The ibogaine medical subculture 2007
Abstract:
Aim of the study: Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive indole alkaloid that is used to treat substance-related disorders in a global medical subculture, and is of interest as an ethnopharmacological prototype for experimental investigation and possible rational pharmaceutical development.
The subculture is also significant for risks due to the lack of clinical and pharmaceutical standards. This study describes the ibogaine medical subculture and presents quantitative data regarding treatment and the purpose for which individuals have taken ibogaine.
Materials and methods: All identified ibogaine “scenes” (defined as a provider in an associated setting) apart from the Bwiti religion in Africa were studied with intensive interviewing, review of the grey literature including the Internet, and the systematic collection of quantitative data.
Results: Analysis of ethnographic data yielded a typology of ibogaine scenes, “medical model”, “lay provider/treatment guide”, “activist/selfhelp”, and “religious/spiritual”. An estimated 3414 individuals had taken ibogaine as of February 2006, a fourfold increase relative to 5 years earlier, with 68% of the total having taken it for the treatment of a substance-related disorder, and 53% specifically for opioid withdrawal.
Conclusions: Opioid withdrawal is the most common reason for which individuals took ibogaine. The focus on opioid withdrawal in the ibogaine subculture distinguishes ibogaine from other agents commonly termed “psychedelics”, and is consistent with experimental research and case series evidence indicating a significant pharmacologically mediated effect of ibogaine in opioid withdrawal.
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Treatment of Acute Opioid Withdrawal with Ibogaine 1999
Results:
The outcomes with respect to opioid withdrawal signs and drug seeking behavior following ibogaine treatment are summarized in Table 2. Twentfive (76%) of the patients had no signs or subjective complaints at 24 and 48 hours and did not seek to obtain or attempt to use opioids for at least 72 hours after the initial dose of ibogaine. The reported onset of relief of symptoms was rapid, within 1 to 3 hours for these patients, many of whom were already at least mildly symptomatic from having abstained from opioid use overnight prior to the morning of the ibogaine treatment.
An additional patient was noted to have sweating at 24 hours but not at 48 hours post treatment and did not seek, obtain, or attempt to use opioids within 72 hours post treatment. Another patient had chills that were present at 24 hours and 48 hours but nonetheless did not seek to obtain or use opioids for at least 72 hours post treatment. This particular patient was using 1 gram of heroin intravenously daily and received an ibogaine dose of 25 mg/kg.
Four patients appeared to achieve resolution of opioid withdrawal, as judged by an absence of signs and subjective symptoms at 24 and 48 hours, but nonetheless returned immediately to opioid use within 72 hours. Two of these subjects, males aged 26 and 20, explicitly acknowledged a continued interest in pursuing a heroin-centered lifestyle despite the apparent elimination of the signs and symptoms of their opioid withdrawal. These two individuals received doses of only 8 mg/kg, and they were each using approximately only 0.1 grams per day of heroin.
The two other individuals who relapsed immediately to continued heroin use, despite the apparent resolution of the opioid withdrawal syndrome, were both 27 year old males who were using approximately 0.4 grams and 0.75 grams of heroin a day, and received 23 and 25 mg/kg of ibogaine, respectively. The only patient with clear objective signs and subjective complaints of opioid withdrawal following ibogaine treatment was a 27 year old female who used an average of 0.4 grams of heroin a day intravenously and received 10 mg/kg of ibogaine.
This case is the only one in which ibogaine did not appear to provide signicant relief from the opioid withdrawal syndrome, as this patient complained of nausea, chills, muscle aches, and was observed to be sweating with dilated pupils. This patient left the treatment environment and used heroin approximately 8 hours after the administration of ibogaine. The failure of ibogaine in thisparticular case was felt to be due to a dosage that was inadequate to the patient’s level of opioid dependence.
Download full study: Opiodwithdrawal
The Need for Ibogaine in Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment 2011
Conclusion:
The rate of drug and alcohol addiction in the United States is alarming, and it costs society billions of dollars every year with no end in sight. Treating drug and alcohol addicts with ibogaine promises the real possibility of substantially lowering the costs shifted to society by drug and alcohol abuse.
In a world where drug addiction is treated as a crime, addicts who have been in and out of rehab and prison, have no chance of overcoming their addictions or living a functional life. If society is ever to make progress in addressing the substance abuse issues that currently run rampant, it must begin treating drug addiction as the illness it is.
Punishing drug addicts has not worked, as evidenced by the high recidivism rate of drug offenders, and the current treatment models available for substance abusers, which either replace one drug with another or demand abstinence from drug use altogether, are rarely effective, as again proven by the high rate of relapse. Ibogaine may well be a viable answer to substance abuse problems in the United States, but, as the law currently stands, it is barred from being a viable option. Society must be willing to at least seriously explore a treatment that could solve these issues. Ibogaine has great potential and could be one of the answers to winning the War on Drugs. As ibogaine is not addictive and has great medical value, it should be removed from the list of Schedule I controlled substances and reclassified as a Schedule II controlled substance. If, after the controlled substance schedule classification issue is addressed, pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to fund clinical studies on ibogaine, society should demand public funding of these much needed studies. These clinical studies could inevitably lead to the legalization of ibogaine for medical use, which could, in turn, substantially decrease the cost of drug treatments, as well the costs of drug-related crime and incarceration costs associated with substance abuse. If the federal government shirks this responsibility, the states should decriminalize ibogaine and allow physicians and psychiatrists to treat addicts without fear of incarceration or loss of their medical license.
Although ibogaine is not a cure for drug and alcohol addiction, the available studies and patient accounts establish that it opens a window of opportunity that would not otherwise exist with regard to treating addiction.
This window of opportunity allows an addict to begin psychotherapy without physical dependence, greatly increasing the chances of continued sobriety.
For many addicts, ibogaine may be the only hope of recovery. If the law does not change, these addicts may never have the opportunity to regain control of their lives, custody of their children, or even a warm place to call home.
Download full study: The Need for Ibogaine in Drug and Alcohol Addiction