Americans going abroad for illegal heroin treatment


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43420999


"Two days after her own ibogaine treatment, Albert is sitting on a deck at the clinic overlooking the Pacific Ocean when it dawns on her that she hasn't even thought about getting high in two days.
That hasn't happened in 10 years.
"It's like they took my addiction and put it in an elevator and sent it a hundred floors down," she says.
When Albert was 14, she had minor surgery on her big toe after a basketball injury. The doctor prescribed Percocet for the pain.
"I remember the very first time I tried one. I didn't know if it was the antibiotics my mom had given me or what it was from those bottles, but I was like 'that is great. I'm going to figure out what that was.'"
Over the next few days she tried one, then another. When she finally figured it out, she says, "it was game over from there".

She quickly went from pills to heroin. And when she had to worry about passing drug tests she'd huff cans of compressed air - sometimes up to 16 cans a day.
Because ibogaine is illegal in the US and not well known, the people with addiction who end up in Mexico seeking treatment are typically there as a last resort.
Two days before Albert's treatment she was coming off a stretch of homelessness, barricaded in a hotel room north of San Diego. She wasn't answering the door or her phone and an employee from the clinic, sent to pick her up, feared she might have overdosed.
When she finally did answer, a brief stand-off ensued.
"She's going to have to leave with you or leave with the police," Thom Leonard, who owns the clinic, told the employee over the phone.
She chose rehab.
Treatment at this clinic costs between $5,000 and $12,000, depending on the length of stay and programme. Emily's parents ended up paying for her treatment, but Leonard says he does discounts and pro-bono treatments for those who can't afford to pay. Those who pay full price subsidise those efforts.

Opioids are a terrible pandemic. I use pandemic, rather than epidemic, because the misuse and subsequent addiction is a global disease. Just how the dangers of tobacco and the addictive nature of nicotine were hidden for years the same has been done with opioids. Doctors were told to promote them even when there was information and studies available regarding the prevalent dangers we see today. I believe that in the next couple decades some cannabinoid based remedies will be found as well.

Question: I've seen the tv program "Kentucky Ayahuasca" and watched more out of curiosity then for enjoyment. They claim that this hallucinogen has healing properties as well that seem to been on the mental or cerebral side. I'm just curious if Ibogaine is similar in nature... likely not exact but maybe there are some general similarities.

Tru said:

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Opioids are a terrible pandemic. I use pandemic, rather than epidemic, because the misuse and subsequent addiction is a global disease. Just how the dangers of tobacco and the addictive nature of nicotine were hidden for years the same has been done with opioids. Doctors were told to promote them even when there was information and studies available regarding the prevalent dangers we see today. I believe that in the next couple decades some cannabinoid based remedies will be found as well.

Question: I've seen the tv program "Kentucky Ayahuasca" and watched more out of curiosity then for enjoyment. They claim that this hallucinogen has healing properties as well that seem to been on the mental or cerebral side. I'm just curious if Ibogaine is similar in nature... likely not exact but maybe there are some general similarities.

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Ibogaine is said to have other healing properties. It has been said it even works for some alcoholics. There was a National Geographic show on Ibogaine. It was pretty good but not comprehensive. You can probably find it online tru. This may be boring for some but if you want to know how I found out about this it's a pretty funny story if you are interested.

The problem is that the forces that be are blocking any research or pilot programs for this tool in the fight with addiction thus our knowledge of the science is limited.

Please share when you have time.

Well Tru it's more of a story about we all should stay curious

Nothing special but this is kind of funny.


To start I am a VERY. Skeptical person. I usually don't take things at face value and question things. Like most of us basically I don't like to be bull ****ted.

Anyway I am passing time watching a rerun, of all things, Law and Order. It's all new to me as I used to work 60-70 hrs per week.

Anyway there was an episode where the lawyers needed for a witness to testify, but he was on heroin.

One lawyer suggested using Ibogaine. He said that some people could be cured of the effects of withdrawal in one dose.

I almost turned it off but it was pretty close to the end.

I was kind of annoyed they would use some bull crap in the narrative so I looked it up and started to do my own research. Much to my surprise they were basing this on an actual substance.

As the man in the well known meme would say "Stay curious my friends".

I did a huge report on it in college. Seems useful but the research isn't fully there yet. You can get treatment in Mexico as some US bases researches have a facility there.

While there are a lot of antidotes, it's effects are still relatively unknown. All for researching it though-could also helps with some forms of trauma.

