available from Rosetta,
below.

Rosetta
PO Box 4611, Berkeley, CA  94704
   An excellent research resource on ethnobotany and psychoactives.  Offers a
huge number of "folio sets":  collections of topic-related articles and book
excerpts, mnay from hard-to-find sources.  Also offers books (incl.
unpublished underground works), teas, etc.  Send $3 (worth it!) for their
complete catalog and Resource Listing.

Ronin Publishing (aka Books By Phone)
Box 522, Berkeley, CA  94701 USA
PH}  orders: 1-800-858-2665     info: [phone]
   Call for free 32pp. catalog of rare and useful books.


MISC>
* The ABC-TV newsmagazine "Day One" aired an 18-min. piece on ibogaine in late
August, 1993.

* Articles on ibogaine have also appeared in recent editions of the NY Times
and Omni magazine.

=============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Shecky Green)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Re: Ibogaine
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 11 Nov 93 01:26:29 CST

On Thu 11-Nov-1993  1:21a, Pentti Arvela wrote:
PA> What about Ibogaine in treating withdrawal symptoms? Any experience ?
PA> I just read about it in last High Times and in a few scientific publi-
PA> cations.
Well, seems I keep posting this, but hey, why not!  For an account of the
first international ibogaine symposium (in Holland earlier this year),
including a few case studies, see the MAPS newsletter/journal, vol. IV, no. 2
(summer, '93).  MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Assoc. for Psychedelic Studies) is
an *extremely* worthwhile group which is loobying (successfully) for and
funding new research into LSD, MDMA and medical marijuana.  They also got the
FDA to approve new psilocybin and DMT studies.

Also (back to ibogaine), see the latest issue of Psychedelic Monographs and
Essays (no. 6).  It has what is probably the best article on ibogaine in
general that I've ever read:  very comprehensive, and written by a French
scientist who isolated several of the alkaloids in T. iboga.

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Ibogaine
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 21:09:16 CST

[quoted text dleted -cak]

Looks like you have to go to Africa to find it!
According to Lewis "Medical Botany":
Among a dozen or so of the complex indole alkaloids derived from tryptamine
and found in Tabernanthe iboga (Apocynacea) ibogaine is the most important
hallucinogen, not only in iboga, but perhaps of all those species indigenous to
to the African continent.
Found in Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, a large area of Zaire,and also
cultivated in west Africa beyond this natural range, iboga is an important
element of life, not only for its hallucinogenic powers but also as an
aphroidisiac prized more by the natives for this purpose than the famous
African yohimbine. The use may be justified, for the stimulating properties
of this drug may well increase confidence and stave off fatigure. Iboga
is also taken during religious festivals and rites, esp. by shamans to
enhance their psychic powers, increase inspiration and assist in
contemplation........ lots more..... Source for this section : Pope HG
1969 Tabernanthe iboga: An African narcotic plant of social importance.
Econ Bot 23:174-184
-----------------
Norbert Hoffmann
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN 55057
----------

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives
From: [e-mail] (Rick Graul)
Subject: Re: IBOGAINE?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 19:34:54 GMT

[e-mail] (Jacob Galley) writes:

>How does this ibogaine addiction treatment compare to the LSD
>addiction treatments that were tried in the sixties?

We are researching ibogaine in our laboratory at UCSF.  I can't go into
too many details yet, but the psychedelic effects of ibogaine appear to
be unrelated to its anti-addictive properties.  We have not separated
the pharmacophore from the intoxicophore, but rather we are starting
to understand the mechanism of the anti-addictive properties.

>If ibogaine is perceived as "abusable", forget it.

Ibogaine clinical treatment involves just one dose.  I'm sure some
might consider it to be abusable, but it's not often found on the
black market.  Also, the intoxication lasts 36-48 hours, probably
longer then desireable for the average psychonaut.

Rick
--
Rick Graul
[e-mail]

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: [e-mail] (Steve Anderson)
Subject: Re: Ibogaine. The drug to end all drugs?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 04:24:11 GMT

In article <2nhrkf$[e-mail]>, Marwan Taher <[e-mail]> wrote:

>You talked to people who've tried it??
>
>Well... what are effects like? I read the Omni article but it was kinda
>vague. If you have any info on what the effects are, what the user
>experiences, feels, sees, etc.. please do post it, or point me in the
>right direction to look. The article got my curiosity way up...

