Ibogaine: ENDABUSE Report Video - Part 2

Part 2 of this six part series features the testimonials of 6 addicts (2 women and 4 men) with cocaine, heroin, and methadone dependencies who underwent treatment with the ENDABUSE Procedure using Ibogaine Hydrochloride.




This segment deals with their candid, graphic, and often disturbing accounts of how and why they became addicted to chemical substances. They are brutally honest about themselves, baring their inner souls and lives to the camera.

These six individuals (pioneers, actually) represented the first wave of those who went overseas to countries like Holland and Panama to be treated where Ibogaine was not restricted. In the early 1980's Howard Lotsof needed to demonstrate that the ENDABUSE Procedure to interrupt chemical dependencies and withdrawal symptoms was both valid and reproducible, not the rantings of a self-obsessed madman.

One of NDA International's early investors who was outside Howard's immediate circle of friends was a California psychotherapist, Dr. Leo Zeff, then in his late 70's, who treated dozens of patients in the 1960's using Ibogaine. Dr. Zeff, like Dr. Claudio Naranjo, were the first from the medical ranks to treat patients using Ibogaine as an adjunct to psychotherapy. When Leo went through his patient records, he discovered that a number of those who were addicts had their cravings interrupted after their Ibogaine sessions with him. The lightbulb went off in his head, and he made a sizable investment in NDA. No doubt, we were all delighted to have his professional affirmation and support.

One of the first things Howard did after Leo's involvement was to fly Dr. Zeff, his wife Norma, and himself to Gabon, Africa with a French interpreter and well known medical journal article translator, Bill Gladstone, to meet President Omar Bongo and his scientific advisor, Professor Jean-Noel Gassita. In the most diplomatic of moves, Howard told President Bongo that eboka (the Gabonese name for Iboga Tabernanthe, the name of the plant from which Ibogaine is derived) was Africa's gift to the world. Bongo immediately arranged to have several kilos of the raw botanical made available to Howard for alkaloid extraction. Howard now had access to supplies. The next part of the puzzle was treatment.

Howard traveled to Amsterdam where he found social activists in the Harm Reduction movement who advocated needle exchange to stop HIV and a society that tolerated soft drugs and prostitution. He hooked up with a prominent Dutch psychiatrist, Dr. Jan Bastiaans, who was famous for conducting psychotherapy sessions using LSD in the 1960's. Dr. Bastiaans was the first medical observer of the ENDABUSE Procedure, and his involvement created sanction from the law enforcement and medical establishment.

One by one, the addicts came from the United States to the Netherlands to be treated with Ibogaine, on nothing more than a tall tale and the conviction of Howard. They were moving into uncharted waters using their flesh and blood as guinea pigs. Dosing had to be determined. Timing and precautions had to be worked out. These people knew what was at stake, but their desire to break the horrible cycle of addiction was stronger than their fears.

And so they took the plunge.