Ibogaine, a psychoactive ingredient derived from the root bark of the African plant Tabernanthe iboga, has been used for thousands of years in Africa to produce higher states of consciousness. It’s one of nature’s most powerful psychedelics. It is also a drug that has been proven to cure drug addiction. In the 1960s, it was discovered that Ibogaine could help people overcome their addiction to heroin, meth and alcohol. Ibogaine is illegal in the United States, despite being too expensive and too powerful to be a recreational drug. Why? And why is big pharma has turned a cold shoulder to this potential miracle cure? I think it’s because the drug companies aren’t really interested in curing illness, there’s no profit in it. You can make more money treating symptoms over and over again, upping the profit margin by selling people increasingly more expensive drugs. Curing disease is to the pharmaceutical industry what the electric car was to Exxon. Ibogaine is illegal because it works. And anything that works in this day and age is a threat to institutions that profit from shit that doesn’t work.
I was recently reminded of how profitable disease is while watching my father go through cancer treatment in Houston, Texas. Oil and the medical industry are the source of Houston’s fortunes. Cancer is big business. The hospitals and the surrounding hotels are filled with cancer victims and their families who are spending billions of dollars fighting a disease by temporarily arresting its growth or just hiding its symptoms, not curing it. If a cure for cancer or a viable alternative to oil were developed, Houston would be out of business. Oil and cancer, a marriage made in hell…or Texas…or everywhere.
Other reasons the medical monopolies aren’t exploring Ibogaine: Too many drug addicts who really need help are poor. A good percentage of drug addicts are not white and therefore don’t fucking matter. Drug addiction is an effective form of keeping the oppressed oppressed (yes, I believe this). Ibogaine can help people, in a matter of days, get to the root of psychological problems and traumas that contribute to addiction, thereby eliminating huge psychiatric bills, something that the predatory medical industry does not want to see thrive. Again, there’s too much money to be made from treating the symptom and not finding the cure. Happy, well-adjusted, people don’t spend billions on anti-depressants.
According to therapist Eric Taub, “Ibogaine allows people to experience their reactive mind more closely than ever before, and they realize they don’t have to react the way they have been reacting.”
In recent years, there has been a concerted effort on the part of a community of therapists, open-minded doctors and former addicts to bring information about Ibogaine’s curative powers to the public at large. Ibogaine clinics are opening in various parts of the world. Mainstream media has started to pay attention. The video below is a compilation of news reports and documentaries on Ibogaine. It makes for fascinating and compulsory viewing.
The psychoactive qualities of Ibogaine make it more than just a simple quick fix for addiction. This little slice of nature can be a life changer. And that’s exactly what most addicts need. Hell, it’s what all of us need.
I’m Dangerous With Love, an acclaimed documentary on the Ibogaine experience, opens in New York City on January 12. See the trailer after the jump.
Watch the videos and see what you think.
For more info on Ibogaine click here.