From _The Ibogaine Story_, by the Staten Island Project: (pp 16-17)

"The first thing I saw was a pulsating yellow screwdriver, which disappeared
abruptly.  And the next thing I knew I was walking up a ladder to a 10-foot
diving board over a pool.  As I was walking up the diving board, my bathing
suit disappeared and I was naked.  As I dived into the pool, my mother
appeared beneath me with her legs open, and I was diving into her vagina.
As I got closer, she chagned into my sister, who changed into an infant.  Then
I went into the water, and that was it.  The vision changed into a new one.

"For three or four hours, the way visualizations changed was always the same
and different from any other hallucenogen.  It appeared that you'd get one
vision, and then a gold or silver web would carry it off and an entirely
new set of visions would arrive."

On another trip, he was watching a stage, and all of a sudden music started.
The music was like, BOMdidaBOMPdidaBOMdidaBOMP, and pairs of cavemen and
cavewomen came dancing onto the stage.  The men were behind the women, and
they were dancing with them.  And then two more of them came onto the stage
rolling this giant stone heart.  Later he "had the sensation of slides opening
up and him sliding downward at a tremendous speed, with all my experiences
arranged accessible like filing cabinets flashing past."  He also experienced
behavioral immobility, which wore off only as the visions ceased, leaving him
in a strange, high-energy state.

"The hallucenatory period ends abruptly, and the first reaction is generally,
`What happened?  I thought this was supposed to last 36 hours.'  Then all of
a sudden you realize that it hasn't stopped, it's just changed.  You're no
longer watching this motion picture, but there are giant lightning flashes
and movements of light all over the place... but there's no waviness, things
don't lose their normal form, as they do under heavy dosages of common
hallucenogens like mescaline or LSD, where a wall will seem to wave.

"Another difference was, with hallucenogens generally, if you were to move
your hand you'd see a wave-like pattern.  With ibogaine, you don't get a
continuous wave, you get distinct images, and I noticed it the first time
when I was walking on the street... I was on my way to the west side, and
I turned around, there were seven distinct after-images of myself.  And
as I took a step, a new one would appear, and the last one would disappear.

"During that high-energy period, which lasts from six to twelve hours, you're
seeing all these flashes of light and what's happening, is you're getting
thoughts coming into your mind which support the deep symbolic material
which came in the initial three or four hour visualization phase....
And that slowly diminishes, till after about 12 hours that phase is completely
closed out.  Apparently a secondary stimulation effect occurs, and that
slowly curtails, somewhere between twentyfour and thirty hours, and the
subject goes to sleep."

Says another user, "I remember thinking, when is this going to end?  I'm so
tired.  I couldn't imagine anyone doing it for fun."

Strangest of all, the first user awoke after three hours of sleep completely
refreshed.  "Ten steps out of my door it hit me: For the first time in months,
I did not want or need to go cop heroin.  In fact, I viewed heroin as a drug
that emulated death; I wanted life.  I looked down the street, at the trees,
the sky, my house, and realized that for the first time in my life, I didn't
feel afraid."

----

Out of the seven heroin addicts in this trial of ibogaine, five quit.  Two
days later, none had gone through withdrawal.

This is good stuff.

[e-mail]    Steven C. Anderson    Grassroots Party Secretary

=============================================================================

copied from _The Hallucinogens_, by A. Hoffer and M. Osmond, Academic
Press, 1967, without permission:


