Aw, Here We Go Again

So imagine this. Let's say that you've graduated high school and have reached the young age of twenty. Let's say that you've had a troubled past in high school and hung out with people you wish you hadn't. Let's say that you're a heroin addict. Shocking? Not necessarily, it's just a reminder of would happen if you interacted with the wrong people. Finally, let's say that you want to stop your heroin addiction. It's a formidable task, but very well possible. You need to form resolutions to stop, but how? Counseling is the most common way to resolve this. However, what if a scientist were to tell you that he or she could help you with your addiction by eliminating it with another drug? You'd think the world had gone mad, and would faint the next moment, right?

Scientists have devoloped a psychedelic drug called Ibogaine to break the habit of drug addicts. Ibogaine is a brown powder found from the African Tabernathe iboga plant. This plant facinated researchers since 1962 when a student at New York University found that one dose of the plant relieved him of his cravings addiction of oppiate. The drug has no withdrawal symptoms after taken, but does have draw backs in the long run. It may cause cardiac arrest when used and may be easily abused. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has not funded clinical trials for it, but it has been tested on animals. Stanley Glick, director of the Center for Neuropharmacology at Albany Medical College says that rats addicted to morphine will quit for weeks after given Ibogaine.

Personally, I thought this was an interesting article to read. How is it related to biology? It speaks for itself; medicine research for cures for drug addiction. Is it important to us? Yes, if this drug is sucessful in its use and not abused. We may very well have found a way to strike out drug addiction. Using this drug is not legal yet in the U.S. However, in Europe it is perfectly legal to have Ibogaine therapy. For now, even with success with the drug, it is safer not to use it as of yet. We still do not know its highest potential, which may be harmful. Nonetheless, scientists say it may only be 10 or 15 years before we see its use.

Source: Kotler, Steven. "Fighting Drugs With Drugs". Popular Science August 2010: 29-31.