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jordanjakesmith - Dr. Martin Polanco

2011-02-14 11:11:51 by jordan jake smith

All about Dr. Martin Polanco
All about Martin Polanco, MD
www.ibogaine-treatment.com

The Iboga Insurrection (Pt.1)

Source of content: http://www.realitysandwich.com/iboga_insurrection_part_1

by Charles Shaw

Polanco was a fixture in the ibogaine underground for many years, particularly in Mexico. He is credited with breaking open many heads, including Rocky Caravelli, the owner of the “Awakening in the Dream” ibogaine therapy house in Puerto Vallarta. Pinchbeck did his second journey with iboga at Polanco’s, where he met Randy Hencken of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), who had just started overseeing a MAPS ibogaine program and would later collaborate with Polanco on a study, only to have things go terribly wrong.

MAPS tapped Valerie Mojieko to design the study and sent her down to undergo the treatment. Unbeknownst to her, Polanco was developing a bad reputation for being a provider who gave poor-quality treatments. Consequently, Mojieko had a very stressful and unpleasant experience, at one point believing she was having major heart complications. Her bad trip was made worse by the language barrier of Polanco’s staff and, ironically, their lack of training in how to care for people having difficult psychedelic experiences, a major focus of Mojieko’s work. Shortly thereafter someone died while being treated by Polanco, and the clinic had to be shut down. The MAPS study was dead in the water.

Around that same time Clare Wilkins came to Polanco for treatment and she had a similarly alienating experience. Although as an addict she respond well to the medicine, she was unable to connect with either the setting or the treatment staff on hand. None of them were addicts, and none of them had ever taken ibogaine.

“I was left completely alone when I did my treatment,” Clare says, making sure I understand how un-kosher this is. “I was the only person in the clinic at the time. It was terrifying. I didn’t want to ever see another addict go through that if I could help it.”

Intending only to volunteer for Polanco in order to have at least one other addict present who knew what the patient was going through, Clare, who has no formal training in addiction, psychology, or medicine, ended up buying the Ibogaine Association from Polanco when he ran into trouble. A chance meeting with MAPS founder Rick Doblin at the 2006 Burning Man festival led to a renewed relationship with the organization, and a new study.

Clare proved to be an autodidact, an honorary Ph.D in addiction like Howard Lotsof, but she also knew that if she really wanted to understand this medicine she needed to reach out to Lotsof in person, to pay her respects to the Godfather.

Dr. Martin Polanco, MD
209 North Wilton Place
LA CA., 90004
(650) 283-5571

1 Responses

Responses

2011-02-19 16:43:40 by Martin Polanco

I understand and value all relevant concerns regarding the quality of the services facilitated at the clinic. I take my work seriously so feedback is important to me. However, there are several statements made in your letter that do not represent the truth.

First, I was not the operating director of the clinic, nor was I the ibogaine provider at the time these treatments took place. As the owner, I do accept full responsibility for what happened at the program, however, some of the statements in the Ibogaine Insurrection article are completely false. I can confirm that Clare was not left alone during her treatment, and she will verify this.

Second, I ask that you consider the context and circumstances of the incidents you have mentioned above with respect for the dynamics of the medicine, the psychology of the patients involved, and the challenges that are faced in providing ibogaine in a medical environment.

The truth is that my work and the valuable work of my colleagues is tremendously helping people reclaim power and sanity in their lives, as this medicine has a profound effect on helping patients recover from addictions that are beyond my control. They often come to treatment near the edge of death and in extremely ill condition. The nature of this medicine is intense and deep, and it does come with some risks for people who are already in poor health. We take this medicine very seriously, and precautions are taken in pre-screening patients to make sure that this treatment will be as safe and effective for them as possible.

If you have further specific concerns you wish to discuss with me directly, please contact me directly and I will be happy to answer any appropriate and relevant questions you might have.

Sincerely,

Martin Polanco, M.D.

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