                      Iboga Alkaloids

  The bark of the root of _Tabernanthe iboga_ contains about 12
alkaloids (Downing, 1962). Of these the best known is ibogaine, a
tryptamine derivative. This plant, named in 1889 by Baillon, was
used by the natives of West Africa and the Congo to increase
resistance against fatigue and tiredness and as an aphrodisiac.
Dybowski and Landrin (1901) extracted the psychologically active
alkaloid which they named ibogaine. They reported that the natives
considered the plant equivalent or similar to alcohol, that it was
a stimulant which did not disturb the thought processes of the user.
  They wrote "l'Iboga avait sur eux une action identique a celle de
l'alcool sans troubler la raison." Turner _et al._ (1955) believed
this was a denial by the natives that ibogaine was psychotomimetic.
But this is an interpretation based upon the belief that humans
having perceptual changes must have some disorder of thought. Many
unsophisticated subjects taking LSD, mescaline, or psilocybin do
have changes in thought but after they became experienced with
these compounds, changes in thought are rare. Native consumers of
peyote, the _Psilocybe_ mushrooms and, perhaps, iboga extract, can
have vivid perceptual changes with no disturbance in thought.
  According to Landrin (1905), Guien described the effect of chewing
large quantities of roots on natives being initiated. They became
very tense, developed an epilepticlike state during which they
became unconscious and uttered words considered prophetic. An
initiate would have a set toward initiation which combined with the
iboga root could well produce these extreme states of excitement.
  Dybowski and Landrin (1901) found ibogaine was as active
psychologically as the whole root. Small doses produced states of
excitation while massive doses were narcotic which they compared
to massive quantities of alcohol. Haller and Heckel (1901) also
extracted an alkaloid, probably the same one, which they called
ibogaine.
  Pouchet and Chevalier (1905) found that ibogaine given
intravenously to dogs produced violent excitation motor
incoordination, hallucinations, paraplegia, paralysis, and
anesthesia. Tetanic convulsions occured just before death. Death
came from respiratory arrest and the heart stopped in diastole.
They concluded ibogaine was a stimulant of the central nervous
system. They found it was also a good surface anesthetic less
intense than cocaine. There was a period of hyperesthesia before
the anesthesia came on.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
  According to Lambert and Heckel (1901) subconvulsive doses
produced marked changes in dogs. They developed a state of
excitation and appeared to have hallucinations. The dogs crouched
in a corner, growled and barked. After 1 hour they were normal.
Phisalix (1901) gave dogs ibogaine by vein. A mild cerebral
excitation was produced by 0.75 mg/kg. The dogs were more active
and responded with alacrity to caressing. When 1 mg/kg was given,
the dogs suffered incoordination and hallucinations. Ibogaine also
produced excitation in other animals.
  Lambert (1902) found ibogaine had a markedly cumulative effect
in frogs. When 5 mg was injected, there was no noticeable effect,
but the same dose given on succeeding days produced an increase
in response, of the kind seen with higher initial doses. After
several days the dose was toxic for some frogs. The toxic dose for
frogs for one injection was 500 mg/kg. This suggests a different
mode of activity for ibogaine than for LSD where toxicity does not
accumulate.
  Schneider and Sigg (1957) corroborated the findings of the early
French scientists. They gave 2-10 mg/kg by vein to cats and dogs.
In cats the effect came on immediately. They became very excited,
began to develop a tremor, and developed rage reactions. The
animals remained in one place, while hissing as if trying to
frighten away an imaginary object. Often they tried to hide in a
corner or to climb over the walls. At the height of the excitatory
phase the animals had peculiar clinic extension of all the limbs
which spread the limbs in all directions with the abdomen on the
floor. The cats frequently mewed. Maximum excitement was reached
in 10-20 minutes. Usually there were marked autonomic reactions
including pupillary dilatation, salivation, partial piloerection,
and tremor. After 1-2 the cats were normal.
  Gershon and Lang (1962) also saw the marked excitatory properties
of ibogaine. Dogs became more anxious and alert and did not
recognize their regular handlers. Body tremor and shaking was noted
in dogs and also in sheep. In dogs ibogaine caused a peculiar
stance with legs apart and back arched.
  In anesthetized dogs, cats, and sheep, ibogaine was analeptic and
anesthesia was lightened.
  Gershon and Lang (1962) and Schneider and Rinehart (1957) found
that pretreatment with atropine prevented the rise in blood pressure
produced in conscious dogs by ibogaine but according to the former
the behavioral changes were not affected.  Schneider and Rinehart
(1957) suggested the increase in blood pressure produced by ibogaine
was due to its stimulating effect on the reticular activating
system. Anesthetized dogs, unable to respond to stimulation,
suffered a decrease in blood pressure.
CHEMISTRY
  Ibogaine had long been considered an indole because it reacted in
color tests as an indole.

[ ... chemical structure is here in text ... ]

  Another similar alkaloid voacangine present in _T. iboga_ was first
isolated from _Voacanga africana._ Renner _et al._ (1959) isolated
1 known and 4 new alkaloids from _C. durissima Stapf, Isovoacangine_
(first found in _Stemmadenia_ species by Walls _et al._, 1958).
The new compounds were conopharyngine, conodurine, conoduramine,
and alkaloid E. Some alkaloids from iboga are tabulated below.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
  Alkaloid           R1               R2               R3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ibogaine            OCH3              H                H
Ibogamine            H                H                H
Tabernanthine        H               OCH3              H
Coronaridine         H                H              COOCH3
Voacangine          OCH3              H              COOCH3
Isovoacangine        H               OCH3            COOCH3
Conopharyngine      OCH3             OCH3            COOCH3
--------------------------------------------------------------------

