[neverdem]

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

The war on drugs is insane too, reminding me of a dog chasing its tail, but that's another story.

A single dose of ibogaine in a controlled clinical setting is certainly not abuse and definitely worth investigating in a time of AIDS with all the innocent people threatened from the sexual behavior of injecting drug users.

The story doesn't say how funding was obtained. Hopefully, the announcement of the FDA findings will be simultaneous with publication. Thanks for the abstracts. Did you find them at PubMed?

[45Auto]

My opinions about the Drug War are that it is mostly worthless and very expensive. However, the Ibogaine story has been around for a long time; the drug has been studied as a possible addiction treatment for about 25 years, including some extensive work at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of NIH. A lot of basic information about its effects and mechanisms of action have been published. It is interesting, but it is not a magic curative for opiate addiction. It might have limited use in certain cases at least in initial therapy. But there is no substitute for an addict motivated in the quest for sobriety. Every addict and alcoholic yearns for a drug that will "cure" him of his obsession; that way, no real work or self-examination will be required.