Tripping in Amsterdam

hi there. Just wanted to say that i cannot get this clip to play and i REALLY want to see this so i can see if it will help me. can anyone tell me where else i can watch this clip please...thanks

Ahhhh! Great! Thank you!!! So it sounds like it's concerned support (family and friends) who really do want to HELP ? Well that's how it SHOULD be, I think...addiction can be so lonely at the ends of it.. and it's very much entwined with fear and loneliness and lack of confidence ... and I guess, as I think you mention.... LOVE (both of self and receiving wise) There are these ads on TV here and well usually I think those sorts of messages are sort of off the mark and stupid (usually from some government agency), but there's this one that says "Love : the anti drug" and encourages open and heartfelt COMMUNICATION with your kids.. and THAT I really DO think is very close to the crux of the problem. Thank you for your good works and for putting positive energy out.. it's so very important , especially now.. for ALL of us :)

"I think the most important thing is to give people the confidence that who they are is good enough. Open you heart and you'll find your way"

Now THAT - is true beauty. Whatever the issues people may have, it's evident that Sara is a savant and a wonderful human being :) (HUG)

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=do-it-yourself-addiction-cures

I DO find this interesting and very cool - helping people is "good"., and I DEFINITELY approve of openness and tolerance as opposed to the typical restriction, prejudice, judgment , condemnation and oppression we have here in the U.S. (with regard to so MANY areas - sex, homosexuality, drugs, whatever).

However the overwhelming thing that came up for me with this seemed to be that the feeling that anyone who has the money and ability to be able to fly to Amsterdam does NOT have the problems that I see MOST drug addicts as having - it almost seems sort of like an semi-elitist field trip from my (admittedly outside) perspective. I Do understand the motivation is to get free from perhaps years of slavery and misery, but then it also seems like their problems are sort of "nice" problems to have, if they can lightheartedly take a jaunt overseas and pay for treatment and lodging... for most people (addicts or whatever) I'm familiar with (including myself) that is not an option, let alone entertainable as even a dream

So interesting! What an amazing substance.

Impressive.

It's twisted, yes, but find myself thinking about my many addictions -- however petty and insignificant they may be -- and imagining how excellent it would be to use them as an excuse to try this out should the opportunity arise.

I have been on MMT for 10+yrs, I would love a treatment that would take care of all the cravings, all the wants, dreams/nightmares, associated with using, I would also like to know though if the persons who partook of this treatment had also changed their people places and things, if they had also done a complete turnabout of lifestyle? or if this plant just magickally fixed it all? cause god knows if it does...I would be its biggest advocate!

A 30-40 hour trip???

Great news from the horses mouth.

One thing we didnt get time to touch on, is why this treatment hasnt been developed? Howard Lotsof wrote of its benefits for Opium withdrawal back in the 1960s, yet Iboga is still seen as a 'recreational' drug. Sara talked of the problems with it being a hallucinogen and that it is largely classed as an unlicensed medication. The conspiracy theorists amongst us, might think the drug companies make more money out of methadone and other treatments than they would with a potential 'one hit' Iboga dose?

Well, amazing at it was the while process is quite tough, no food for 24 prior and I couldn't walk for a couple of days, plus there is the violent vomit stage where I literally felt like my insides were being turn out! So, not something you'd want to do often, but experience is so big I dont feel I'll need to do it again. It tested me to the edge of sanity and fear but the euphoria and cleansed feeling after the 40 hours is amazing, and something that has stated with me even till now. I did think the same as you before I took it, may be changing one addiction for another but take it from me after an iboga trip you won't need to use anything again.

Do people ever become addicted to iboga when seeking treatment? Or perhaps not "addicted" in a traditional sense of the way they were "addicted" to whatever they're seeking treatment for but-- it just sounds like such a beautiful feeling that I'd imagine iboga is often abused.

the trip was intense but the 36 hours or so seemed like a flick of a flame, whilst under the iboga time really has no meaning, by that I mean you begin to see the levels of reality in ways that go beyond hours and minutes. I have during my 'rave' days done more drugs then most casual users, even dipping into pharmacueticals occassionally such as diazipam etc plus the more common acid and e's but this was as equally frightening as it was beautiful. I wouldn't reccomend taking the iboga unless you feel you are either spiritually ready or at a point in your life where this may be a last chance, as I said before this is in no way a recreational experience, but one which I'm 100 percent thankful I had. Saras aura also played a huge part in my successful trip as she made me feel very safe and secure, at times I was scared but a reassuring word from her eased my mind. On one hand I wish people could share my experience just to understand how utterly huge it is, but on the other hand maybe you shouldn't. If at some point in your life you find yourself with a shamen in Gambia or with Sara in Amsterdam, I hope you take away as much as i did, and remember, when the gods ask if you want to cone back...say yes :)

Sara, I think you are an amazing woman - what you do takes great strength and courage...and I think this film shows that.

