Those of you have been listening to the show for any amount of time are probably very familiar with our friend NJ Weedman a.k.a. Ed Forchion. Ed is a staunch advocate of the legalization of marijuana and a brilliant guy who has made it his cause célèbre to tell the truth about marijuana especially as it pertains to our flawed justice system. Today, we were discussing free Narcan day a program in New Jersey that is to take place on Tuesday, during which participating pharmacies will hand out free Narcan presumably to addicts and/or the people who love them.

Narcan, as you probably know, is the antidote to a heroin overdose. It actually reverses a lethal heroin overdose which, if you ask me, only encourages the use of heroin. How? By providing a safety net for those who might otherwise avoid the drug for fear of a lethal overdose. Should we not be giving addicts Narcan? Well, I suppose if it saves a few lives, no harm-no foul but unfortunately, it doesn’t even begin to solve the problem.

Now back to Weedman. His outspokenness doesn’t stop at the Marijuana issue and i don’t always agree with everything he says. But he reminded me today about something that I’ve heard many times before: Ibogaine. Google it. Ibogaine is a substance made from the West African shrug, Iboga.​ It’s a used in several countries to treat addiction — many users say it completely blocks their cravings for opioids, and in some cases, drinking or smoking. I’ve had many listeners over the years call to tell me that they have sent loves ones to other parts of the world to obtain ibogaine and they returned addiction-free.

Now, despite my healthy distrust of the government I am generally not a conspiracy theorist. But maybe I am. Because I can’t conceive of one reason, except for a concerted effort to keep it from the public, for ibogaine to remain illegal here when it is clearly effective in stopping addictions in their tracks. And why do United States citizens have to travel to other countries with sub-par medical care and facilities to receive this treatment and then return? Do the “powers that be” have an incentive or an ulterior motive to keep us all addicted? It makes you wonder. Why allow a Narcan, basically a free-pass, to proliferate when an actual treatment for addiction itself exists?

In a 2014 column in the Trentonian, Weedman made a statement that I totally agree with. Regarding Narcan, Weedman remarked, “It’s working fantastically; it’s been successful in reversing about 200 potentially fatal overdoses. But what none of them will say is that naloxone is only effective after a drug addict has taken their drug of choice – let’s cure addiction itself.” I couldn’t agree more Ed.

I’ve been screaming into the void about Ibogaine for years; about its effectiveness and the governments unwillingness to allow the American people to have it. It’s shameful. It all you hear politicians talk about is their desire to find a cure for this devastating epidemic. Why are we supplying treatments for the overdose instead of cures for the actual CAUSE of the overdose. It’s like putting a band aid on a gaping stab wound, and not even bothering to remove the knife. If a bona fide treatment for opiate and other addictions exists in this world, it should be made available to every single American addict today. Wouldn’t you agree? It’s kind of curious that the government does not.

Editor’s note: ​Ibogaine has psychoactive properties and is classified as a Schedule 1 drug in the United States. In some cases, it has been tied to adverse effects, including deaths from heart failure or cardipulminary arrest. It is not licensed as therapeutic drug, but is used as an anti-addiction medication in some clinics outside of the United States. This post is not intended to be taken as professional medical advice.

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