*Even though methadone is used in addiction treatment, it is still an opioid, meaning that it fosters physical dependence. “A lot of serious psychiatrists who wanted to use drugs — like ecstasy — to augment psychiatric treatment were shot down brutally. They could not get support or funding.” To be sure, ibogaine has triggered seizures and heart-related…
“Without adequate support following this treatment, it is quite difficult for people to be successful in their recovery from opioid addiction. Nevertheless, for those that are able to maintain abstinence or reduce their opioid use, they reported improvements in overall health, mood, and their sense of positive motions/perspectives in life, which they attributed at least…
Ibogaine (12-methoxyibogamine) is the main alkaloid of at least 12 alkaloids found in the Tabernanthe iboga plant. [One of the alkaloids, mentioned above] seems to activate the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) pathway in the ventral tegmental area of the brain, increasing its expression. Previous studies have found that the GDNF pathway plays a unique role in…
Western culture has long attempted to denigrate and stamp out the use of this psychedelic plant, but it is gaining clinical interest for its ability to help those who struggle with addiction … Perhaps, as concern about heroin and opioid addiction increases, government officials will reconsider their stance on this. In the United States, ibogaine remains…
“The idea of planting, domesticating, developing plantations helps to protect the plant in the wild. So in terms of protection, this is already a very important aspect.” -a farmer, Hervé Omva, who has given himself a challenge: to industrially grow this plant The largest and oldest reserves of Iboga have been decimated by poachers who…
New scientific research provides more evidence that the psychedelic drug ibogaine can help treat opioid withdrawal and cravings. The new findings are reported in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. Malcolm and his colleagues found ibogaine treatment was associated with significant reductions in opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Most of the patients (78%) did not exhibit…
“[It’s] part of what’s being called the “holistic plant movement”. “Powerful yet gentle holistic plant medicines are the genuine article. They heal people, and they save lives.” [and] “This is what we’ve been searching for, and what’s desperately needed to attack the modern-day addiction epidemic head-on. Our plant medicine treatments work like no other…
In Gabon it takes at least ten years to be a master initiator and to see Westerners as master initiators in two months is shocking” write Yann Guignon, founder of the NGO “Blessing of the Forest”. In Gabon it is inseparable from the rites of passage (“bwiti”) but about 50 years ago its use was…
As in Amazonia with ayahuasca, more and more Western tourists come to Gabon to “learn” Bwiti. A draft decree must set the conditions and modalities for the use of iboga, but also frame its sale to “develop a commercial sector” Gabon. At the same time, a survey mission of the plant throughout the Congo Basin…
Iboga seems victim of its growing popularity abroad and could disappear, worried environmentalists. Gabon also ratified in 2012 the “Nagoya Protocol” which provides for a “sustainable” trade of biodiversity resources … Absorbed as a bark powder from its root, iboga, a shrub endemic to the equatorial forest of Central Africa, gives “visions” and allows “to…
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