Hallucinogen to be tested as cure for opiate addiction

[David Morris]

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/29/hallucinogen-to-be-t.html

Ibogaine, a hallucinogen derived from an African plant, is used
(illegally) as a cure for opiate addiction. This month, the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research will test the
effectiveness of Ibogaine on heroin addicts.

Popular Science has a brief article about the upcoming trial:

As great as ibogaine seems, no one knows exactly how effective it is
as a treatment,” says Valerie Mojieko, the director of clinical
research for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
Research (MAPS), a privately funded Massachusetts-based nonprofit. So
starting this month, MAPS will enlist Clare Wilkins, the director of
Pangea Biomedics, to run the first long-term study to gauge the drug’s
lasting effects at her clinic in Mexico (where patients already pay
$5,000 for the treatment). She will treat 20 to 30 heroin addicts and,
for the next year, MAPS will subject them to psychological and drug
tests to quantify ibogaine’s effectiveness.