Ibogaine- Natural Healing with an Herbal Alternative to Rehab

Ibogaine. Funny word, yes but many people may ask themselves what is Ibogaine, and what does it do, and why is it important, well let’s begin with what it is.

Ibogaine is an herbal product made from an indigenous African plant, Tabernanthe iboga, which for centuries has been used by the native tribes for spiritual journeys and introspection. It has a hallucinogenic component but is not addictive whatsoever.

In 1962, a New York based heroin addict named Howard Lotsof took Ibogaine believing it to be some new kind of recreational drug. Much to his surprise some 30 hours later Lotsof realized that he was not experiencing heroin withdrawal, and further had no desire to seek drugs. He began to casually experiment and found similar results with other heroin users. Twenty years later Lotsof set about trying to bring Ibogaine to market as a cure for addiction, he formed a company, applied for patents and began conducting more in depth research into the how’s and whys of Ibogaine and its potential to be an alternative therapy in the addiction battle.

The next question one may ask is “What does Ibogaine do?”  The answer to this question is a complex one, since addiction and its treatment are complex issues.

In a study conducted in 1994, determined Ibogaine to be a competitive inhibitor of MK-801 binding to the NMDA receptor complex. MK-801 has been shown to attenuate tolerance to opiates and alcohol. MK-801 has also shown a blockade of "reverse tolerance" of stimulants. Ibogaine's effects on dopamine, a substance hypothesized to be responsible for reinforcing pleasurable effects of drug abuse, and the dopamine system were found in subsequent studies. Yet another study conducted in 1992 found that Ibogaine binds to the Kappa opiate receptor. Thus we begin to see a broad spectrum of mechanisms by which, Alternative medicine like Ibogaine may moderate use of substances so diverse as opiate narcotics, stimulants and alcohol.

Now while this may be the scientific reasons, patients that have used this alternative medicine, report that while Ibogaine has a clinical effect on the body, its hallucinogenic constituates allow the patient to enter an “awake dreaming” state, this can allow them to examine the root cause that fuels the need for drugs.  Patients can then receive appropriate counseling and therapy for these issues, which is always a part of the aftercare process.

Ibogaine represents a revolution in treating one of the largest epidemics worldwide, but as with all alternative medicine, the government and the pharmaceutical super machine have done everything in their collective powers to vilify yet another herbal medicine. Most believe that it is because it is in the best interest of big government and big business to do so, if word got out that there were natural products that could cure addiction in mere hours the government (through taxation) and the pharmaceutical giants (through loss of sales) would stand to lose billions, never mind that helping those afflicted with a disease (and yes, addiction is a disease and a lifelong one for most) is the right thing to do.  

Ibogaine is yet another example of how natural products have the potential to cure one of the largest plagues that mankind has ever known.