West African Drug Approved For Test As Cure For Addiction

Copyright 1993 Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

August 29, 1993 Sunday, Final Chaser

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE-MDC: December 21, 1993

SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A10

LENGTH: 156 words

HEADLINE: WEST AFRICAN DRUG APPROVED FOR TEST AS CURE FOR ADDICTION

BYLINE: The Miami Herald

DATELINE: MIAMI

BODY: Researchers at the University of Miami are preparing to conduct the first scientific human experiments in this country on a drug that potentially could cure cocaine, heroin and alcohol addiction.

The drug, ibogaine, is found in the root of a West African iboga plant, and was used in ritual tribal ceremonies dating back to 1864.

Ibogaine was popular on the streets of San Francisco and New York before the federal government classified it as a Schedule 1 drug, a category designating that the drug has no medical use, in 1970. Most recently, addicts in the Netherlands have reported success with the drug.

Lead researcher Juan Sanchez-Ramos cautioned that ibogaine’s potential as a treatment for drug or alcohol addiction could not be determined until it had been properly tested.

The University of Miami team of researchers last week won approval from the Food and Drug Administration to test ibogaine on humans.

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