NYC's Guerilla Ibogaine Treatments- a
brief discussion
by Preston Peet
for DrugWar.com
posted at DrugWar.com
August 26, 2004
images taken from Meyaya, at iboga.org
Gathering ibogaine at the source in Africa
On a gorgeous sunny afternoon in Manhattan's
Lower East Side, between my own first and second sessions on ibogaine,
an African root that has been reported useful in the kicking
of a variety of substance addictions and self-abuse patterns in
the West by many researchers and private individuals, I carried
out the following interview. I met in Tompkins Square Park with
FM, who for the month of August was leading a band of guerilla
ibogaine treatment facilitators, treating an assortment of people
with ibogaine for myriad reasons.
Having been one of the lucky few who made
contact with this group and was initiated and treated with ibogaine
HCL, I was interested in hearing more about the man who made
this experience possible for me and many other New York City addicts.
Unfortunately all of my recording devices are broken, so I had
to conduct this interview while writing out the answers long-hand,
which made my hand and wrist extremely sore and tired very quickly
as I'm not used to writing with a pen anymore- therefore I didn't
delve into some topics I would like to cover in greater depth
in the future.
Due to the fact that ibogaine
is not legal in the US, though it is legal in many other countries
and is being used to treat many addicts in those countries, at
very high prices that often run into the many thousands of dollars,
the person with whom I spoke will remain anonymous. At great risk
to himself and all those assisting him, he made available to many
people in NYC in desperate need the opportunity to try the tool
of ibogaine, at very inexpensive prices, allowing those of us
who wanted it the choice to live without being at the mercy of
our addictions and compulsions.
For more information on my own first round
with ibogaine, and about ibogaine and guerilla treatments too,
please read my article Kicking
Drugs with Drugs- Taking the Left Hand Path, also published
here at Drugwar.com.
Old drawing of ibogaine, original source unknown
-----
Preston- Where are you from, and how old are you?
FM- I'm 52 years old, and live in Rio de Janeiro.
I was born and raised on Long Island, and moved to Rio 25 years
ago, after meeting a beautiful Brazilian woman and fell in love
with the city. After receiving family monies, I realized that
Rio would be a very lovely and appropriate place to live.
P- What is your profession?
FM- I don't consider myself doing anything. I share
ibogaine with people and that's what I've been doing ever since
I was first introduced to ibogaine.
P- How and when did you first hear about ibogaine?
FM- I heard about it in a little town that's considered
the Hawaii of Brazil, named Itacare. One of your main ibogaine
assistants in the US was vacationing at a hotel and we struck
up a friendship. He was conducting a few treatments at this beautiful
hotel. As a result of my interest, he asked me to assist in the
treatments. That was six years ago- I've been doing this [sharing
ibogaine and facilitating ibogaine treatments] ever since.
P- Have you tried it yourself? If so, for what purpose or
reason?
FM- I've tried it. In fact, I was initiated by
this facilitator- who will remain anonymous- three times in six
years. Initiated by someone from the US. I wanted to taste what
people were going through and be introduced to the energetic of
the plant. I'd done ayahuasca and many other powerful psychotropics.
P- When did you give your first treatment and where?
FM- In Rio, to a heroin addict.
P- How did it go?
FM- It went very well. We were all very pleased
with the results. He subsequently referred many other people to
me.
P- How many treatments have you facilitated?
FM- I've done over 700 with the help of assistants,
some of which are located in different parts of Brazil and Argentina.
P- Do you plan to continue treatments in the US?
FM- I think that's an understatement. This is the
beginning of a national campaign to make available ibogaine treatments
in several US cities.
P- Why did you settle on NYC for treatments? Is this the first
city in the US you've hit?
FM- This is the first city because this is where
is all begins- this is ground zero.
P- What do you mean, ground zero?
FM- My initial idea was to establish a base of
operations in Harlem.
P- Why Harlem?
FM- To make ibogaine available to the descendents
whose ancestors came from where this plant originates.
P- How do you advertise the treatments, since they're highly
illegal?