Is this a deal like cannabis where scientists can't really research it because it's a federally illegal substance?

I'm sure the big pharma companies don't want it around. Opioids are one of their biggest sellers.

yeah, its a schedule 1 drug. from Wikipedia:
"Anecdotal reports concerning ibogaine's effects appeared in the early 1960s. Its anti-addictive properties were discovered accidentally by Howard Lotsof in 1962, at the age of 19, when he and five friendsall heroin addictsnoted subjective reduction of their craving and withdrawal symptoms while taking it. Further anecdotal observation convinced Lots of of its potential usefulness in treating substance addictions. He contracted with a Belgian company to produce ibogaine in tablet form for clinical trials in the Netherlands, and was awarded a United States patent for the product in 1985. The first objective, placebo-controlled evidence of Ibogaine's ability to attenuate opioid withdrawal in rats was published by Dzoljic et al. in 1988. Diminution of morphine self-administration was reported in preclinical studies by Glick et al. in 1991. Cappendijk et al. demonstrated reduction in cocaine self-administration in rats in 1993, and Rezvani reported reduced alcohol dependence in three strains of "alcohol preferring" rats in 1995."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibogaine

I've done it. Went to Mexico to take it. It works for a few months, but than it's on you to stay clean. After I did it, I literally had no desire to use opiates for about 3-4 months. It wasn't even a thought, which is a miracle within itself honestly, but right around that 3.5 month mark cravings came back with a vengeance and I ended up relapsing. I've had several friends take it and have very similar experiences. So I'm not sure if you can call it a success or not. All I know is the trip is very dark and unpleasant. Not to mention you detox from the opiates while you're high, but you're so entranced in the trip you don't really notice. Apparently I threw up and **** myself for a few days, but had no clue it was happening. I did it with medical doctors, but there was also a Shaman there to guide me through it. Like I said, it's not for people who can't handle psychedelics. I've tried almost every psychedelic out there and Ibogaine was by far the darkest.

Tru said:

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Opioids are a terrible pandemic. I use pandemic, rather than epidemic, because the misuse and subsequent addiction is a global disease. Just how the dangers of tobacco and the addictive nature of nicotine were hidden for years the same has been done with opioids. Doctors were told to promote them even when there was information and studies available regarding the prevalent dangers we see today. I believe that in the next couple decades some cannabinoid based remedies will be found as well.

Question: I've seen the tv program "Kentucky Ayahuasca" and watched more out of curiosity then for enjoyment. They claim that this hallucinogen has healing properties as well that seem to been on the mental or cerebral side. I'm just curious if Ibogaine is similar in nature... likely not exact but maybe there are some general similarities.

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Ayahuasca is amazing. It's the same thing as DMT(dimethylytryptamine). Actually Ayahuasca is the same thing as DMT I should say because DMT is in every humans brain and the Ayahuasca just releases it when inhaled, ingested. It's the most powerful psychedelic out there. Funt fact, by DMT is said to be released when you die hence why many people say they "see the light" when they are on their deathbed. That light is them tripping their face off. Lol. Also, could be why some people think they are going to heaven. It's also been said it gets released in your brain when you're born, but the studies are inconclusive.

When you use synthetic DMT the trip only lasts around 20 minutes, but it's a very profound 20 minutes. With Ayahuasca, a lot of times Shamans will mix it with other herbs that have MAO inhibitors which makes the trip much, much longer. You can also find MAO inhibitors to take with synthetic DMT if you want the trip to last longer. I prefer the 20 minute dose these days because anything longer than that at my age is just too much of a commitment for my mind. It's why I won't eat acid anymore either. Tripping for several hours is not my bag anymore, but I will smoke DMT(20 min trip) at least once a month.

It is very beneficial and I honestly think it's done more for my addiction issues than Ibogaine ever did. As far as the Kentucky dude he seems like a joke to me. I just don't get a good vibe from him. I guarantee that nice house on the Lake he has has been paid for with black market sales of his Ayahuasca. I just don't trust him and I would never let that dude guide me through the strongest psychedelic experiences on the planet. Just my two cents. I don't trust anyone who is a self-proclaimed Shaman. Let alone a dude who was robbing banks just years prior. Lol.

Quite a few questions but some will need to be PM'd

Ever posted after taking DMT?

Tru said:

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Quite a few questions but some will need to be PM'd

Ever posted after taking DMT?

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I haven't, but not a bad idea.