Howard S. Lotsof, User Activist and Ibogaine Advocate, passes away

A wonderful friend of the drug user movement worldwide, and a life-long drug user activist, Howard S. Lotsof passed away from liver cancer at age 67 in Staten Island, New York on January 31, 2010. Howard is survived by his wife of many decades, Norma.

Knowing that Howard’s cancer would soon be fatal, in March 2009 there was a tribute gathering for Howard at Sayulita, Mexico, in which Howard was able to participate and present A Story of My Life and Years.
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Howard was active in user-focused and drug policy conferences and was the world’s leading non-African proponent of ibogaine treatment for opiate depedency. Howard first discovered ibogaine’s properties in the mid-1960’s when he used it himself and discovered he was able to stop using heroin without any withdrawal symptoms. Download a presentation Howard gave at 2008 Drug User Activism Conference entitled The Ibogaine Community Worldwide – User to User
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Howard was the president and founding member of the Dora Weiner Foundation “to encourage and promote public knowledge of research in the study of chemical dependence and substance-related disorders and to advocate for the rights of patients being treated for dependence to drugs”; he was a board member of NAMA (National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery); he helped to found and maintain The Ibogaine Dossier, an extensive online library dedicated to providing information on ibogaine, an experimental antiaddictive medication; and he was the recepient of many awards for his work on behalf of medically-assisted treatment for opiate users, such as the Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen Action at the Drug Policy Alliance Conference in November 2009.

Howard was a wonderful human being, and as such, a sensitive, caring and committed social activist. Download Word document a brief obituary.

See Howard’s obit in the New York Times