Researcher Disclaimer:
Make no mistake, Ibogaine is a dangerous psychedelic drug. Different
people of the same weight and height react differently to ingestion of
the same amount of this refined root bark. Although the drug is
approved for clinical trials as a "Rapid Opiate Detox Treatment" in
the United States, it is a Schedule 1 controlled hallucinogen with "no
known medical use."
LEGAL STATUS
The US Department of Justice's Search Page with "Ibogaine" entered:
RESULTS:
http://search.usdoj.gov/compass?scope=Ibogaine+&ui=sr&view-template=dojsimple&page=1
Erowid's page on the Legal Status of Ibogaine
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ibogaine/ibogaine_law.shtml
Note: International Laws:
..."Australia
Ibogaine may be illegal to possess & sell in Australia, but it does
not appear to be listed in the controlled substances lists (Search
Australian Law). Ibogaine is clearly illegal to import into Australia
without a license, it is "Schedule IV" in the import laws: AU Import
Regulations.
Belgium
Purified ibogaine is restricted. It is unclear whether the T. iboga
root powder is also restricted, but may be.
England
As of late 1998, the Home Office Drug Unit reported that Ibogaine is
not specifically listed in the Controlled Substances List in the UK.
The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) does not recognize Ibogaine as a
drug, but does not that it is credited with having hallucinogenic
properties. This apparently means that it is legal to buy or import
for personal use, but to sell it, administer it to others, or make it
available as a treament would likely be illegal without a
prescription.
Sweden
Unverified. We have heard that purified ibogaine is the equivalent of
a Schedule I drug in Sweden. It is unclear whether the plant T. iboga
is also restricted.
Switzerland
Purified ibogaine is restricted. It is unclear whether the T. iboga
root powder is also restricted, but may be..."
Reference:
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/
..."Ibogaine's current legal status in the UK, and much of the rest of
the world, is that of an unlicensed, experimental medication, and it
not therefore an offence to possess the drug, though to act as a
distributor may be breaking the law. Ibogaine is a restricted
substance (possession is illegal) in some countries, including the US,
Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium..."
Under no circumstances is it advisable to take Ibogaine alone. Medical
supervision is a requirement. Of all the Ibogaine that is for sale on
the Internet, be cautioned that there are two major categories: weaker
and stronger: weaker being less refined and the stronger being nearly
pure Ibogaine. Even within those categories one could expect wide
deviations of strength.
Reference:
http://www.ibogaine-therapy.net/psychedelic.html
..."Not all people have the capacity to metabolize ibogaine into
nor-ibogaine and they are not good candidates for this treatment. We
screen all patients with a blood test to see if this treatment will
work for them. Ibogaine works in 90% of patients and can be dangerous
for the other 10%, either causing toxicity due to high levels. This is
why it is very important to test this enzyme..."
It's not unusual to be highly nauseated after ingesting Ibogaine. And,
with the correct dose, life as you knew it is forever changed. It is
an incredible mind-expanding experience. It's ability to pull
repressed memories from your subconscious and present them before you,
eyes closed, as if you are watching a movie, might not be what you are
ready for. If you are not ready to confront your inner demons then
this drug is not for you. After you recall your repressed memories,
the next 12-20 hours of the experience is spent in relative silence
while your mind processes these newly recalled memories. It's not an
experience you can alter or stop (short of thorazine) once it has
begun. It's an awful lot to handle, and has been likened to two or
more years of intense psychotherapy, all in 36 hours.
If you are considering using Ibogaine, I recommend you go to one of
the treatment centers outside the United States that offers treatment
in a medical setting with trained professionals. Keep in mind most
people seek Ibogaine treatment for the rapid opiate detox, so any
pages I link to will have that theme. The centers will certainly be
familiar with the "other reasons" for taking Ibogaine and will be able
to accomodate those requests as well. The highest level of caution is
indicated in any endevour with Ibogaine.
Here is a warning from http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/index.htm:
..."There is an inherent level of risk with ibogaine treatment.
Several people are known to have died during treatment, and there may
in truth be many more, given that ibogaine is frequently administered
in surroundings where people may be reluctant to contact the
authorities in the event of something going wrong. Despite much
speculation, some of it from medical professionals, there is simply
nowhere near enough data to draw any realistic conclusions as to why
these deaths have occurred. Taking too much of the drug; using stepped
doses, (ie: half a gram followed by another later on); being
excessively thin; or suffering from liver or heart problems have all
been suggested as dangers. But the truth is - no-one really knows why
people sometimes die when taking ibogaine. No deaths have occurred in
clinical settings, as far as the writer is aware..."
