Saturday, April 04, 2015

Save women and children from the scourge of heroin. 1.6 million addicts. Contribute to Ibogaine for Afghanistan today!



1.6 million addicts in Afghanistan are the result of our war on drugs. 

Ibogaine For Afghanistan Benefit
Tuesday, July 28th, 2015
6:30-9:30 PM
@The Henley Vaporium
23 Cleveland Pl, NYC, NY, USA
Suggested Donation: $20

Come on down to the party, 
a half block south of the Spring St. 
stop on the east side of the park.

(Cleveland Pl is
the northern most block of Center St.) 

Save women and children
from the scourge of heroin. 


Problem: 
Drug addiction in Afghanistan


Solution: 
Establish an Ibogaine Clinic in Afghanistan

WHAT IS IBOGAINE?


Ibogaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid obtained from the root bark of the shrub Tabernanthe iboga. It grows in Gabon and other areas in West Africa. Ibogaine root bark has been used for many centuries during the ritualistic ceremonies of the Bwiti religion.

But ibogaine is best-known for interrupting the symptoms of drug withdrawal and reducing drug craving for extended periods of time -- allowing an heroin addict to detoxify with minimal symptoms. Ibogaine also appears to reset the brain's neurotransmitter function to a pre-addictive state.


RITUAL
WHAT IS IBOGAINE FOR AFGHANISTAN?

Ibogaine For Afghanistan is a project created for the specific purpose of:

• Implementing and legalizing Ibogaine in Afghanistan.
• Including it in the Afghan ‘prescribed medicines list.
• Creating a circle of treatment for drug users in Afghanistan
and war veterans in the United States.

The project began back in 2010. A number of difficult obstacles forced it to to be temporarily discontinued. In early 2014, it was reactivated after the difficulties were worked out and eliminated.

WHY AFGHANISTAN?

Afghanistan’s severe drug problem makes it the ideal location for the program. The potency of the heroin produced in the region has rendered methadone treatments ineffective, disillusioning government officials.

Its poor performance never really gained the support of government officials. As the heroin crisis increases, a new and more effective treatment method is desperately needed to help turn the tide. The arrival of Ibogaine as the quickest, safest and most cost-effective medication is expediting the government approval of a license for the clinic.

Targeted authorities:
• Ministry of Health.
• Ministry of Counter Narcotics.
• Ministry of Justice.
• Ministry of Religious Affairs.
• Ministry of Information and Culture.
• Ministry of labor and social affairs, civil society and local influential faces.

Strategy:

The project consists of three stages: Stage 1. included Murtaza Majeed traveling to Kabul, Afghanistan to utilize his relationship with government and the country’s Drug Demand Reduction committee of the nation’s two most populated areas besides Kabul. (Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif)

Stage 2. is now focused on the demonstration of ibogaine for heroin detox in six to ten addicts and the establishment of a clinic. This stage includes foreign experts training a medical staff, establishment of a clinic in Kabul.

Stage 3. The expansion of ibogaine therapy across the country as an alternative for detoxification in all U.N.-affiliated treatment centers.

Timeline: Due to complications resulting from the disputed election, the project has been postponed to start on September 1, 2014. Stage 1, leading to approval to do the first demonstration treatments required Murtaza to go to Kabul  again in March to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the most advanced hospital addiction clinic in the country.  That was followed by the appointment a harm reductionist, Salamat Azime, as new Minister for Counter-narcotics. Salamat is a former student of Murtaza's closest associate, Dr. Zabi; and on June 13 Zabi arrived in Kabul. The last key player, Dr. Anwar Jeewa of S. Africa, is set to bring ibogaine, adjunct medications and certain medical equipment up from Durban just as soon as Ms. Azime produces a visa--a process complicated by the fact Afghanistan doesn't maintain an Embassy in Pretoria.

All of this is contingent upon funding.

Ibogaine For Afghanistan Executive Director, Murtaza Majeed has established a local NGO, "Medawa", to work on drug treatment, policy making, advocacy on drug policy and harm reduction services. Murtaza is working with people who use drugs for their rights, access to treatment and health.

Since Murtaza Majeed is a veteran of the  National AIDS Control Program in Afghanistan and was a national training and resource center coordinator for Afghanistan National AIDS Control Program, everyone in the country is familiar with his work. The first methadone clinic funded by the Global Fund and Afghanistan government was one of his achievements. Training and development of methadone treatment to other health staffs in Afghanistan was part of his responsibilities through the National Training and Resource Centre.



In 2010 he started to advocate for Ibogaine in order to have a licensed and prescribed Ibogaine in Afghanistan and to open a clinic for drug treatment. He actually went so far as to schedule Dr. Zabi for training at Minds Alive Clinic in Durban in early 2011, but visa problems interfered. Murtaza has a long experience working with community development, human rights, drug users rights, HIV/AIDS, needle exchange program and organizational development. He urgently needs your financial backing. We are so close to effectuating the first 10 treatments!

Contribute to Ibogaine for Afghanistan today!



For more information contact
Dana Beal
Dana@Phantom.com or call 646-713-1690

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