Click the link above which is from the ibogaine website in the UK which takes you directly to a links page which has a rundown of some of the best ibogaine links currently online.The Ibogaine session in Warsaw was one of the most interesting satellite sessions at the conference, however it was held at a different hotel, and it was funded to appear, I believe, by a different company (not IHRA). Having included ibogaine in our very first issue of Black Poppy magazine after having just stumbled across it at the time, I was intrigued to find out what developments had been occurring with this 'sacrament of iboga' since it really began to take off on the international scene over a decade or so ago.
The meeting was well attended with around 40 people, which included easily the most knowledgable and well known people on Ibogaine that are around today. The speakers included both Howard Lotsof and Dana Beal (two of the world's most committed Ibogaine activists), and many others, including those with Ibogaine clinics, some which were operating illegally or undercover due to inane drug laws. Others were those who had swallowed the 'sacrement of iboga', and were as effusive about their experiences as anyone who found themselves recovered from their addiction, could be.
Another person of interest who attended the days event was UK filmmaker David Graham Scott, who filmed his own heroin detox using Ibogaine as the treatment. His documentary called Detox or Die, which was filmed on the BBC in 2004 was, I believe fascinating (bummer I missed it) and while chatting over lunch he told me that he was still off the gear today. You can Google his name - I can't find a website for him but there are many articles about his film or if you're very keen to find out more, email us at BP and we'll see if we can get him to contact you.
There was a lot of detailed chemistry involved in some of the talks that I have to say went over my head for that early in the morning and my eyelids grew heavy - not for lack of trying to keep them open you understand, it was just my own 'script had run out a bit early so I'd overcompensated a bit with extra methadone, like you do...) but the information that soon emerged about ibogaine being a viral inhibitor was very interesting. Those with high viral loads for Hepatitis C found, after an Iboga session, levels had substantially reduced, however I urge you to look closer into the research available for more information on this.
It was clearly an field that drew 'converts' - perhaps even zealots, but I have to say that my own views on detoxing from my addiction to heroin (I'm on an opiate prescription as mentioned) began throwing up another option I'd really never considered before. Perhaps Ibogaine could actually be a worthwhile option instead of months on this, then swapping to that, then perhaps over to subutex for the final withdrawals...etc etc etc.
Ibogaine is supposed to alleviate withdrawals almost completely, you are in such a deep state of hallucinatory, and/or auditory thought, the withdrawals don't appear to torment you as they do when your are conscious. There is a chemical component which helps to divert many of the aches, pains, anxieties etc. I have asked several people, including a very dear friend who has taken ibogaine whether this was really true and he promised me it really was!
However i was taken aside by an 'underground ibogaine operative' - a great New Yorker who gave ibogaine treatments to people on a sliding scale (treatments do cost - there are doctors, equipment, time, rooms etc needed) who, although he got through his own addiction to drugs using ibogaine, assured me it wasn't a cure - there are zealots about - you still have to be ready in mind and body for the experience. And some people use it again, many times throughout their lives in fact, whenever they feel the need to 'get back in touch with themselves'.
I was told in no uncertain terms that 'NO, Iboga is NOT a CURE for addiction'. Sometimes it just works with the one treatment (which usually lasts for 24-48 hours), other people return to it a dozen times. It is not something you take for fun, nor is it something you take without, as our BP writer OldTheRod puts it 'the proper intent'. It is essential to have an experienced sitter with you, there are some medical complications that can occur and Iboga has recently been gathering a bit of bad press from a few deaths that have occurred while people have been undergoing treatment.
Yet again, it is because of the laws of the land, that make a drug such a ibogaine illegal, that ensures there can be no real regulation involved in the setting up of treatment centres. However, the community of ibogaine supporters are so enthusiastic about the properties of iboga, that they keep in close contact with each other, sharing information, best practice, research papers and news. They have managed to set up treatments available to people all around the world and constantly work at sharing their experiences and knowledge.
I spoke to Howard after the meeting and when I asked about what the pharmaceutical companies planned to do with iboga, he reeled off a list off obstacles to bringing ibogaine to the market. (It was once registered but I didn't manage to get to the bottom of why it was pulled of the shelf, so to speak). One fact is that drug companies can't patent this type of plant material (alkoloid?) - (excuse my sketchy knowledge, I've yet to go through all the papers but we plan to include a detailed piece in Black Poppy in an upcoming issue). They also tend to shy away from hallucinogens, from a drug that was 'discovered by hippies/junkies' and of course, a drug that potentially stops you from wanting or needing to take other Prozac type (SSRI's) or emotional pain killing drugs, and that has no real value or kudos for a drug company to retail it - along with the fact that it's used in ceremonies in central Africa, has an enormous vomiting potential and is generally - not the usual type of pharmaceutical a drug company would be interested in giving their patients!!!! So thats why!
But without the time to go into detail - I haven't as I said gone through all the paperwork and CD's I was kindly given at the meeting there are some things the interested person can do, and maybe I just might too...
Personally, I know of someone that stopped using heroin after years of trying after taking ibogaine, sold to him under the counter in a London hippy shop, a dangerous act - again something that happens when such a drug is hidden away, unregulated and clouded in much misinformation. We need to pick up Ibogaine, dust it off and have a good look into just what has been going on with it over the last 20-30 years and those 5000 people who have tried it officially since 1997. We can't expect other ex users and ibogaine converts to keep on risking their own lives and imprisonment by trying to help others break free of their addictions.
Check out the links, read a bit more and lets see if we can learn more from drugs that are a little outside the norm. Anyone who has had a trip knows the value in hallucinogens, their ability to teach and guide, and the brains' doors to the most insightful areas of perception....
