Ibogaine Message Board Chatter

From the forum on Opiophile.org are 2-1/2 pages of threads titled "Ibogaine Treatment?" It's an intense ongoing conversation about the facts and myths surrounding this controversial and still little understood addiction treatment modality.

What struck me about the posts is both the fear/misinformation and near evangelistic fervor of opponents and proponents, with comments like:

I'm actually looking forward to spring, albeit still just a tad bit apprehensive

But i have spoken to a very nice fellow here, who went through it with the same doctor that's gonna treat me, and after about 15 years of heroin+methadne use, this guy has been clean for almost a year now since the treatment. Also looks a good few years younger than he did (judging by his pics) before the treatment.
Anyway, that meeting with the aforementioned bloke only reinforced my determination to go through with it.

Versus skepticism like this:

If it's too good to sound true, it usually is. We all wish Underride luck, and can't wait to hear how it goes for him, but the fact remains, that Ibogaine is completely unproven, has no scientific data behind it, and the method and mechanism behind it, why it would help, is completely unexplained. I feel better about him doing it, if there's a licenced doctor behind it, that's for sure...

The scary thing about untrue statements made on the web and elsewhere is that many regard them as true, much as people assume newspapers and magazines to be true and carefully researched. This is so far from the truth, especially regarding the web, which is the wild west of information overload, with crazy untrue rumors that spread like the bubonic plague (take all the websites claiming Barack Obama is a Muslim terrorist).

To refute the aforementioned excerpt, there are hundreds of scientific papers that have been published on ibogaine in highly respected scientific journals, both on animal and human clinical experiments. Just look at the list of links on this blog for just a smattering. If I have time I will add to the list; but there are also links to pages with dozens of other scientific papers and research.

Of course, the best, most respected newspapers (like the New York Times) carefully vet their reportage -- a lot better, for example, than McCain's campaign did with Sarah "Troopergate" Palin and the First Dude.

There is also a lot of discussion on this board on why such an important treatment hasn't gotten more scientific acceptance. The back and forth is both frustrating and indicative of a level of ignorance and propaganda that's hard to take or understand.

Despite all my personal biases, forums like this one are healthy outlets for people to communicate with one another, much as this blog is my own attempt to share timely and newsworthy stories about ibogaine. Believe me. I'm not doing this for money or fame. I simply have a concern about getting accurate, helpful information to a very small audience of people.

I do recommend you check out the forum and make your own judgment.

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.