Marc: Ibogaine Treatment-Part 3/3

The third and final video segment shows an ibogaine treatment that took place in a hospital in Panama, with doctor and therapist testimonials. Witness an impressive personal metamorphosis from the throes of cravings to wellness in a few hours.


Thus concludes this groundbreaking ibogaine treatment documentary that demonstrated to the world scientific and addict community that Howard Lotsof's claims were scientifically repeatable and valid. I don't think anyone can watch this series and remain wholly skeptical about the possible efficacy of this chemical intervention.

Since the mid-1990's thousands of addicts have been treated with ibogaine, mostly in non-clinical settings with the aid of another addict who has undergone treatment. This underground network has replaced the government and medical structures needed in an open, tolerant society that understands it is far more humane and compassionate to provide treatment to addicts than to ignore them with the ignorant hope that this problem will simply "go away".

Instead, societies experience acts of crime and flood their criminal justice systems with tens of thousands of convicted felons who would probably be better served with a rapid interruption of their cravings and appropriate therapy and counseling to understand the roots of their negative behaviors, along with job training. I'm certain that the costs balance out against each other, with one approach most likely demonstrating a smaller recidivism.

At one point I charged money for copies of these videos. The sales were always minimal and people like Dana Beale just went ahead and pirated them anyway, running off hundreds of dupes he gave away to anyone who would lend an ear.

Recently, Howard Lotsof asked me to post the videos on the Internet and let people watch them for free. Without hesitation, I agreed. Iboga is a sacred gift to mankind from the jungles of the cradle of civilization in Africa. I have no right to profit from iboga, and realize the audience for this information has a right to see them. Therefore, my company, MEDIA WORKS CORP, brings you all our ibogaine videos to the public, free of charge, as a public service to mankind and the addict community.

EDEN'S GIFT: How a sacred African shrub became mankind's hope to end addiction

In 1962 nineteen year old heroin addict Howard Lotsof ended a 33 hour episode with an exotic psychotropic drug called ibogaine hydrochloride, ordered from a pharmaceutical catalog. The experience was so physically and emotionally exhausting that he swore never to use ibogaine again. After 30 intense hours he was so tired he thought he'd sleep for a week, but 3 hours later awoke completely refreshed. That was the first clue something was amiss.

Howard got dressed and, famished, went downstairs. He flew out the front door and down the red brick steps of his family's working class Bergenfield, New Jersey home. As his feet hit the sidewalk he stopped dead in his tracks. He gazed at an old maple tree on the lawn, leaves rustling in the wind, then looked up at the bright blue sky and puffy cotton ball clouds -- and it suddenly struck him: he wasn't junk sick. His craving for dope had disappeared.

Howard would file this discovery away in the catacombs of his consciousness for the next decade.

I met Howard and his wife Norma Alexander in 1973 as a freshman at New York University's film school. Howard and Norma were the oldest students in our class and at 16, I was the youngest. But my youthful inhibition, some would call it assininity, and their keen intelligence and worldliness were somehow attractors, and we became instant and inseparable friends. A tall bushy-haired anglo of Russian descent, a female African American cheroot-puffing fireplug, and a short, bespeckled Asian American teen cruising the halls of NYU. Very strange indeed.

On a spring afternoon in 1974, Howard calmly related his discovery to me. I was blown away. Never did I doubt the claims of my sincere, soft spoken, gentle mad Russian of a friend. We both knew this was important but neither of us knew how to bring the news to the world. Nonetheless, in 1985 I was the first person to give Howard money to conduct library research on ibogaine. I had a deep heartfelt conviction that this project deserved every possible chance to see the light of day and to help others. I did not consider any return or riches.

Spurred on by the supportive results of his inquiry, Howard formed a corporation, NDA International, as a vehicle to raise more funds. Due to my years as an executive of my family's museum design and production business, I joined NDA's Board of Directors and was made a senior vice president.

Thus began a 15 year roller coaster ride we could not ever have imagined or been prepared for.

This blog is an intimate inside account of the international drama that exploded around ibogaine and Howard Lotsof's controversial and polarizing claims. This true story is at once uplifting, hair-raising, filled with life affirming hope tempered with despair and death, intrigue, dispute, betrayal, redemption, and love - all told by someone who lived through it.