Are Psychedelics The Solution To The Opioid Crisis? with Deborah Mash

Oct 19, 2022

Dr. Deborah Mash, a leading expert on ibogaine and CEO of DemeRx Inc., shares her groundbreaking insights on using ibogaine for addiction treatment. She discusses its historical roots and the promising results from clinical trials, highlighting its potential to alleviate opioid withdrawal symptoms. The conversation touches on the relationship between addiction and mental health, advocating for innovative therapeutic strategies. Dr. Mash also emphasizes the need for medical supervision and ongoing research to harness psychedelics safely in modern medicine.

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ANECDOTE

Lotsof's Discovery

Howard Lotsof, a heroin addict, accidentally discovered ibogaine's anti-addictive properties.
After taking ibogaine, he found himself detoxified and without cravings.

INSIGHT

Physiological Reset

Ibogaine's effects go beyond treating just the psychological aspect of addiction.
It addresses physiological withdrawal, demonstrated by relieving tremors and other physical symptoms.

INSIGHT

Noribogaine's Role

Ibogaine metabolizes into noribogaine, which has a longer half-life and different effects.
Noribogaine likely contributes to the long-term anti-craving and mood-stabilizing effects post-ibogaine treatment.

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This episode is brought to you by Cozy Earth, InisdeTracker, and Rupa Health.

If you or a loved one struggle with addiction, this is an episode you’re going to want to listen to. Many of our current pharmaceuticals stem from compounds discovered in plant medicines. And many beneficial plants that were discovered decades ago still have huge potential for changing modern medicine—ibogaine is one of them. Today on The Doctor’s Farmacy, I’m excited to sit down with Dr. Deborah Mash to discuss the use of the African plant ibogaine and its metabolite, noribogaine, in the treatment of addiction and how it could impact the devastating opioid epidemic.

Dr. Deborah Mash is one of the world's foremost experts on ibogaine. She is the CEO and Founder of DemeRx Inc., a clinical-stage drug development company advancing ibogaine and its active metabolite noribogaine for the treatment of opioid use disorder. DemeRx has partnered with ATAI Life Sciences—a global biotech platform with a special focus on psychedelic medicine—to develop ibogaine for those suffering from opioid use disorder. Building on the extensive human data available around ibogaine, DemeRx and ATAI are conducting a Clinical Phase I/II trial in opioid-dependent patients. This landmark trial will advance screening procedures, dosing guidelines, and best practices for opioid withdrawal management and relapse prevention.

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Here are more details from our interview (audio version / Apple Subscriber version):

The long history of ibogaine’s ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological use (7:01 / 4:10)
The power of ibogaine to reset opioid tolerance and bypass many withdrawal symptoms in a single dose (15:41 / 8:11)
How ibogaine works (20:59 / 14:15)
Using ibogaine to protect against future relapse (26:09 / 19:25)
Efforts to understand the importance of ibogaine’s psychedelic effects (30:05 / 24:54)
Assessing the success rates of recovery and relapse prevention from ibogaine treatment (37:49 / 34:02)
Understanding the underlying drivers of addiction for better recovery and relapse treatment (41:46 / 37:55)
The concept of “psychoplastogens” and turning on synaptic plasticity in the brain (51:44 / 47:52)
Humanity’s relationship to plants and plant medicines (57:25 / 53:34)
Risks associated with and considerations for seeking ibogaine treatment (1:03:24 / 59:37)

Learn more about Dr. Mash’s work at demerx.com.