Ibogaine...A Possible Release from Severe Addiction?

Several years ago I lived in a small camp in Baja California, Mexico, called Baja Malibu. Quiet, quaint, beautiful, cheap and only about 15 miles from the US border, it was amazing. I'll never forget the Bu or the great times I had there, the great friends I made there, or the fact that I got Bruti while I lived there...Or many of the interesting things I learned there.

A few houses down from me on the same street lived an interesting (to say the least!) couple named Maya and Martin. Martin preferred the name Mars, he was an odd cat, tall, Mexican, hippie...Intelligent. Intellectual in a different and interesting way than I was use to. Even though most people (and even yours truly) found him weird, I liked listening to him talk. He had interesting ideas.

Maya, a HHP and massage therapist, was Caucasian and very fair, with long wavy red hair. She, too, was interesting to me, I was just learning what holistic health meant, and becoming very interested in a more natural lifestyle. I remember asking her lots of questions about being a HHP and even a massage therapist, and she was cool, she never seemed to mind answering.

Over time it became obvious that Mars and Maya were working on some kinda project. A documentary about something. They never talked about it, and I was always curious, of course. One particularly late night Martin finally spilled the beans. They were doing testing, a study....On a cure for Heroine addiction.

Mars and Maya explained to me why Heroine is so addictive, what happens to the brain when a person does H, even one time. They explained to me that there is no "cure" for this addiction, at least, legally. Then they told me about Ibogaine. Some kind of root from Africa that cures Heroine addiction, after just 1 treatment!

They told me that the treatment, however, was illegal in the US, because Ibogaine is considered a drug itself. And for good reason! The trip that one embarks on upon taking this substance, according to my neighbors, was similar to taking Peyote. A spiritual journey, lasting up to 3 days, but with lifelong results regarding addiction to H. Somehow, this Ibogaine, would permanently fill the receptors in the brain that scream for H, that keep an addict an addict.

Eventually, Mars and Maya's landlord got wind of something going on in their house, and kicked them out, stating that a business could not be run from that location. Basically, the old lady neighbors, like hens always clucking around, saw people in and out, and cameras through the windows, and started a rumor they were filming porn. Needless to say, Maya and Mars moved, and I have not seen either since.

My story so far is simply a recollection of late night conversation, and may not be worded accurately, but this is what I remember. It's always stuck with me, along with a lot of questions regarding WHY our government wouldn't consider testing this substance if it can have such a profound benefit! So many people suffer from Heroine addiction! But....Go figure.

Then, thanks to a FaceBook friend of mine who posted a link, I came across this article: Why Thousands Are Turning to a Psychedelic Plant from Africa for Release from Severe Addictions | Drugs | AlterNet which is about....IBOGAINE! Check it out, and if you're inspired, follow the link and read more....LOTS more.

Here’s how the miracle works. The conventional approach to treating opiate addiction is to employ a substitution therapy like methadone or suboxone, maintenance drugs that keep the addict addicted to a less potent, more manageable opiate analog. This means that the only available treatment does not actually stop the addiction. So what’s the point?

Ibogaine works, it is believed, by filling in the receptor sites that the opiate molecules once sought, ending the craving for the drug, while at the same time metabolizing in the liver into noribogaine, which is thought to have powerful detoxifying and anti-depressant properties. The million dollar jackpot is that ibogaine can eliminate the exceedingly painful and dangerous opiate withdrawal process, sometimes in a single dose. In effect, it has the power to hit the reset button on the brain’s neurotransmitter mechanism.

Ibogaine has never been popular as a recreational drug regardless of its legal status. There is not a single recorded case of ibogaine addiction anywhere. Those who use it do so infrequently, because, like ayahuasca or peyote, it takes a toll on the mind, body and spirit, never mind that most folks don't consider vomiting and diarrhea to be particularly social activities. Only two iboga-related arrests are known to have occurred in the U.S., and 20 people are on record as having died within 72 hours of taking ibogaine, mostly due to either heart complications or drug contraindications.

This specific focus on the treatment of addiction is what distinguishes the ibogaine underground from other psychedelic subcultures, like the rapidly growing ayahuasca community. Writing on the “ibogaine medical subculture” for the Journal of Ethno-Pharmacology, Alper and Lotsof describe the underground as, "...homes, hotel rooms and private clinics in North America and Europe, [where] individuals in increasing numbers are taking ibogaine in what has been termed ‘a vast uncontrolled experiment.’”

Because a safe and legal alternative is not available in the U.S, the ibogistas have been forced on to more tolerant legal climes in Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Europe in order to avoid becoming de facto criminals. For those who remain in the states as lay-providers, they role the dice every time they take an addict’s life into their hands, but they feel, unequivocally, that the medicine is safe and the risk is worth it.--- Why Thousands Are Turning to a Psychedelic Plant from Africa for Release from Severe Addictions | Drugs | AlterNet

Could this Ibogaine cure the uncurable? What do YOU think??