OPEN Foundation

In literature much can be found about the visions and the insights people can get from ayahuasca. What is striking here is that the visions are described in great detail while the insights only marginally are mentioned. This lack of information lead to a bachelor thesis on the insights ayahuasca can give. What kinds of insights can people get? Are these insights applicable in daily life? If yes, how do people use these insights? These questions were central in the research ‘Insight in Ayahuasca’. Through interviews a first effort was made to answer these questions. The difference in setting and its possible influence on the insights people gain is also researched. A distinction was made between the religious setting (Santo Daime) and the ritual setting (shamanistic/therapeutic) and if the insights can actually be used in daily life. In this presentation the results of this research will be set out.

Ibogaine has been used for centuries by members of the Bwiti religion in western equatorial Africa as a religious sacrament, medicine and hunting aid. Since the discovery of the ability of ibogaine to interrupt addiction and withdrawal symptoms by Howard Lotsof it has also become of interest to the West. The complex pharmacology of ibogaine, in addition to its natural origin has caused it to be a substance that is of little interest to the pharmaceutical industry. However, over the years ibogaine has proven to be at least reasonably effective in treating different substance addictions in animal models. In the few clinical trials that were performed ibogaine showed promising results. Setbacks in the development of the drug have been its neurotoxic effects in rats and a number of deaths that were related to its use. In recent years little has been published regarding ibogaine research. In the meanwhile ibogaine use appears to be increasing in non-clinical settings and private clinics all over the world, the uncontrolled experiment continues. Should further research into ibogaine be pursued?

Attempts to boost the effectiveness of psychotherapy by combining it with psychotropic medications such as antidepressants or anxiolytics have shown rather limited effects and acute gains have tended to be lost when the drug is discontinued. In recent years, however, there has been growing interest in studying pharmacological interventions that may boost the effectiveness of psychotherapy not by treating symptoms directly but by catalyzing the psychotherapeutic process itself. These approaches use isolated doses of drugs in conjunction with psychotherapy sessions rather than ongoing daily drug doses. Thus, after a hiatus of over 20 years, “psychedelic” compounds such as MDMA or psilocybin are once again becoming subjects of serious, well-controlled clinical studies.  This presentation will illustrate the neurophysiological and –psychological rationale of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, as well as the nature of the therapeutic process with clinical vignettes. Outcome data from the completed US and ongoing Swiss studies will be presented, which suggest a promising future for this model of drug-assisted psychotherapy.

The revival of psychedelic research signals an inspiring change in official attitudes towards ‘mind-altering’ substances, altered states of consciousness and their potential as catalysts of religious/mystical experience, ‘self-healing’, consciousness research and creative expression. At the same time this ‘research’ still requires authorization by institutions that have a monopoly on the manufacture, trade and application of mind-altering substances, and that continue to enforce a ban on their use and to promote coercive interventions and punishments against those who use these substances outside authorized medical and scientific research.

The aim of this conversation is to examine the ways beliefs, assumptions, hypotheses and/or understandings impact the interpretation of empirical research used to silence and exclude ‘drug users’ from the ‘court of specialized discourse’ in which their fundamental rights are discussed and decided. Contrary to expectations, we will argue that a radical improvement in the effectiveness of regulatory measures can be achieved at little or no extra cost, possibly even with enormous cost-saving, and without recourse to complex medical or scientific explanatory models, simply through the adoption of reasonable differentiations, that are based on the outcome of drug use, and neutral with respect to the drug, the agent’s intent, and the setting in which drug use occurs.

It has become increasingly difficult to assist an individual to maintain long term recovery from substance abuse. This is frustrating to individuals, their families and also to service providers. The reason for this trend is not absolutely clear. Over the past decades the topic of Ibogaine has been one of active interest for many psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, spiritualists, and especially those involved in drug rehabilitation therapies and alternative healing modalities. It is for this reason that Ibogaine usage on drug addicts compared to those seeking a psycho-spiritual experience has been initiated. The following information is based on the demographic profile of those administered Ibogaine in the course of time spanning from January 2006 to June 2010 by Dr. Anwar Jeewa and staff. The major considerations taken are the gender, nationality, age- range and drug history and the psycho – spiritual effects. All information is based on the Screening Questionnaire of the Ibogaine Treatment Center CC which was directly provided by the client him/herself.

About Anwar Jeewa

Dr. Anwar Jeewa is the director and founder of MINDS ALIVE Treatment Centre in Durban, South Africa. He is currently conducting research in a new rehabilitation program towards Ibogaine. Over the past decades the topic of Ibogaine has been one of active interest for many psychiatrists, neuro-psychologists, spiritualists, and especially those involved in drug rehabilitation therapies and alternative healing modalities. It is for this reason that Ibogaine usage on drug addicts compared to those seeking a psycho-spiritual experience has been initiated. Dr. Anwar Jeewa and his team are the first in the world to research the effectiveness of Ibogaine in addiction over a long term period.

This presentation will examine the legal aspects of the use of ayahuasca. No plants or other natural materials containing psychoactive substances like DMT or psilocybin are controlled under the UN 1971 Convention. The same goes for preparations made of these plants like, for example, ayahuasca. The member states of the Convention however do have the right to adopt more strict measures of control, and this has happened in several cases. This presentation will give a general overview of the current status of the use of ayahuasca in various Western countries.

