IBOGAINE: Addiction cure for many, lethal for a few

by | Addiction

 

http://www.rocklandtimes.com/2017/06/08/ibogaine-addiction-cure-for-many-lethal-for-a-few/

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New studies reaffirm plant’s ability to halt cravings, however, one subject dies during the experiment 
The results of two observational studies into treating opioid dependence with ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound derived from the West African Tabernanthe iboga plant, have been published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in Mexico and New Zealand, both studies show that a single treatment of ibogaine, for reasons unknown, halts opioid withdrawal and cravings for heroin, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol in many subjects unsuccessful during previous drug rehabilitation attempts.
In the Mexico study, 12 out of 30 participants reported 75 percent reductions in their drug use 30 days following treatment, and 33 percent reported no opioid use three months later. The paper is co-authored by Thomas Kingsley Brown, Ph.D. (University of California, San Diego) and Kenneth Alper, Ph.D. (New York University School of Medicine).
As one participant in the Mexico study reported: “Iboga could give an opiate addict several months to half a year of freedom from craving, and a period of time in which to get their life together and learn to face things straightforwardly, directly and honestly. Iboga will not do the work for you.”
The New Zealand study, published on April 12, showed that a single ibogaine treatment could reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms and achieve either cessation from opioids or sustained, reduced use for up to 12 months following treatment. The results indicate that ibogaine may have a significant pharmacological effect on opiate withdrawal. In animals, a single dose of ibogaine decreases signs of opioid withdrawal and produces sustained reductions in the self-administration of heroin, morphine, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol.
All participants in the study described their ibogaine experience in positive terms, except that is, for one who died. The paradox of ibogaine is that higher doses tend to be more therapeutic in halting addiction, but those same high doses can cause cardiac problems in a small number of subjects.
NBA:
This is intriguing!  Perhaps we can set up treatment facilities in which is given under close medical supervision with a crash cart at hand and under constant EKG monitoring.  More study is clearly needed before we can do this however.  Another major impediment is that the way the laws are currently written, pharmaceutical companies cannot patent a naturally occurring substance.  Without patents, high prices cannot be demanded (extorted?).  With our current US litigation/medical malpractice scene, I cannot see anybody (including myself) willing to administer Ibogaine.   Many more will die of this demonic scourge despite adequate treatment being identified as Buprenorphine and possibly Ibogaine.
Dr. Raymond Oenbrink
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