The Portland Alliance, The push is on to legalize Ibogaine treatement

Addicts who use methamphetamines, opiates and other substances have a number of options when it comes to recovery. Most prevalent are the 12-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, which address addiction on a psychological level, encouraging addicts to change their lifestyles, habits and personal relationships. Another avenue, specifically for opiate addiction, is methadone. Methadone, available at clinics such as the Portland Metro Treatment Center, is a replacement drug that allows addicts to function without suffering from withdrawal. The only catch is they have to keep taking it.

Rocky Caravelli is a recovered addict who took a more unconventional route to recovery. He received treatment at the Ibogaine Association clinic in Mexico, where he subsequently became a staff member. Rocky worked as a treatment supervisor and house manager there. He has returned to the U.S. to spread the word about a substance called Ibogaine, which he says is revolutionizing drug treatment and recovery. The Alliance’s Julie Sabatier spoke to Caravelli.

Rocky Caravelli: Ibogaine is the isolated alkaloid of the Iboga Tabernanthe root, which grows in Central West Africa. It’s been used for rite of passage ceremonies for — we know of — 4,000 years. Ibogaine is an addiction interrupter. It is used most effectively in opiate withdrawal. It eliminates 90 percent of the withdrawal symptoms. It’s also effective in stimulant, alcohol and nicotine addiction. When processed by the body it turns into nor-Ibogaine, which stores up in the system and breaks down over a two-month period, which alleviates the cravings for alcohol, nicotine, cocaine etc. In opiate withdrawal, it eliminates addiction after 45 minutes. With alcohol and stimulants, it can take up to 72 hours for the body to process it. Normally, people have a second treatment, but it’s not to treat addiction.

RC: Orally. It’s measured for body weight in a mg/kg equation. The dose also depends on the substance you are detoxing, the period of time of use, and poly-addiction (addiction to more than one substance). Ibogaine works in the pleasure center of the mind on dopamine uptake. It fills the pleasure center, allows it to feel full and works in opiate receptor sites. It’s like tricking the body into thinking there’s heroin in the system. It lasts for two months, enough time for the body to adjust without withdrawal. By the time the Ibogaine is gone, the body has repaired itself so there is no sickness.

RC: There are legal, above-ground clinics in Mexico, one in Canada (the Iboga Therapy House in Vancouver) and St. Kitts [an island off the coast of Florida]. The University of Florida has some new data and there are several places in Europe as well (in Amsterdam, UK, France). There’s an underground movement that’s going on in the United States in New York, Florida and San Francisco. There’s people doing work in Portland.

RC: I took it three times. The first time was for physical detox of methamphetamine, heroin and methadone, all three of which I was using on a daily basis for over a year. The first experience knocked me unconscious for four hours. What was profound was when I woke up the next morning, I knew I was free from addiction. I cried for about an hour, got up and drank a cup of coffee, had no more sugar craving, my teeth had stopped hurting and all I could think of was laying naked in the sun, which I did for the next three days. It was like I was returned to my natural state overnight.

The second time was more for a mental detox [this was eight months later]. The third time, after another eight months, was a psycho-spiritual experience with a shaman, in a group setting. It wasn’t to address chemical withdrawal, but for spiritual development and learning to carry the spirit of Iboga. This led me back to the states. And now I’m working with people trying to help other people obtain treatment with the available resources. The optimum is to send them to Mexico. That’s my first choice. That’s where I was detoxed. If that’s not possible, then we try to come up with other alternatives.

RC: In the 1970s, everybody was panicking about hallucinogens. Ibogaine is oneirophrenic, meaning it creates an awake dream. They were afraid at that time, because of the popularity of hallucinogens, that it would be abused, but Ibogaine is not a pleasure drug. It creates ataxia (an inability to coordinate muscular movements) and motion sickness. You don’t get up, which goes on for about eight hours. It’s super-introspective. It addresses your core issues and, for most people, that can be really uncomfortable. That process goes on for up to 36 hours.

RC: Loss of motor control, nausea, vomiting. It also slows down the heart. There’s some precautions involved. You have to see a doctor and have an EKG to prove that your heart is strong enough that it won’t fail while you’re in the dream state. You’re monitored during the treatment to make sure this doesn’t happen. Ibogaine treatment really requires a medically supervised staff. You have to have a liver panel to make sure you have the enzyme to break it down and flush it out. Tests have shown no negative side effects past 30mg/kg dosage. Most treatment is between 15-20mg/kg [of body weight].

RC: The big push right now is to try to get it recognized as a valuable tool for addiction interruption. The FDA would just as well not get involved. Pharmaceutical companies don’t have any interest because it’s a one-time thing. Plus it’s a threat to the already current treatment modality of methadone. For stimulants, there is no treatment except for basically a 12-step treatment facility, which doesn’t really address the chemical imbalance associated with whatever somebody’s dependent on. You can’t take something away without putting something in its place. Ibogaine basically allows a window of opportunity to be returned to a close-to-original state, where there’s no addiction.

For more information, visit www.ibogaine-therapy.net or you can contact Rocky directly at rockynorthwest (at) yahoo.com.

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The push is on to legalize Ibogaine treatement