The Dutch Supreme Court chose a far more restrictive drug policy than the Convention ever required. Recently arrests took place of leaders of the British Santo Daime churches because of importing their sacrament ayahuasca from Brazil. So far only the Santo Daime churches and the União do Vegetal have been able to successfully fight the diverse criminal accusations, by relying on their fundamental right to freely manifest their religion. The Amsterdam district court in 2001 was the first one that recognized the fundamental right of the Santo Daime churches to use their holy sacrament ayahuasca during their rituals. It considered the prosecution of the churches for possession or delivery of this ayahuasca in violation of the principle of freedom to express someone’s belief which right is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.

In the year 2010 hopeful prospects are attached to psychotherapy with hallucinogens. Attempts are made to bring this kind of therapy out of the confines of illegal subcultures and into legalized medical settings. Discussions and arguments center around medical benefits and are wrapped in the vocabulary of present-day medical and biological sciences. However, medical settings are not ‘neutral’ structures, but are determined by the social and cultural development of medicine and health care and by the load of the past. Advocates and opponents of hallucinogenic therapy alike should be aware of these determinations and take them into account.

Hallucinogenic therapy has been practised by doctors from the very first beginning of psychiatry itself, in the early 19th century. It was central to a now controversial tradition of psycho-pharmacological research and therapy that was qualitative in nature and accorded an important place to self-experiences of medical practitioner and patient alike. The problems that face acceptance of hallucinogenic therapy today are both social and political in a wider sense (the load of the revolt of the sixties), as related to the politics of medicine and health care.

In 2007, as part of the MA Cultural Anthropology, I have done research amongst the members of the Santo Daime church in Florianópolis (Brazil) and in The Hague. In their ceremonies they use ayahuasca, sometimes combined with cannabis. Although I had never used psychedelics myself, I could strongly identify with the way of life and philosophy of these people. Therefore, I was very curious about them and wanted to find out how the ritual use of ayahuasca influenced them. After many in-depth interviews, I can conclude that the ceremonies can provide the way to awareness, self-knowledge and healing for those who are looking for it. I have also discovered that not enough is known about the healing properties of powerful plants, causing problems and lack of understanding to rise. To break with the prejudices regarding this theme and to restored the bridge between science and religion, more scientific research is needed. For that reason, among others, I have published my MA thesis as a book in-house.

Human psychopharmacology–the experimental administration of mind-altering drugs to human subjects–is an essential tool for characterizing the relationship between brain structure, neurochemistry, and symptomatology. This talk will summarize the last twenty years of completed, ongoing, and planned research at Yale on the drugs ketamine, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol, salvinorin A, dimethytryptamine (DMT), and psilocybin, discussing their use not only as a tool for better understanding human consciousness but also as therapy for specific diseases.

About Andrew Sewell

After graduating with a BA in Physics from Cornell University, Dr. Sewell decided to pursue his interest in entheogens by obtaining an MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1998 then completing a combined residency in Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine in 2004, where he served as Chief Resident in Neuropsychiatry. Following this, he attended a substance abuse research fellowship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where he served as Managing Editor of the McLean Annals of Behavioral Neurology. He also published the first paper ever on the response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD, presenting the data both at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting and the International LSD Symposium in Basel in 2006. He followed this with a discussion of the effect of LSA-containing seeds on cluster headache at the 2008 World Psychedelic Forum. For the last three years he has worked at Yale University in the Schizophrenia Research Group under Dr. Cyril D’Souza, studying the effects of psychotropic agents such as THC, amphetamine, iomazenil, and salvinorin A in human subjects. His research interests include the pathophysiology and treatment of cluster headache, mechanisms and characterization of psychosis (both induced and in schizophrenia), and therapeutic applications of entheogens. Dr. Sewell is board-certified in both neurology and psychiatry, serves on the Erowid Expert Network and the Scientific Program Committee of the American Neuropsychiatric Association. He has published widely on cluster headache and the relationship between cannabis and psychosis.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_vimeo id=”27971851″]
[fusion_vimeo id=”27985920″/]

Human psychopharmacology–the experimental administration of mind-altering drugs to human subjects–is an essential tool for characterizing the relationship between brain structure, neurochemistry, and symptomatology. This talk will summarize the last twenty years of completed, ongoing, and planned research at Yale on the drugs ketamine, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol, salvinorin A, dimethytryptamine (DMT), and psilocybin, discussing their use not only as a tool for better understanding human consciousness but also as therapy for specific diseases.

About Andrew Sewell

After graduating with a BA in Physics from Cornell University, Dr. Sewell decided to pursue his interest in entheogens by obtaining an MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1998 then completing a combined residency in Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine in 2004, where he served as Chief Resident in Neuropsychiatry. Following this, he attended a substance abuse research fellowship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where he served as Managing Editor of the McLean Annals of Behavioral Neurology. He also published the first paper ever on the response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD, presenting the data both at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting and the International LSD Symposium in Basel in 2006. He followed this with a discussion of the effect of LSA-containing seeds on cluster headache at the 2008 World Psychedelic Forum. For the last three years he has worked at Yale University in the Schizophrenia Research Group under Dr. Cyril D’Souza, studying the effects of psychotropic agents such as THC, amphetamine, iomazenil, and salvinorin A in human subjects. His research interests include the pathophysiology and treatment of cluster headache, mechanisms and characterization of psychosis (both induced and in schizophrenia), and therapeutic applications of entheogens. Dr. Sewell is board-certified in both neurology and psychiatry, serves on the Erowid Expert Network and the Scientific Program Committee of the American Neuropsychiatric Association. He has published widely on cluster headache and the relationship between cannabis and psychosis.

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]