Certain substance have physical effects that can help curing addiction of other substances, yes. Can these substances by themselves cure each and every single addiction case without any other complementary work or personal effort? Probably not. Is a personal effort and the mental change important for curing addiction? Yes.

But the evidence such as pointed by jamie and other researches I linked before show that it definitely has physical components that is beyond the mental realm. For example noribogaine reducing withdrawal symptoms, that's not psychological, that def helps people quitting drugs. Or same with the one jamie posted.

The thread was started by someone that wants to research the possibility of these substances helping him quit his specific addiction. It possibly could, though it's no guarantee. Def worth a research if he's already interested in it. Nobody here talked about or tried to argue that these substances are miracles, panaceas or absolute cures for all addiction cases, so I don't see why you seem so resistant in your stance and seemingly arguing with someone that has this inexistent extremely naive stance of 'drugs cure all addictions' like miracle pills. If you have informed criticism on specific research publications, feel free to discuss, but let's try to move the discussion forward constructively.

Back on topic. Here's a relevant link: http://the-nexian.me/hom...y-psychedelics-addiction

To my knowledge there has yet to be established empirical evidence of the hypothesized neuro-genesis effect of iboga, or the constituent alkaloids within it. However, as pointed out above, the rational evidence is abundant. Due to the irrational oppression of these substances by by people with anti-narcotic standpoints, we as a society are being denied potential pharmacological CURES (yes, i said it) for certain addictions.

I don't understand your vehemence against this. Novel modalities to treat addiction are sorely needed. Heroin addiction is a condition with a 75percent mortality rate, I've said it before, here again-I'm tired of losing friends to ineffective treatment models that teach them lies. Lies like they are powerless, etc. I lost my temper with your stance on another occasion, GOD, it seems to me to be needlessly dogmatic and bombastic- ignorant at best and goading at worst.

Sorry, OP, trying to steer this back...
exp with 5meo DMT being the catalyst for my ultimate recovery from opiates (heroin, methadone) was do due entirely to the spiritual nature if it's revelations to me. My opiate addiction was born out of depression, a slow passive suicide. There was no pharmacological action that cured me of that depression, the positive result came out of being shown something greater than myself, that beyond a doubt to me, is real.

It set me on the path to real healing, like i said, as a catalyst rather than an actual agent for change. From what I've gleaned from the published results of psilocybin studies with nicotine dependant subjects, the effect has been similar. Tobacco is a bitch. I was shown the extent of damage done to my lungs and a possible horrid future death by an alien dr in hyperspace ( ), but just snubbed out another cigarette a minute ago. Is the mother of all addiction. Good luck

@ska

Psilocybe cubensis was the agent that guided me out of the deep hole of self harm I had been digging for myself at the behest of what was meant to be a "gift from a friend," of which instead of selling....I consumed.
For 11 months I was in the cold, clamourous grips of that substance (MDPV (bath salts)) and the mushrooms were a truer mirror than any glass fashioned by the hands of man.
The speed of my recover was swift physically, the mental aspect though took a while longer.
I still remember why I did it too, a piano concerto I had composed whilst under the influence of the salts was like nothing I had ever played before....it fed my ego. I wanted to know how (at my skill level) did I come up with such beauty seemingly at whim.
The mushrooms showed me how completely foolish I really am in that pursuit, and I flushed the stuff.

This is anecdotal of course, but I attribute my recover entirely to the healing power of that summer of mushrooms.

In the recent smoking cessation study using psilocybin (attached) the researchers used cognitive behavioral therapy. Basically they started with a body scan meditation for 10 minutes. Then they developed their most important reasons for quitting into motivational statements. They were also given a scented oil to smell when they had cravings and practised guided imagery. The methods they used were based on The Quit for Life Program.

I've also attached a couple of the studies referenced by this one to provide a more thorough outline of the methodologies used in CBT in regards to smoking cessation. You can find more generalized manuals for the process of CBT here. As a final little plug the thing that was most effective in ending my own tobacco use was Allen Carr's book.

Hope that helps. Best of luck.


Johnson, Matthew W., et al. "Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction." Journal of Psychopharmacology (2014): 0269881114548296.

Sykes, Catherine M., and David F. Marks. "Effectiveness of a cognitive behaviour therapy self-help programme for smokers in London, UK." Health promotion international 16.3 (2001): 255-260.

Zernig, Gerald, et al. "A randomized trial of short psychotherapy versus sustained‐release bupropion for smoking cessation." Addiction 103.12 (2008 ): 2024-2031.