Heroin by Humberto Fernandez

Author:Humberto Fernandez
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-59285-990-0
Publisher: Hazelden Publishing
Published: 2011-04-02T16:00:00+00:00

Ibogaine

Ibogaine is arguably one of the most controversial drugs to be considered as a treatment for heroin addiction. It is currently illegal to use or administer in treatment in the United States. In the United States, it is classified as a schedule I drug, a hallucinogen, and it is illegal to manufacture, buy, possess, or distribute without a DEA license. Even then its use is primarily for research by institutions; one such institution is the University of Miami medical school. There are very few countries that do not regulate its use or sale as America does. Ibogaine is derived from a flowering shrub, Tabernanthe iboga, primarily found in the West African country of Gabon. It is an alkaloid that was first purified by French chemists in the early 1900s.14 The indigenous people of Gabon use it as a stimulant while hunting and in larger doses during religious ceremonies. The Gabonese tribesmen are practitioners of the Bwiti religion and believe that ibogaine assists them in speaking to the spirits of those who have died.15 The drug is also used ceremonially in a rite that marks an adolescent’s passage into adulthood.16

The person who uses ibogaine enters a dreamlike, hallucinatory state lasting twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Proponents of ibogaine as a cure for heroin addiction believe the user is able to examine his or her life in a way that is possible only with hallucinogens, much like a “vision quest.” Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have reported that it unlocks repressed childhood memories.17 Given to heroin addicts, it seems to help them look at their early lives and examine their current life circumstances, and it can provide a cathartic experience from which they are able to muster the resolve necessary to change addictive behavior. Addicts reportedly walk away free of heroin withdrawal symptoms, have no craving for the drug, and are able to stay clean for years, all from a single ibogaine administration. If the addict relapses or has urges to use again, he or she can undergo another ibogaine treatment, with no danger of developing a dependence on the drug.

Ibogaine’s effectiveness in treating heroin addiction was discovered by accident in 1962 by Howard Lotsof, who at the time was a heroin addict living in New Jersey. He took the drug by chance, just looking for another high, but discovered that after the experience he didn’t need a heroin fix. He was straight, without a dose of heroin for more than twenty-four hours, yet surprisingly was not sick. He was devoid of the familiar signs of withdrawal. Amazed, he gave the drug to seven of his heroin-addicted friends. He found that five of the seven quit heroin immediately without any withdrawal symptoms. Having struggled for years with his own heroin addiction and deeply affected by his discovery, Lotsof was filled with a sense of purpose. He felt strongly that the ramifications of this experience, and what it could mean to the hundreds of thousands who suffered from heroin addiction, should be earnestly and vigorously explored.

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