Sayres Ends His Battle with the deadly Heroin Dependency. www.theholisticsanctuary.com Ibogaine is the product of the rootbark of an African rainforest shrub, Tabernanthe iboga, and is used ceremonially by the Bwiti tribe of Western and Central Africa to induce visions and shamanic experience. (In 2000, Gabon declared this controversial source of Bwiti spirituality a “national treasure.”) While it has been categorized as a psychedelic, it is more intense and longer lasting than LSD or mushrooms; it also has dissociative effects and effects on motor control, similar to those of the anesthetic ketamine. In the brain, it affects multiple neurotransmitter receptors, making it difficult to discern which effects are most significant. While animal and human research data show that ibogaine undoubtedly does relieve opioid withdrawal—and the drug is now being used in dozens of clinics around the world, often illegally—it’s important to know first that, sadly, it is apparently not as safe as was once believed. It is illegal in the US, although St. Kitts and Mexico have government-regulated facilities that offer it legally—in Mexico it is considered an “experimental” drug. At least 19 people have died while taking ibogaine; most of them had pre-existing medical problems and many used other drugs on top, but the drug itself still appears to be risky to the heart. In fact, a major website that supports ibogaine therapy suggests that it has a death rate of 1 in 300, a mortality risk so …
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