End disclaimer. *phew*
The University of Miami and the Syracuse University have both held
clinical trials in the past. Because of the nature of Ibogaine: a
one-time use drug, it's difficult for advocates to find funding for
clinical trials. The big pharmacutical companies don't want to finance
the refining of a drug that users will likely only take once.
Traditional treatment centers that advocate abstinance, and methadone
clinics, see Ibogaine as a threat to their methods and teachings. The
AA crowd doesn't like it either.
Reference:
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/ibogaine6.htm
...Ibogaine development has been beset with hold-ups for years. The
existing legal disputes may now be close to resolution, but ibogaine
still needs the participation of a pharmaceutical company for it to
make it to the mass market. The business of developing new medications
is solely in the hands of the private sector - the pharmaceutical
corporations - and the problems that drugs companies appear to have
with ibogaine are many.
Firstly, as a drug derived from a natural source, patent options are
more limited than they would be for a drug that can only be created in
the lab. Potentially, this greatly reduces the level of financial
return that the drug could provide, of serious concern considering the
degree of backing needed to bring a new drug to the market. Whilst, in
the West, there are governmental provisions in place to encourage
companies to develop drugs that could be socially useful, to date no
one seems interested in taking advantage of them for ibogaine.
Secondly, ibogaine is not a maintenance drug - it is not taken
repeatedly over a short period of time - and is usually administered
only once. As a general rule, medications developed by the drugs
companies, for whatever purpose, are maintenance drugs, for only
maintenance drugs allow sufficient financial return to justify the
necessary prior outlay on research and development.
Thirdly, industry insiders relate that there are public relations
concerns when developing medications for groups that are negatively
socially marginalized in the way drug addicts have become. Drug
companies, like most modern corporations, are acutely image-sensitive
and there are thus concerns that developing medications for addicts
could bring about a deterioration in their overall market value.
Finally, some believe that bringing an addiction medication of
ibogaine's potential to the market may present "conflict of interest"
problems, of dubious moral worth, to other corporate bodies involved
with the sale of licensed recreational substances such as alcohol or
tobacco..."
Ibogaine is currently being studied in the United States and other
countries for it's anti-addiction properties. After a single
treatment, heroin addicts report absolutely no withdrawl symptoms, and
more remarkably, no desire for heroin. This effect appears to last for
weeks to months. It's thought to fill the same receptors in the brain
that heroin (and methadone) fill, but for a much longer time. In
short, it appears that Ibogaine "resets" the addiction clock back to a
pre-addiction state. When being used for it's rapid opiate detox
properties, more than one treatment may be indicated, however the
treatments are spaced months or even years apart.
Here's an 'ad' for Ibogaine Rapid 24 hour Detox:
http://www.relfe.com/ibogaine.html
The other, even more remarkable effect of Ibogaine is it's
"dream-creating" properties. Although a user remains in their normal
ego-state and is able to think, talk, and answer questions about what
they are experiencing, an overlayment of the dream-state occurs.
Experiencing the recollection of your repressed memories is
accomplished without the usual uncomfortable feelings associated with
remembering traumatic events. It's done as an observer, but still in
the first person.
Ibogaine is one of twelve alkaloids obtained from the root of the
plant Tabernanthe iboga found in West Africa. There is a picture of
the plant here:
Tabernanthe iboga - (plant source of ibogaine)
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/
...more pictures:
http://www.iboga.org/fr/ibkph_2.htm
It has been used for centuries by the Bwiti natives of West Africa in
'coming of age' rituals. The entire tribe participates during these
celebrations.
