Hallucinogen May Cure Drug Addiction

BAY AREA (KRON) ^ | February 20, 2004 | NA

[nmh]

"The whole idea of using one abusable substance to treat the addiction to another abusable substance is insane."

You're right on! But some WANT to believe there is a "magic bullet". It's shocking to still see people taking Freud seriously.

[Lancey Howard]

I think it's rare (addiction to LSD) but I have seen it happen to two people I know. (Early '70s) And it doesn't seem to be a physical addiction so much as a psychological addiction.

[CathyRyan]

I wonder if it would work for depression?

[nmh]

"IMO, in the end, natural selection will prevail, as usual. :O)"

Humorous pearls ... from an evolutionist ... LOL. If natural selection had any basis in reality all animals and people would be perfect - no physical anomalies, or abnormalities. On its face "natural selection" defies science as well as reality.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Once you shine the light on those dark areas, however, you become a much more secure individual.

Not really, but some people get smarter and don't try it again. I've taken care of screaming teenagers in the ER who decided to try hallucinogens. They didn't appear to be enlightened nor having a very good time. I had a pretty blonde teenager in the psych hospital who took LSD and promptly lost her mind. She walked around like a zombie, barely able to interact with others. She took a trip to la la land and stayed there. I've seen countless cases where heavy drug use led to schizophrenia. Timothy Leary ended up nuts. Ram Dass is "out there" and not far behind.

Once a person gets to that level of deterioration, conventional medicine has little to offer. Alternative medicine can clear the toxins from the body somewhat, but the best choice is not to get to that point in the first place.

You are extremely lucky.

[LadyDoc]

such "cure all" reports done by non scientific groups don't tend to pan out in scientific studies.

First they have to check if this causes brain or health damage. (LSD causes permenant changes in the PET scans of brains, for example, so it might be immoral to use it).

Second, you need to get informed consent.

Third, you need to take away all the cultism of the treatment.

Four, you try it on animals. Physical withdrawal symptoms can be measured. Does it really stop withdrawal symptoms?

Five, you do a controlled study. Probably overseas places with less ethical and legal (i.e. lawyers willing to sue) will try it first, and we will hear reports before we try it.

If then it works, then fine.

However, other hallucinogens didn't work. Neither did inhaling CO2, nor "withdrawal under anesthesia", or other fads in addiction.

And, as I mentioned, the withdrawal is not the major problem. it is the relapse rate, and the tendency of druggies to do poly pharmacy...

[45Auto]

I'm all in favor of research with this drug or any other that might have some benefit. From what I already know about ibogaine, it is a long shot that it will ever have any long-term beneficial effects on the treatment of narcotic addiction. However, it would not hurt to accumulate some more hard data from controlled pharmacological studies, including a clinical trial, if toxicology data from animals demonstrates a margin of safety.

Mounting a Phase I clinical study in humans with ibogaine faces several hurdles: the drug is listed as a Schedule I controlled substance. Obtaining approval for study of those drugs would be very expensive and there are political/legal considerations which are even more formidable. I don't know if an IND (Investigational New Drug) application is on file with the FDA; if not, we are talking about a considerable amount of animal work (and money) which would be necessary in order to apply for and IND. A controlled Phase I human clinical trial would cost something in 7 figures to mount.