PHARMACOLOGY
  Lambert and Heckel (1901), Phisalix (1901), Lambers (1902),
Raymond-Hamet (1941a,b), Raymond-Hamet and Rothlin (1939), and
Rothlin and Raymond-Hamet (1938) completed the early studies on the
pharmacology of ibogaine.
  When injected subcutaneously into the frog, voluntary movements
and reflex activity were abolished, but muscles were still excitable.
Respiratory movements were reduced for a time, but there was no
effect on the heart rate. The toxic dose was about 0.5 gm/kg. In
the guinea pig, rabbit, and dog, death occurred during convulsions.
  In dogs, respiration was accelerated, the temperature became
elevated, and the pupils became widely dilated and unresponsive
to light.
  Lambert and Heckel reported that sublethal doses produced an
anesthetic effect around the area of the injection. They compared
the surface anesthetic properties of ibogaine with cocaine. A few
drops instilled in the eye abolished corneal sensation, although
the solution produced a slightly caustic sensation in the eye.
  Ibogaine inhibited contraction of the small intestine of the
rabbit and the large intestine of the guinea pig. It decreased the
inhibitor action of adrenaline but did not alter the effect of
acetylcholine. Ergotamine reversed ibogaine's action. Ibogaine had
no direct effect on the seminal vesicle of guinea pig but inhibited
almost completely the motor effects of adrenaline and acetylcholine,
that is, it antagonized adrenaline, acetylcholine, yohimbine, and
atropine.
  Schneider and Sigg (1957) studied the effect of ibogaine on the
electroencephalogram of cats. Cats with cerveau isole and encephale
isole preparations as well as curarized animals showed a typical
arousal syndrome when a 2-5 mg/kg were given by vein.  A slow
frequency high-amplitude pattern was altered to a pattern of fast
low-amplitude activity. It resembled the change during direct
stimulation of the reticular formation. After 1/2-1 hour the patterns
were normal. Pretreatment with atropine (2 mg/kg) blocked the arousal
effect of ibogaine.
  There were only slight changes in reflexes. The knee jerk reflex
was reduced slightly. There was no effect on neuromuscular
transmission. Ibogaine, in spite of its stimulant properties, had
weak but definite anticonvulsant properties.
  Iboga extract and ibogaine were weak cholinesterase inhibitors
(Vincent and Sero, 1942). This is a property shared with many of the
hallucinogenic indoles.
  Gershon and Lang (1962) compared the effect of ibogaine in
conscious and anesthetized dogs. In conscious dogs 5 mg/kg ibogaine
accentuated the sinus arrhythmia by potentiating vagus effects.
In anesthetized dogs the blood pressure fell and heart rate
decreased. It also inhibited acetylcholine hypotensive response in
anesthetized preparations, and potentiated the pressor response of
both adrenaline and noradrenaline in conscious and anesthetized
dogs. The serotonin pressor response was potentiated in both.
Ibogaine did not alter heart rate changes induced by acetylcholine,
histamine, or serotonin.
  Salmoiraghi and Page (1957) compared the effect of bufotenine,
mescaline, and ibogaine on the potentiation of hexobarbital hypnosis
produced by serotonin and reserpine. Serotonin prolonged the hypnotic
effect of hexobarbital as did reserpine. Large doses of LSD and BOL
blocked this effect. Small doses of LSD and BOL potentiated the
action of serotonin but not the reserpine potentiation. On the
contrary this potentiation was blocked. Large doses of bufotenine
blocked, and small doses enhanced the effect. Mescaline and ibogaine
blocked the potentiation.

REFERENCES:

Downing, D F (1962), _Quart. Rev. (London)_, 16:133
Dybowski, J, and Landrin, E (1901), _Compt. Rend._, 133:748
Gershon, S, and Lang, W J (1962), _Arch. Intern. Pharmacodyn._, 135:31
Haller, A, and Heckel, E (1901), _Compt. Rend._, 133:850
Lambert, M (1902), _Arch. Intern. Pharmacodyn._, 10:101
Lambert, M, and Heckel, E (1901), _Compt. Rend._, 133:1236
Landrin, A (1905), _Bull. Sci. Pharmacol._, 11:319
Phisalix, M C (1901), _Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol._, 53:1077
Pouchet, D, and Chevalier, J (1905), _Bull. Acad. Med. (Paris)_, 149:211
Raymond-Hamet, M (1941a), _Bull. Acad. Med. (Paris)_, 124:243
Raymond-Hamet, M (1941b), _Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol._, 135:1414
Raymond-Hamet, M, and Rothlin, E (1939), _Arch. Intern. Pharmacodyn._, 63:27
Renner, U, Prins, D A, and Stoll, W G (1959), _Helv. Chim. Acta_, 42:1572
Rothlin, E, and Raymond-Hamet, M (1938), _Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol._, 127:592
Salmoiraghi, G C, and Page, I H (1957), _J. Pharmacol. Exptl. Therap._, 120:20
Schneider, J A, and Rinehart, R K (1957), _Arch. Intern. Pharmacodyn._, 110:92
Schneider, J A, and Sigg, E B (1957), _Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci._, 66:765
Turner, W J, Merlis, S, and Carl, A (1955), _Am. J. Psychiat._, 112:466
Vincent, D, and Sero, I (1942), _Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol._, 136:612
Walls, F, Collera, D, and Sandoval, A L (1958), _Tetrahedron_, 2:173


        -bryan
         [e-mail], or [e-mail]

"Instead of all of this energy and effort directed at the war
to end drugs, how about a little attention to drugs which will
end war?"    Albert Hofmann

=============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (eye WEEKLY)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,io.eye
Subject: Ibogaine & Heroin Withdrawl
Date: 4 Aug 1994 09:04:44 -0400
Approved: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <31qp1c$[e-mail]>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
eye WEEKLY                                               August 4 1994
Toronto's arts newspaper                      .....free every Thursday
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS & VIEWS                                              NEWS & VIEWS

               IBOGAINE -- THE END OF HEROIN WITHDRAWL?

                                  by
                         ALEXANDER HIGHCREST


Depending upon who is collecting the statistics, there are anywhere
between 5,000 to 25,000 regular heroin users in Toronto. Most of
these people have one thing in common -- they've thought about
kicking the habit. They may even have tried a couple of times.

Others, like myself, were motivated enough to break the habit on the
first try.

There are basically two ways to break a heroin addiction. The user
can just stop -- go cold turkey -- and suffer the physical and
emotional hell of withdrawal, or the user can get into a methadone
program and swap the heroin habit for a methadone habit. Ibogaine, a
non-narcotic, non-addictive drug, could offer up a third option.

Ibogaine comes from a shrub found in the rainforests of western
Africa. The people there have used ibogaine for centuries as an upper
to help them stay alert when hunting, or for inducing visions during
initiation rites. Among the secret societies of Gabon and the Congo,
ibogaine is closely associated with death. The plant that produces
the drug is often described as a supernatural being which can carry
someone away to the realm of the dead. Actual death by overdose is
possible, but heavy users usually just slide into a semi-coma while
gazing off into space. West African cultists who use the drug believe
that during this almost comatose experience the soul leaves the
body and wanders around in the land of the dead.

In the early '60s the drug was introduced to the West as a
psychoanalytic tool. Ibogaine is characterized as a hallucinogen, but
it doesn't cause LSD-like hallucinations. Users of the drug claim
that they "see" their lives appear as if on a movie screen on their
eyelids, or on any surface they focus on. In 1967 ibogaine was
officially made illegal in the U.S.

Howard Lotsof, an American heroin addict looking for a new drug
experience, tried ibogaine in 1962. Although his first ibogaine high
lasted longer than his usual heroin injection interval, he didn't
suffer any withdrawal symptoms. Instead, Lotsof's craving for
heroin disappeared completely. Lotsof gave ibogaine to seven other
heroin addicts and five of them quit using heroin after their first
ibogaine experience. At the time neither Lotsof nor any of his
friends were planning to quit.

Based on his personal experiences, Lotsof decided to promote
ibogaine as a potential addiction therapy. He founded NDA (New Drug
Application) International and between 1985 and 1989 obtained
three patents for drug addiction treatment methods based on
ibogaine. NDA claims that ibogaine can beat an addiction in three
steps. (Warning! The following is in psych-speak.)

First, the addict's repressed memories are released. Then the
memories are intellectually re-evaluated. Finally, a new
understanding of the memories is integrated into the client. Former
addicts who have successfully used ibogaine say that they came to
understand their drug use patterns and then reached a point when
they felt they could choose whether or not to use drugs.