The Religion of Iboga ...or the Bwiti of the Fangs
http://www.ibogaine.org/barabe.html
..."The initiation begins with a bath in a forest stream while the
cithara is heard. The candidates receive a handful of freshly picked
iboga roots, a set quantity chosen for each of them. They use small
baskets of woven rattan, the size of saucers, manufactured for this
purpose and tied together three by three. The young sometimes show a
certain reluctance to chew these roots, and they may be given the
contents of a gourd to drink, consisting of water in which the iboga
root has been macerated. The boy often vomits, but that is a good sign
because "you must vomit (everything) up to the first drop of milk",
meaning that you must totally reject earthly life to accede to another
life. Very quickly, highly colored images appear, the initiates lose
consciousness of the outer world and fall into a deep sleep on a mat
laid out on the ground. The state of lethargy depends on the dose of
iboga ingested and may last 4 to 5 days during which time no food is
taken. The purpose of absorbing this "beverage of bitterness" is to be
able to see the beyond thanks to the hallucinogenic properties of
iboga, to communicate with God and the ancestors, and to die on this
earth in order to be reborn closer to God.....Iboga is the very source
of the bwiti religion, commonly called "religion of Eboga". Iboga
gives knowledge of the beyond through the spiritual death, in advance
of its time, that it produces. By the visions that it brings about,
ritual mastication of iboga permits contact with ancestors and gods:
Mebeghe is the name of the divinity in the Fangs, a supreme being
without mother or father or spouse. It engenders the three divinities
by bursting the divine primordial egg..."
Clearly, the spiritual properties are what the Bwiti natives use Iboga
for. Ibogaine was "discovered" as an anti-addiction treatment (in the
US) by Howard Lotsof, who in the early 1960's took some Ibogaine that
a friend gave him for fun.
Reference:
Ibogaine as a possible cure for drug addiction?
http://www.globalideasbank.org/BOV/BV-224.HTML
..."In 1956 CIBA-Geigy (a major drug company) found Ibogaine
potentiates morphine analgesia, but did not pursue it. In the early
1960s, American Howard Lotsof, then a heroin addict himself, happened
to be offered a dose of ibogaine, with the promise that it would get
him really high. He had a remarkable time, seeing visions and being
taken back through his personal history, but what really amazed him
was that afterwards his desire for heroin had vanished - with no
withdrawal pains, and no effort of will..."
That begins the history of Ibogaine in the US. For more, I direct you
here:
IBOGAINE: A BRIEF HISTORY - INCLUDING RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN 1995 &
1996
http://www.ibogaine.org/ibo-hist.html
...and here:
An Introduction to Ibogaine
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/ibogaine6.htm
..."Ibogaine is a psychedelic drug. A better description of the
effects of Ibogaine would be oneirophrenic or "dream creating". To a
bystander it would appear that a person on ibogaine was simply lying
down in a state of partial sleep having dreams. Some patients report
their experience as if they were watching a movie of their life or
they were able to reorganize the file cabinets in their brains.
Ibogaine allows someone to see their true self and to re-experience
past events and repressed memories in a detached way without the
emotional pain often associated with these memories. Every person's
experience is as unique as the individual; insights into the
unconscious might be a valuable foundation for a future without drugs.
Not everyone who ingests ibogaine has a vivid visual experience, in
fact only about 50% of patients experience visuals. Some people sleep
throughout the duration of the drug's effects, and others experience
only series of rapid thoughts. It must be kept in mind that the
anti-addictive and withdrawal diminishing properties of ibogaine still
work on these patients. Ibogaine is non-addictive..."
The Ibogaine experience begins with this document:
How to safely use Ibogaine: http://www.ibogaine.org/ibofound.html
[...as a side note, I have seen a document on dosage and body-weight,
no time right now, but ask for a clarification and I'll lovcate it for
you.]
....and here:
Manual for Ibogaine Therapy - Screening, Safety, Monitoring &
Aftercare - First Revision by Howard S. Lotsof & Boaz Wachtel
http://ibogaine.org/manual.html
Be sure to read the safety material, and specifically the exclusion
material.
EXPERIENCES ON IBOGAINE
I Begin Again
http://www.ibeginagain.org/experience.html
A web site with Ibogaine users experiences.
Reflections on an ibogaine experience
http://www.ibogaine.org/junkie.html
Tripping on iboga
http://www.salon.com/travel/feature/1999/11/03/iboga/
In Gabon, a disenchanted journalist embarks on a hallucinogenic tribal
rite.
IBOGAINE RESOURCES
An Online Book:
The Ibogaine Story
http://www.cures-not-wars.org/ibogaine/iboga.html
THE LATEST IBOGAINE DOSSIER
http://www.nettuno.it/electric-italy/ibogaine.htm
The Ibogaine Association
http://www.ibogaine-therapy.net/contact.html
Contact page for a clinic that is 20 minutes from San Diego.
