Howard Lotsof correspondence and other materials

Howard Stephen Lotsof was born in the Bronx on March 1, 1943 to Abner and Lillian Weiner Lotsof.  He majored in film at New York University and received his bachelor’s degree in 1976.  At 19 years of age, Lotsof was addicted to heroin until one of his friends, who was a chemist, offered ibogaine to him.  When he took the ibogaine, the trip lasted for a very long time and Lotsof was exhausted by the time the substance wore off.  He noticed that during his long trip on ibogaine, he did not suffer any withdrawal symptoms from not taking heroin.  Lotsof quit taking heroin stating, “The next thing I knew, I was straight.” This along with the fact that he was able to view the world without fearing it made Lotsof consider the benefits of ibogaine to drug addicts.  Lotsof asserts that of the six of his friends who were addicted to heroin, five of them immediately quit the drug after taking ibogaine.  He became a life-long advocate for ibogaine and its healing powers for drug addicts.  In 1983, Lotsof founded the Dora Weiner Foundation (named after his grandmother) to develop ibogaine as a medication and to disseminate information about chemical dependence; he also used the foundation to refer people to treatment.  In 1986, he received a patent for the use of ibogaine as a remedy for heroin and cocaine addiction.  While Lotsof had a difficult time gaining funds and support, Leo Zeff was a strong supporter of his work and donated $25,000, which was used to fund the first international ibogaine symposium in Paris.  Lotsof continued his advocacy for the use of ibogaine as a treatment for addiction until his death from liver cancer on January 31, 2010.

Sources: Hevesi, Dennis. “Howard Lotsof dies at 66; found drug treatment in an African plant.” New York Times. 17 February 2010: NA(L). Gale Biography In Context. Web. 9 December 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow “Howard S. Lotsof.” Erowid Vault. 9 December 2011. http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/lotsof_howard/lotsof_howard.shtml