The U.S. government hasn't pursued ibogaine as a treatment for
addiction with much enthusiasm, despite the urgings of AIDS
activists, rainforest conservationists, drug policy reformers and
drug user advocates. In August, 1993, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration finally gave the University of Miami the go-ahead to
conduct clinical trials on volunteer patients. This decision made
ibogaine the second psychoactive drug to begin the journey toward
FDA approval. MDMA was the first. One surprising thing about the
FDA decision is that it followed on the heels of a study conducted by
the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, which indicated that high
doses of ibogaine can cause brain damage in rats.

The situation is no better in Canada. A spokesperson for Toronto's
Addiction Research Foundation told eye that they weren't currently
investigating ibogaine because there were "other research
priorities." To his knowledge no one was researching ibogaine in
Canada.

Ibogaine treatment is available overseas. The International Coalition
for Addict Self-Help (ICASH) has developed an "underground
railroad" to assist addicts in getting ibogaine treatment in Europe,
primarily in the Netherlands. There, ibogaine reportedly has been
successful in breaking addictions to heroin, cocaine, nicotine and
alcohol. Nearly one-quarter of all the treated addicts stayed drug-
free for at least six months. Another 40 per cent to50 per cent
kicked their habits, but needed help from other support programs to
stay on the wagon. Some 20 per cent to 30 per cent went back to
using their drugs of choice within a month following ibogaine
treatment, while roughly 10 per cent decided they needed further
ibogaine treatments to stave off their old cravings. The Dutch
experience has also had its share of setbacks. One woman died of a
heroin overdose while taking ibogaine and the controversial drug
may be linked to other deaths.

Ibogaine has been around for 30 years and there's plenty of evidence
to suggest it could be useful in helping people overcome addictions.
Why has our government paid so little attention to the drug?
Canadian and American national drug strategies have always placed
more emphasis on a law enforcement approach rather than on
treatment and prevention. Our drug war mentality has made it
difficult to imagine a mind-altering drug as being a good thing; just
try getting marijuana for medical reasons. It could be that large
drug companies don't see much profit potential in ibogaine. And, as
always, there is such a stigma attached to drug addiction that the
people with the money and power are reluctant to listen to others
with real, front-line experience -- the addicts.

There should be a variety of treatment options available to addicts
who decide to kick their habits. There may be a place for ibogaine in
treatment methodology, but I doubt it's the magic bullet to end all
addictions. When I broke my own heroin habit back in 1991, I went
through what treatment experts called "spontaneous recovery."
Everybody else called it going cold turkey. I know other former users
who are joined at the hip to doctors and clinics because they've
succeeded in getting onto a methadone program.

Earlier this year I met Bob Sisko, an activist from New York involved
in ICASH. He spoke about ibogaine like a TV evangelist talks about
Jee-Zus. He told me that ibogaine doesn't cure addiction, but puts it
in remission. He went on to say that detoxification is the first step
in any drug treatment program, and ibogaine allows the addict to
detoxify with dignity.

In Toronto it is virtually impossible to kick a drug habit with any
dignity. This city, with its thousands of heroin addicts, only has
room for about 200 people in its handful of methadone programs.
Alcohol detox centres are overcrowded. Barring bad-tasting chewing
gum or odd little patches, there's nothing available to help those
who want to quit smoking. People addicted to crack, this decade's
big evil, pretty well have to go it alone when they want to stop
using. This is a disgrace.

Sure, there have been problems with ibogaine -- it's probably not the
wonder cure. But isn't it worse to ignore the possibility that a non-
narcotic, non-addictive drug like ibogaine could help to eliminate
the belief that it's really a waste of time trying to help an addict?
The drug could prove to be an important part of a rational, humane
approach to treating the problem of drug abuse. It's certainly worth
trying to find out.

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=============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Ibog)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Re: ibogaine
Date: 27 Dec 1994 02:15:14 -0500
Message-ID: <3doeu2$[e-mail]>

There are three principal sources for Ibogaine information:  1)  NDA
INTERNATIONAL, INC., PO BOX 10O506, S.I., NY 10301-0506, USA;  2)
INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR ADDICT SELF-HELP, PO BOX 20882, NY, NY 10009,
USA & 3) THE NATIONAL, INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, MDD/NIDA, 5600 FISHERS
LANE, ROCKVILLE, MD 20857, USA.  Netherlands operations have ceased due to
no availability of hospitals.  Thank you for asking all those good
questions.