Ibogaine.org
http://www.ibogaine.org/
Home of The Ibogaine Dossier, where a lot of these links come from,
and a great starting point for more information.
Ibogaine Association
http://www.ibogaine-therapy.net/
Ibogaine Treatment
http://www.ibogaine.org/treatment.html
Some [Treatment] Considerations
http://www.ibogaine.org/considerations.html
Two Ibogaine MAILING LISTS:
Mindvox's Ibogaine mailing list:
ibogaine-subscribe@mindvox.com
The Ibogaine Mailing List
https://lists.calyx.nl/lists/listinfo/ibogaine
Sign up here.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Ibogaine - Resources for journalists (how to contact researchers)
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/media.htm
These are the folks that can direct you to the best (safest) treatment
resources available.
AVAILABILITY
http://ethnogarden.yage.net/ibogabark.htm
Sells iboga and iboga extracts, but does not ship to the US for legal
reasons. I can find more, however I doubt any ship to the US. You'll
need a remailing service in one of the countries they DO ship to.
And... DON'T DO IT ALONE!!
OTHER COOL STUFF I RAN ACROSS
The Ibogaine Gallery
http://www.ibogaine.org/gallery.html
An art gallery of ibogaine inspired paintings and photographs has been
added
Ibogaine politics - political images in action
http://www.ibogaine.org/polgraph.html
The Dreaming
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/platt.htm
This article was originally published in the UK newspaper "The
Independent on Sunday", 28th March 1999)
Sacred African Plant found Effective in Treating Addiction
http://www.ibogaine.org/citysun.html
Brief non technical history
Conference on Ibogaine - New York University School of Medicine on
November 5 and 6, 1999.
http://www.med.nyu.edu/Psych/ibogaineconf/
The conference is over but, the web page remains an excellent source
of
information.
Thorough scientific review of all ibogaine research. Drs. Popik &
Skolnick,
Academic Press.
http://www.ibogaine.org/alkaloids.html
General Review of Ibogaine including history, chemistry, botany,
ethnography
http://www.Ibogaine.org/Bwiti1.html
Scientific review of Ibogaine
http://www.Ibogaine.org/review-dotf.html
Ibogaine Research Project
http://www.ibogaine-research.org/Ibogaine-Research-Project/Ibogaine.htm
Bwiti: an Ethnography of the Religious Imagination in Africa
http://www.Ibogaine.org/fernandez.html
Notice there's a book for sale.
Erowid's Ibogaine page
http://www.erowid.com/entheogens/ibogaine/ibogaine.shtml
MindVox
http://www.mindvox.com/
Very Cool site, kind of hard to locate the right pages (frames, I
can't link you), but fun anyway.
Enter Search Term: IBOGAINE
http://www.mapinc.org/find
Ibogaine.net
http://www.ibogaine.net/
MISC:
http://ibogaine.lycaeum.org/
http://www.lycaeum.org (search page for psychedelics and select
ibogaine)
Enter IBOGAINE in the search box.
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/
Enter IBOGAINE in the search box:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Search&DB=PubMed
U.S. Patent Office - for patent searches.
http://www.uspto.gov/patft
European patent office - for patent searches
http://www.european-patent-office.org
.............be sure to tell me what I have missed that you'd like
more information on, I'd be more than happy to get more for you!
--Cynthia
Search Strategy: my bookmarks/favorites. |
Clarification of Answer by
cynthia-ga
on
18 Apr 2003 11:20 PDT
zulu500,
Note the URL below, the information is from the archives of the
"calyx" Ibogaine mailing list, of which I subscribe. I linked you tro
the page to subscribe in my original answer.
Also, of EXTREME importance is this: the standard dose MUST be
adjusted for those that are NOT ADDICTED to opiates.
Information below is from here:
https://lists.calyx.nl/archives/ibogaine/2001-December/000059.html
Treatment Procedure:
Ibogaine treatment lasts anywhere from 24 to 38 hours with an after
treatment recovery of around 6 hours (usually spent asleep.) The
patient will need a place to lie down during treatment.
1. Ibogaine is administered in a 10 mg/kg dose and patient is
monitored for any allergic or otherwise adverse effects until approved
for treatment dose. EKG and heart/breath rates documented.
