From: [e--e] at [io.org] (eye WEEKLY)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,io.eye
Subject: Ibogaine & Heroin Withdrawl
Date: 4 Aug 1994 09:04:44 -0400
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eye WEEKLY August 4 1994
Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
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NEWS & VIEWS NEWS & VIEWS
IBOGAINE -- THE END OF HEROIN WITHDRAWAL?
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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