- Jordan Belfort, a man famous for his history with narcotics, is singing the praises of an illegal psychedelic drug that he says cured him of his addictions
- Belfort recently revealed that, despite kicking a cocaine addiction years ago, he has spent the last several decades addicted to the opioid Suboxone
- On the recommendation of a celebrity psychedelic counselor, Belfort went to Mexico for treatment with ibogaine, which he says cured him in one day
Real life Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort has claimed that an illegal psychedelic drug cured him of his addictions and could be the answer to the opioid crisis.
The 61-year-old told the New York Post that he recently went on an ibogaine trip that cured him of his vices.
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‘When I woke up from the trip, I no longer craved opiates. I had no more physical addiction,’ he said.
Earlier this year, Belfort – who spent 22 months in prison for a pump-and-dump stock fraud scheme – was treated at a clinic outside of Cancun, Mexico earlier this year.
Ibogaine is a psychoactive drug that occurs naturally in some plants and possesses psychedelic and dissociative properties.
Belfort was famously once addicted to cocaine, a habit he claimed he quite some 25 years ago. However, he’s now admitting that wasn’t the whole truth.
‘I got sober in 1997. Then over a period of two years I had six surgeries … I was taking Vicodin and I was at the point where I’m like, you know, if this goes on much longer, I’m going to get addicted,’ he said.
‘I call my doctors [and they said], ‘Oh, you should go on Suboxone – you can stop taking any more opiates and it doesn’t get you high.
‘[They] didn’t tell me how impossible it would be to get off it! So I was taking Suboxone for 10 years. I wasn’t abusing Suboxone but I couldn’t stop taking it,’ he concluded.
Belfort recounted attempting to quit Suboxone many times over the years, but the withdrawals were always too terrible to see the effort through. His most recent attempt at a rapid detox center this year, he called a ‘total disaster.’
He admits that he was at first doubtful of the psychedelic’s healing properties.
”I grew up in the era when they really demonized psychedelics: ‘If you take one hit of LSD you jump out a window and you’ll never be the same,” he said.
‘I stayed away from psychedelics. Ironically, some of these psychedelics are incredibly potent as a healing mechanism especially when administered the right way.’
Belfort headed to Mexico on the recommendation of Mike ‘Zappy’ Zapolin, who describes himself as a ‘psychedelic concierge to the stars.’
Beond, the Mexican clinic, is a resort-style rehab that focuses entirely on ibogaine therapy treatments.
Jordan Belfort and his current wife Cristina Invernizzi. Belfort believes the tightly controlled usage of ibogaine could change the lives of many Americans impacted by the opioid crisis
Like any other resort, amenities include massages, world-class dining options, and other spa treatments, in addition to on-call therapists and doctors.
A one-to-two week stay at Beond will cost somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000.
Guests’ vitals, including cardiac and blood pressure, are constantly monitored during the treatment, which carries with it the risk of a heart attack or seizure.
‘Ibogaine can lead to changes in heart rhythm, which is why thorough cardiac screening and monitoring during experiences is essential. When ibogaine is combined with certain medications it can lead to deadly arrhythmias,’ said Dr. Martin Polanco, an addiction medicine specialist who has been with the clinic for 23 years.
Belfort said he was under medical supervision for his entire 12-hour experience with the drug.
‘Ibogaine is not something you take for fun. I couldn’t imagine doing it for pleasure … I felt it working … burning through my body,’ he recalled.
‘You know, some people have [visions] very intensely. I saw some visions, but I didn’t didn’t go as far as to be having a conversation with my father who’s passed away,’ he said, adding that he does feel he walked away with a ‘deeper understanding of myself.’
Critically, Belfort says he has been Suboxone-free ever since his treatment.
Polanco said that the drug – derived from an alkaloid found in the roots of Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub native to West Africa – is believed to function in a few different ways, including alleviating some of PTSD, depression, and addiction.
While the science behind ibogaine remains largely unproven at this juncture, some research done on rats has indicated that the drug is able to reset the reward pathways in the brain, reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Though psychedelic drugs have not yet broken through to the mainstream as healing treatments for a variety of mental illnesses, an expanding number of advocates in government are pushing for funding to explore the territory.
Conservative Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is currently running for the state’s governorship, announced $42million in funding towards ibogaine treatment for opioid addiction. The funding is the result of the settlement the state received from the multiple, enormous lawsuits against corporations that generated the opioid epidemic.
Several Republican members of Congress have also joined with progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to co-sponsor a bill that expands psychedelic research and medical usage.
Belfort says he is baffled that the drug, which is currently classified as a Schedule I substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency, is illegal in the United States.
‘It should be tightly controlled,’ he said. ‘It would save so many lived and help so many families.’
Originally published in Daily Mail on Sep. 7, 2023 – “Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort claims that illegal psychedelic ibogaine cured his addiction and opiate cravings in ONE DAY” by SOPHIE MANN.