2. Treatment dose is administered of 20 mg/kg. All vital signs
documented. Wait for patient to enter visualization phase.
[note: this is for the highly refined Ibogaine]
3. Patient, in visualization phase, is counseled by psychiatrist and
drug treatment professional to root out causes of addictive or
self-destructive behavior and call them to the attention of the
patient to enhance and target visualization phase.
4. Monitor patient and document vital signs through the less
communicative peak and after peak phase of treatment.
5. After patient leaves the influence of Ibogaine, conduct post
treatment interview and debriefing.
6. Evaluate treatment and determine if withdrawal and cravings are
stopped, repeat Treatment Procedure in failed cases.
7. Monitor patient for two weeks minimum before release. Facilitate
after care placement and monthly evaluations.
At the same mailing list, this thread was started just a few days ago
(April 16th, 2003) - Please DO check the archives, there's bound to be
more.
[IBOGAINE] Dosage
https://lists.calyx.nl/archives/ibogaine/2003-April/000638.html
..."--- "R.J." <cpinc@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> I have some root bark and am interested in taking a
> dose that is both safe, and very beneficial. Can I
> please get some information on this, as what I have
> found so far seems to be inconsistent? Replies sent
> directly to my email address are most appreciated..."
Dose for who? For what reason (addiction? for what
drug(s), how much/how long) age, sex, weight... You
can ballpark a "dose" at 25-30 or so gm if it is in
fact quality T. Iboga root bark in a healthy/average
man for a generic reason. That is VERY ROUGH and could
be too much or not enough even if you knew exactly how
strong (quality) it was. 5 gm of root bark (if that is
what it is and it is "quality" root bark) should be
about the same as 1gm of Indra extract, generally
producing a good buzz but not too trippy (usually),
the bulk of it lasting several hours but having effect
over days (maybe). If it is plain not-so-good
root-bark, it could take 3 times that, if it is just
root I don't know, you tell me how much ibogaine is in
it and I will tell you how much you need. Another
method is to do increasing small amounts (using bark)
but it is not the same as a large one shot nix the
addiction dose. Point being there are a number of
methods for ibogaine administration, some fitting
peoples pocketbooks/abilities and the amount of effort
they can muster. Even small amounts of iboga will
"help" and be beneficial... if you going to give it to
someone kicking cold turkey, any real amount will
"help". YOU may be ibo insensitive and require more,
you may be ultra-sensitive and require less, your
addiction might be a little stuborn (meth???) and
additional treatment might be required, most people
require more than 1 treatment eventually. Do you have
any medical conditions that require
consideration/adjustment to dosage, did you or are you
going to get the medical testing prior to having
treatment (basically a physical, EKG, blood chemistry
w/liver enzymes). Do you have a qualified sitter who
knows emergency procedures, the set/setting (place),
are going to follow protocol??? This goes a very long
way to having a trip that is "both safe, and very
beneficial". FYI, there is an ibogaine "manual" on
ibogaine.org (http://ibogaine.org/manual.html). One of
the parts of the procedure is to determine your
response to ibogaine, a "test" dose is usually given.
This is because people have very different reactions
to ibogaine and in this case you don't even know how
strong the iboga is (yet). You should also enquire
from the person/place you aquired the substance from
about how "good" it is.
There is a lot more to ibogaine treatment than just
taking ibogaine. There is something to the magic of
it, if done right it can be amazingly successful, if
done not so right it can be dangerous, quite
uncomfortable and you might just miss the magic. Best
thing IMO, is to have someone familiar with ibogaine
treat you, if not you should (IMO) go basically from
the start (with a guide/this list), about you and your
reason for wanting ibogaine and the ibo root bark
(???) that you have (you will have to figure out
exactly what it is/how strong it is, if it is... your
reasons for taking it (it ain't just for
addicts/addictions), what you want to accomplish.
Small changes in procedures can have a profound impact
on the results. For instance, move around and you are
likely to get sick, maybe lose your dose, be very
uncomfortable - this has nothing to do with "dose".
Having treatment away from home/family members and
with someone experienced with the administration of
ibogaine is better than being there with the bones in
the attic, buttons being pressed, distractions...
Eating (and what) after will have a big impact on how
you feel and recover, fruit, veggies, (REAL
FRUIT)juices, natural foods, taking
supplements/vitamins are great, not eating or eating
junk, will make recovery take longer and effect mood.
