In February of 2005, CBS News in San Francisco screened this piece, The Addiction Stopper, about the possibilities of using Iboga/ine as a medical addiction interrupter. The problem is: ibogaine and its relatives are scheduled under the United States narcotics laws as the first priority for regulation: for allegedly having no medical utility, and being likely to be abused.
But why is this "freedom root," Tabernathe Iboga, really illegal in the U.S.?
Because of a "psychedelic backlash" to the so-called sixties.
And because a person who could have testified as to the medical value of ibogaine during legislative hearing was incarcerated at the time. Never forget, whatever else you do for the root work and the recovery movement, that the first person prosecuted under new Federal drug laws against L.S.D. was Howard Lotsof. And in 1962, it was Lotsof who discovered the addiction interruption properties of the African rainforest shrub. Experimenting in psychedelics, like other artists of the time, he woke up the next morning after ingesting ibogaine without a drug habit.
Now Ibogaine is not exactly a psychedelic. Nor even a true hallucinogen. Some argue its a sacrament or an entheogen. Neurologically however, the best description falls under another taxonomy. It's oneiric. Dream-like. And about 1/3 of the human subjects who have undergone its arduous journey do not even experience these dreamy visualizations.
It is precisely this consciousness lubrication that may be beneficial, explains leading researcher, Dr. Deborah Mash, at the University of Miami medical school. If these visions, she preaches, help an addict grab their demons by their tails and work closely with a connected therapist, "who cares if its hallucinogenic!"
Because of a "psychedelic backlash" to the so-called sixties.
And because a person who could have testified as to the medical value of ibogaine during legislative hearing was incarcerated at the time. Never forget, whatever else you do for the root work and the recovery movement, that the first person prosecuted under new Federal drug laws against L.S.D. was Howard Lotsof. And in 1962, it was Lotsof who discovered the addiction interruption properties of the African rainforest shrub. Experimenting in psychedelics, like other artists of the time, he woke up the next morning after ingesting ibogaine without a drug habit.
Now Ibogaine is not exactly a psychedelic. Nor even a true hallucinogen. Some argue its a sacrament or an entheogen. Neurologically however, the best description falls under another taxonomy. It's oneiric. Dream-like. And about 1/3 of the human subjects who have undergone its arduous journey do not even experience these dreamy visualizations.
It is precisely this consciousness lubrication that may be beneficial, explains leading researcher, Dr. Deborah Mash, at the University of Miami medical school. If these visions, she preaches, help an addict grab their demons by their tails and work closely with a connected therapist, "who cares if its hallucinogenic!"
Our point in addition to Dr. Mash's exclamatory opinion, will be that it's an oneiric. Not a hallucinogen. And definitely not to be conflated with the conservative backlash to all thinks countercultural in the Vietnam Era. Especially all things psychedelic.
It is not known if this R.E.M.-mimetic state of the oneiric is what helps the brain cells express GDNF. But it is starting to be known that GDNF can help Parkinson's, and maybe other devastating neurological illnesses. This is a significant scientific development. The public really needs to get on board with the potentialities here!
As I just wrote in a different context, what we need is to continue to walk back the damage Dr. Timothy Leary did to psychedelic studies with his impact in the mid-to-late 1960s.
And we will. If we work together. Collaboratively. Inclusively. Kindly. Thoughtfully. And yes, academically.
For this inspiration, I am indebted especially to Nese Devenot and the community she gathered at the University of Pennsylvania during September 2012.
Her amazing conference, PSYCHEDEMIA, marked an important breakthrough in the New Psychedelic Studies movement. I know it reinvigorated me and my commitment to the policy implications of my research interests, ambitious though they may be.
End ego drivel of the day. Love you all.
It is not known if this R.E.M.-mimetic state of the oneiric is what helps the brain cells express GDNF. But it is starting to be known that GDNF can help Parkinson's, and maybe other devastating neurological illnesses. This is a significant scientific development. The public really needs to get on board with the potentialities here!
As I just wrote in a different context, what we need is to continue to walk back the damage Dr. Timothy Leary did to psychedelic studies with his impact in the mid-to-late 1960s.
And we will. If we work together. Collaboratively. Inclusively. Kindly. Thoughtfully. And yes, academically.
For this inspiration, I am indebted especially to Nese Devenot and the community she gathered at the University of Pennsylvania during September 2012.
Her amazing conference, PSYCHEDEMIA, marked an important breakthrough in the New Psychedelic Studies movement. I know it reinvigorated me and my commitment to the policy implications of my research interests, ambitious though they may be.
End ego drivel of the day. Love you all.
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