From: mmonningh@igc.apc.org (Max Monningh)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: IBOGAINE: High Times article
Date: 8 Oct 92 10:54:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1301300191:000:5342
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!mmonningh    Oct  8 03:54:00 1992


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 (718)442-2754.

**** 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
mmonningh@igc.org