The more you do, the more you will get (it can be very
subtle things) - and it is far beyond just the "dose".
FWIW, I could "dose" on a few mg's of ibogaine hcl,
that quite "both safe, and very beneficial", I could
do a hundred or so mg's of HCL, maybe a gm of Indra
(or two) that is also "both safe and beneficial", I
could do 5 times that and be "both safe and
beneficial". Very different doses for very different
reasons (they overlap) which have had different
reactions/outcomes depending on when I did them and
how I did them (or know of people who did that).
Here is one experience with 15 gm of good root bark
(range is usually 2-6% ibogaine but also contains 14
or so other alkaloids that combine for the total
experience). Traditionally, a Bwiti mother would feed
the initiate enough ibogaine till they are there. The
initiate will be quite wobbled (aka knocked on their
ass), their legs pretty much give out. It becomes a
matter of taking enough till it is enough but let me
tell you, it gets harder and harder to swallow as it
sets in, it is way beyond taste.
http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/exp12.htm ..."
Then -this document goes into more detail:
An interview about Ibbogane treatment of addiction, with Eric Taub, by
James Kent
http://tinyurl.com/9tg0
..."How much is an active dose?
It depends on body weight, and on addiction, and the type of
initiatory psycho spiritual experience one wants, but the range is
quite large, from 6.5 mg per kg of body weight to 25 mg to overwhelm a
methadone or heroin habit.
So you are talking about many grams for a single dose?
Well, with body weight, we're talking about approximately .5 g to 2 g
for addicts , and about 0.5 g to a gram for an initiatory experience.
Women need less because they are more open, so they need to take as
much to have an initiatory experience or to free themselves of a
cocaine habit, Cocaine doesn't require the overwhelming physical
withdrawal. It's just addressing mental craving which this does as
well because there is a metabolite which
is introduced when the ibogaine interacts with the biochemistry in the
brain, and receptors are filled up which have to do with craving in
addicts.
But it also fills the receptors of non addicts too, which I believe
has to do our ability to move into a less reactive state when dealing
with certain kinds of patterns, habitual patterns of relationships,
etc.
There is a biochemist I introduced the molecule to, and he said he
fell in love with it, and he compared it to ayahuasca except that
there is an is extra added component, an extra facet to the diamond,
to ibogaine, which I believe is that component which enables people to
retain the information they receive from the experience.
They are continually maintaining their identification with the witness
or with the adult that is reliving the unleashing of repressed
memories or this onslaught of pictorial gestalts and these archetypal
vignettes that energy during the 20 to 30 hours of experiencing a
session with ibogaine.
A third component, a metabolite, is then introduced into the system,
which washes out over a period of weeks and months. With other psycho
actives it seems the experience is over when the psychoactive is
thrown out of the system. With ibogaine, the ibogaine itself is thrown
out of the system faster than an aspirin, but it lingers and creates
these windows, three days, ten days, three months.
Very often I receive calls from people months later telling me, "I
finally got it, I finally understand what that was about, because I've
been experiencing more insight as a result of that restructuring of
definition of who I thought I was, and now all my intentions that I
came into the experience with have been worked through and now."
I've even talked with people who have done many psychoactives and have
been very skeptical that anything can linger and create process over a
period of weeks and months who are emphatic about the fact that that
was the case with their experience over the continuing months after
taking ibogaine..."
Please read this next link in it's entirety (lots of contact
information), although I have given an excerpt below:
Ibogaine: Anti-addictive drug illegal in US
http://www.free-market.net/forums/drugs0009/messages/692987812.html
..."The closest thing to an Ibogaine clinic in the US is an operation
run by Eric Taub. Mr. Taub takes people (from Florida) into
international waters for Ibogaine treatments. He has performed over
300 Ibogaine sessions, charges on a sliding-scale, and has medical
personnel assist with Ibogaine sessions for the addiction interruption
treatments (some who are not addicted use Ibogaine for "spiritual"
purposes). His website is "www.IBEGINAGAIN.org" and he can be emailed
at "IBEGINAGAIN@aol.com". Emailing him and asking for his phone
number, or leaving yours, is his preferred means of communication. A
new clinic has recently opened in Mexico, reportedly run by an
American MD from Atlanta, which charges $5000/treatment---travel not
included. More information will be available on this clinic in the
future but early reports have had mixed reviews of both its
professionalism and success rate.