FM- We began by distributing approximately 150
brochures in front of methadone clinics in Harlem.
P- When was that?
FM- Early July. That was the start.
P- Are you basically relying on word of mouth?
FM- Yeah, that's about it.
P- Are you worried about law enforcement?
FM- No.
P- I myself very much appreciate what you're doing with your
time and money.
FM (laughing) It's been a gas.
P- Where do you get the ibogaine?
FM- A European source.
P- A lab?
FM- A friendly lab.
P- Do all clients take it for addictions?
FM- No. Some people take it for the purpose of
an inner rite of passage. I'm not saying anything new here that
hasn't been said a million times.
P- How do you mean?
FM- In terms of how people come to a session, the
intention of those coming to do a session are individually unique.
Almost everyone, except a handful of the people on this planet,
are addicts.
P-Would you recommend ibogaine for anyone interested in trying
it?
FM- It's hard to say.
P- Why is it hard to say?
FM- I would need to sit across from them and interact
with them for a few minutes before I could determine whether it
was appropriate for me to facilitate that treatment. If I wasn't
comfortable I would ask them to connect with other assistants.
P- Don't some people in Africa eat it all the time, in small
doses, mixed in with their food?
FM- Yes, just like some Mexican Indians do with
peyote, grinding it up in their meal.
P- Are the reactions to ibogaine different for men and women?
FM- Yeah, women seem to be more susceptible to
the masculine energetic of this plant. The word "energetic"
feels more like the symbiotic relationship between the essence
and energy of the plant and the individual. To me, enegetic implies
collaberation which takes place for the healing. Women need less.
There are so many reasons for this, but I don't wan to hurt you
hand by rambling on [making reference to my taking notes in long-hand
due to broken tape recording equipment].
As an aside, there has been 33 hours of video documentary done
by an award winning film maker, who with his assistants has been
here filming periodically, interviewing participants in the underground
ibogaine treatments we've been facilitating, putting them on video
before, during and after treatment in many cases.
P- What progress has been made towards legalizing ibogaine
in the US?
FM- I'm not really privy to what's happening in
that regard here in the US. Suffice to say, nothing has worked
which is why we're here. We feel that continuing the focus offshore,
outside the US, has not served a majority of people inside the
US. Like many other grassroots movement, which facilitated change,
treatments, sessions, need to be done where they belong, in all
major US cities, as cost effectively as possible. Given that I
and many people I've trained have conducted several hundreds of
sessions responsibly, we find it unreasonable that the medical
profession, even within the ibogaine community, insists upon their
physical presence during ibogaine treatments.
P- Do you consider yourself an activist, therapist, or a criminal,
or any of the above?
FM- Am I an activist? It's hard for me to hold
on to any identity at this point in my process, since I feel I
was born at this table sitting across from you.
P- I don't know what you mean. Please explain that.
FM- I mean that the separate sense of self that
I used to define myself as has significantly dissolved.
P- Is ibogaine legal elsewhere?
FM- It's not relevant to me- it's legal everywhere.
P- Why is it so expensive?
FM- I don't know and do not care. But one more
note I do want to make before we stop, and that's that there are
several assistants with me from different parts of the US, who
are being trained and will be going back to their respective cities
to continue this work.
---
For more information on ibogaine, please visit
the following links:
Mindvox
The
Ibogaine Dossier
Ibogaine.co.uk
The
Ibogaine Story: Report on the Staten Island Project
Healing
Transitions Institute for Addiction
Erowid
Ibogaine Vault
Ibogaine:
A Novel Anti-Addictive Compound A Comprehensive Literature Review
New
York State Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services- Addiction Medicine:
Ibogaine
Hemp
TV: The Ibogaine Story
IBOGAINE
The Drug that Can Eliminate Drug Addiction, including Heroin and
Cocaine, in 48 Hours, Without Withdrawal Symptoms!
Isolation
of Ibogaine from Tabernanthe iboga
Hallucinogen
May Cure Drug Addiction
Born
again with Ibogaine?
The
Ibogaine Project
Ibogaine
Grievance Form Project
Ibogaine
Stories