As for the tone of the film, I know Jan spent days cutting and re-cutting it to ensure that it did not 'belittle' what you do. I know he has great respect for you and was hoping this could pave the way towards making the 'real' doc. I think this pod format is great for getting ideas out there but at the same time needs to be entertaining as well as informative - a balancing act I personally think Jan pulled off well.......
:)

I yelled "NO WAY!" when I heard that the trip could last from 30-40 hours.

My experience with hallucinogens was one of the most intense moments of my life. After the initial euphoria and happiness I had in my first 3 or 4 hours, I was later brought down with extreme depression and disconnection, "tumbling down the rabbit hole," as they say. My friends told me later that it was caused by the serotonin in my brain being at a very low level... I'm not sure. I turned into such a hypochondriac, thinking I went crazy, but this was remedied once I finally got up and started walking around again.

My trip lasted about 8 hours. I don't know if I'd be able to handle 40.

Hi im Swany from Jans film, Im glad to say I havent smoked a thing since my experience, which was both emmensly spiritual and life changing. Im sad to read the response that Sara made about some of Jans comments as I know he has nothing but the utmost respect for the work that she does. If it seems that he is dumbing down her work, I can only say in his defense that the whole subject demands a longer examination as its very hard to portray in such a short space of time. I was made to feel totally welcome by both Sara and her children, to mirror Jans reply, they were some of the most open and well rounded kids Ive ever met and Im sure that he did not mean to infer any comments about parental choices.

Although I only spent a few days at the house, the whole process opened up and confirmed many things that I had thought about myself and life in general. The iboga experience is not something to be taken lightly I can assure you all.

I hope that Sara continues her work curing the addictions and opening the minds of people from all over the world.

This piece is wonderful, Sara you are truly a kind and loving person to be welcoming strangers in from all over the world into your home and helping them with what ails them. I, personally, do not feel that this pod placed you in a bad light at all. Even if the gentlemen who created this piece had some factual inacuracies they seem too minimal to really shed a bad light on what you and your family does. Addiction is a horrible thing, I know first hand from my use of Ecstasy. it's not easy to piece yourself back together once you reach bottom and i wish I could come to amsterdam and visit you. god bless

Hello,
Sara - as mentioned in a personal email, I am very sad to hear you are so disappointed. I hope the tone of the film doesnt beliittle your work in any way, as my original fascination was with the very good work that you do - and I think the film represents the positive side of your treatment. As for the factual innacuracies, I can only apologise. I have seen your lengthy list of people who have undergone your treatment, as well as the life changing results. Whilst Heroin addiction is the real story, we did discuss this treatment and its benefit for all forms of addiction. Swany's journey merely highlights this, and thanks to Jasen's testimony, we have evidence of it working.
If having watched this short, viewers leave with a sense that Sara's children are anything less than 'understanding and supportive', I will be very disappointed. As a father myself, the rhetorical question originally posted (an alternative family model), will be a common thought. HOWEVER, and I must stress this, your children are some of the happiest, and most grounded I have encountered. I sincerely hope you realise that I aimed to show the positive effects of your work, without producing a piece of propaganda. Through their first hand experience of seeing what addiction can do to people, I genuinely believe they become wiser - as opposed to the countless kids in the UK for instance, who'll become addicted themselves without knowing the effects.
Your story is a bigger story than what we saw here. I always knew that. Trying to illustrate everything in 8 minutes is difficult. I have to trust people viewing this will make their own minds up... and that what we offered here was an 'observational' portrait of events. If you look back at the film, you'll find no evidence of me twisting your story in any way. I regret the factual innacuracies (ages etc), but I dont regret ever coming to meet you and your family, and witness the positive effect you have on those in most need. I'm also sorry you're not happy with the term 'Iboga Mother' - what was explained to me by yourself, as the person who administers the treatment, and looks after them whilst they are tripping. Please do come back to me if this is incorrect.
Jan

This is really interesting. I love hearing about non-pharmaceutical approaches to addiction or mental trauma. Do you include some form of psychotherapy/talk therapy with the ibogaine treatments?

I have never met or seen anyone who needed anything more than their own will power to quit smoking ganja... I think the ibogaine was overkill in his case.

A great mini documentary - well done Current.

I really liked the music at the end of this. Does anyone know what the songs are?

my prudence would never allow me to go to amsterdam to cure an addiction...

hopefully sara knows the correct doses 2 give her clients. and if the clients feel better after the treatment then sara can say she did her part. going back 2 the real world after the treatment wil b the real test. keep ur heads up im rooting 4 ya!