Other than that, there are few options for Americans. Some have
Ibogaine sent to friends in Canada or Mexico (there are several
European Ibogaine sources including the Indra Company at
"www.indra.dk" and Marko at "iboga@guest.arnes.si") and then they
travel to Canada/Mexico for treatment. No European company will ship
to the US no matter how much money is offered or how many times one
asks. The Indra Company sells an Ibogaine extract that is
approximately one-fifth as potent as Ibogaine HCL. Thus, 5 grams of
Indra Ibogaine is equal to 1 gram of Ibogaine HCL. The Indra Ibogaine
is leftover stock from a Danish government experiment years ago--it is
said that the Indra Ibogaine provides a "smoother" trip than what one
gets from using the pure Ibogaine HCL. This is perhaps due to the fact
that the extract contains a full range of alkaloids from the
Tabernantha Iboga plant which some claim make the experience more
"complete." However, opiate addicts seem to prefer the more potent
Ibogaine HCL due to its greater strength which increases the chances
that most (if not all) of the withdrawal symptoms will be absolved.
Because of the nausea that Ibogaine causes, it is wise to take an
anti-nauseate beforehand such as the OTC motion-sickness medicine
Dramamine, the herb ginger, or the prescription drugs Reglan and
Compazine. Special care should be used when taking Compazine as some
people have a bad reaction to it.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY ADVISED that you do not take Ibogaine alone—you
should also read all you can about it before ingesting it. You will
greatly regret taking it alone as you will find yourself basically
immobilized for approximately 48-72 hours—not to mention the dangers
of asphyxiation or the possibility (albeit remote) that you will need
someone to get medical help if needed..."
Ibogaine Research Update from the Newsletter of the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies - MAPS - Volume 6 Number 2 Winter
1995-96
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v06n2/06204ibo.html
Scroll down to: The Phase 1 Safety Study
..."The FDA-approved Phase 1 ibogaine safety study is proceeding very
cautiously. The therapeutic dose of ibogaine is in the range of 15 to
20 mg/kg, yet the FDA has only given permission for the researchers to
administer ibogaine to three subjects at the 1 mg/kg dose level and to
six subjects at each of the four following dose levels; 2 mg/kg, 4
mg/kg, 6 mg/kg, and 8 mg/kg. After the current 2 mg/kg dose level has
been administered to six subjects, the data must be analyzed and
submitted to an external committee for review. After evaluation of all
the available data to assess safety is completed and reviewed by a
team of experts, then the researchers may proceed to the next higher
dose. Once all the data has been gathered from the 1 mg/kg, 2 mg/kg, 4
mg/kg, 6 mg/kg, and 8 mg/kg dose levels, a more comprehensive review
will take place to determine if the research can proceed into the
testing of doses that will approach the therapeutic dose range. All of
these data will be presented to the FDA for the next evaluation prior
to protocol revision.
Only male subjects are being permitted to volunteer for this initial
safety study because of the reported deaths of two women that were
associated with, but perhaps not solely caused by, the administration
of ibogaine outside of hospital settings. While a matter of the utmost
concern, these deaths have not stopped all research with ibogaine
because their causes are uncertain, thousands of people have taken
ibogaine without incident, drug addiction itself is often fatal and
the available treatments for addiction have a relatively low success
rate. The acceptable level of risk for potentially fatal diseases such
as addiction and cancer is higher than that for treatments of diseases
with less severe consequences or more effective treatments. For
example, drugs used for the treatment of cancer can sometimes
themselves be fatal, a situation which occasionally does occur without
causing physicians to abandon the therapeutic uses of these
medications.
According to Howard Lotsof, President of NDA International, both
screening for possible ibogaine sensitivity and an antidote for
idiosyncratic toxicity will most likely be available within six
months. These developments will allow the treatment of female subjects
at full therapeutic doses outside of the United States in NDA's
ongoing ibogaine treatment program in the Republic of Panama..."
...Once again, this is a subject I adore, if there's anything else
you'd like me to provide more information and links to, I'd be more
than happy to assist. I wish there was some way we could stay in
touch, I will be very interested in what you decide to do and what
your experience is, but leaving contact information here is a no-no.
...Oh well.
--Cynthia
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