Polemic therapy draws addicts to Mexican beach town

Rocky Caravelli runs the Awakening in the Dream House near Sayulita. He is one of a small group of trained providers of Ibogaine, a naturally-occuring drug that relieves addicts from withdrawal symptoms.

Story by : MEGAN SMITH

"I'm anxious - hope it works. I've heard about getting sick, the vomiting, but if that's how it has to be, so be it," says Mary, who asked that her real name not be used. The 47-year-old alcoholic from Arizona has arrived in San Pancho to embark on a 24-hour experience that may well free her of her addiction for good. Just north of Sayulita is the little town of San Francisco, affectionately called San Pancho by locals. Here, in a colorful three-bedroom house, a steady stream of foreigners have been coming and going since January, when the Awakening in the Dream House opened. This is no vacation destination though; the visitors are drug addicts who've come to Mexico for intense addiction therapy that they can't get legally in the United States or England. At the Awakening in the Dream House, they take a dose of a drug called Ibogaine that relieves substance abuse withdrawal symptoms. Over the course of 24 hours, they experience intense hallucinations and most become very ill, but they emerge healthy, relieved, and without any desire to use drugs.

Rocky Caravelli is a trained Ibogaine facilitator and former heroin addict who moved to Mexico from Portland, Oregon. Attracted to the energy and attitude of San Pancho, he bought property and brought with him a tight-knit group of other Portlanders to administer Ibogaine and offer therapy addressing root causes of addiction. "It's not a casual treatment; it's serious work. We're all doing this because this is what we love to do," he says.

Caravelli's own addiction history began when he got carpal tunnel syndrome working as a flooring contractor in California and Oregon. Abuse of pain medications evolved into a heroin and methadone addiction. For 12 years, he went in and out of Narcotics Anonymous and other treatment programs; none worked for him. In 2003, Caravelli's life changed. He read an article in Discovery magazine about a West African root from the Iboga plant, used for religious ceremonies by the Bwiti of Ghana and with the power to effectively eliminate the withdrawal symptoms of heroin addicts with one dose.

Caravelli was on a plane within a few months. He entered the Ibogaine Association clinic in Tijuana. The Ibogaine treatment knocked him out for a few hours. "I woke up free of craving with no other desire than to lay naked in the sun. It was like I was returned to my natural state overnight." He says he's been clean ever since. Ibogaine works by blocking receptor sites in the pleasure center of the brain, making it think its craving has been fulfilled. The effects are immediate and the body releases stored Ibogaine into the system over approximately two months. Caravelli says that it is particularly effective at eliminating the withdrawal symptoms of opiate (heroin) addiction, though it treats stimulant (cocaine), alcohol and nicotine addiction as well. Ibogaine is not addictive itself. On the contrary, most people who've used it never want to do it again. Most people become ill (vomiting, loss of motor control) and experience overwhelming, often painful emotions during the active stage of the Ibogaine, anywhere from a few hours to a day. Ibogaine also slows the heart down, so it is important to have medical supervision. Ibogaine never became a party drug.

In the early 1960s, Howard Lotsof was the first American to study the Iboga root. He used it to kick his own heroin habit and went on to patent processed Iboga root as Ibogaine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was worried about the spread of hallucinogen use and in 1966 classified Ibogaine as a Schedule 1 drug; without medical value; doctors can't prescribe it. So addicts interested in Ibogaine treatment must choose to look for underground providers or travel to one of a handful of clinics in countries where Ibogaine hasn't been outlawed, such as Mexico. After his treatment in Tijuana, Caravelli stayed on at the clinic as a staff member, learning how to administer Ibogaine. Caravelli is grateful for the training he received in Tijuana, but the Ibogaine Association was too clinical for his taste. "They treat the body and that's it."

Central to Caravelli's experience with Ibogaine is what he believes is the drug's second benefit: the therapeutic breakdown of habitual thought patterns, opening a window for holistic healing that makes it easier for addicts to stay clean in the long term. Awakening in the Dream House offers three types of Ibogaine therapy: addiction therapy that addresses chemical dependency, reset therapy that gets at the root of dependency and helps prevent relapse, and psycho-spiritual development to address past psychological trauma. "We want to dissolve the illusion of separation that is at the core of the addiction process. I'm not a healer and you're not sick," says Caravelli.

Nevertheless, all clients must be given the green light by a doctor before Caravelli will dose them. Dr. Jose Luis Chavez, a young physician living in Sayulita, is the medical supervisor for the team and evaluates each client who comes to the Dream House. He reads blood sugar levels, takes blood pressure and lung capacity and an EKG. "Rocky came to visit me after he arrived in town and told me about the program. I was immediately interested in Ibogaine. I studied plant hallucinogens in school, but I didn't know about this. I called up Dr. Blanco, in charge of the program in Tijuana. I studied how Ibogaine works, and how to medically evaluate someone who will be using it," he says.

Dream House staff carefully monitor clients while the Ibogaine is active in their system, attending to their every need. =46or Caravelli, the most important work comes next: integration and recovery of clients in aftercare, nutritional support, physical and psychological therapy for long-term recovery. Many of Caravelli's clients, however, have different priorities. Therapy takes a back seat to practical considerations. Mary didn't choose Awakening in the Dream because of the aftercare. "I chose to come here because it was cheaper than anywhere else. I'm not here for the beach and I'm not too much into the holistic thing," she says.

A full ten-day detox treatment from methadone costs approximately 3,500 dollars here - a few thousand less than at other centers. Ibogaine's legal status means that Awakening in the Dream House staff are in a unique position to administer Ibogaine on their terms. While they all support the acceptance of Ibogaine by the medical community, they know that legalization would likely mean losing therapeutic opportunities they feel Western medicine wouldn't embrace. "There is something somewhat scary about Ibogaine being handed out by an unaware pharmacist. It is a symptom of modern medicine to want to use it alone rather than in a more holistic way," says Matt, a member of the Dream House staff.

Indeed, there is a growing community of healthcare providers who want to legalize Ibogaine. Dr. Deborah Mash of the University of Florida is conducting licensed clinical trails of Ibogaine's effectiveness in St. Kitts. She and some other Ibogaine proponents want to isolate nor-Ibogaine - the chemical in Ibogaine that satiates addiction - without the hallucinations, the sickness, or the therapeutic potential.

Caravelli says Dr. Mash's work is "very valuable" but he is hesitant about what isolating nor-Ibogaine would mean. "In doing that you lose the deity that presides in the medicine. You just treat the body, not the spirit," he says.

As for Mexico's recognition of Ibogaine, Dr. Chavez thinks he is one of two or three Mexican doctors in the country who work with Ibogaine. He isn't optimistic about its wide acceptance. "I don't think authorities here will be receptive to this therapy. In Mexico we have a big problem in addiction treatment. We aren't open to addicts who want to help themselves with therapy. Right now Ibogaine has the same status as rattlesnake urine, its use is ignored by law and it isn't looked at as real medicine. We'll have to work really hard for Ibogaine to be accepted," says the doctor. While Mexicans may not soon embrace the alternative treatment, they play host to an increasing number of foreigners eager to take advantage of Mexico's loose regulations in the search for a cure to their addiction.

And Mary, skeptical of Caravelli's touchy-feely method at first, has warmed up to the idea as she's settled into San Pancho relaxing surroundings. "Who knows, maybe this is something that will help me explore my issues," she says. For more information visit www.awakeninginthedream.com