Vice Ibogaine – HBO’s VICE
Matt before his initiation in Gabon, Africa.
New Life Iboga’s director, Matthew Mormello, was treated on HBO’s Vice Ibogaine for opiate addiction in 2011. He has since been involved in ibogaine treatments and ayahuasca retreats at New Life Ayahuasca. Matt’s easy going nature and inviting smile make it easy to open up to him, which is a great ability when working with ayahuasca and iboga. It’s important to him to be able to relate to the people that come to New Life Iboga for healing through either iboga or ayahuasca, and because his history holds a little bit of everything you can imagine, he is usually able to develop a bond quickly and really relate to what drives an individual to seek out these sacred medicines.
Meet Matt on HBO’s Vice Ibogaine
New Life Iboga owner and ayahuasca program director, Matthew Mormello, battled with addiction since his early teen years. His biggest struggle was with opiate addiction, specifically heroin. He had tired various methods to get clean including rehabs, 12 step programs, religious organizations and suboxone. He had periods of sobriety through out the years but would always end up returning to drug use. He had almost given up hope and accepted he would spend the rest of his life on suboxone when he found out about ibogaine treatment. Once he found out there was another way out of addition, he thoroughly researched iboga, ibogaine and Bwiti. Matt was fortunate to work with HBO to be apart of their Vice Ibogaine episode. In 2011, Matt traveled to Mexico to undergo ibogaine treatment. The Vice Ibogaine episode shows his journey and experience with this sacred plant medicine. Below you can watch his naming ceremony and the full episode.
VICE IBOGAINE
Kicking Heroin with an Ibogaine Ceremony
Heroin is the most addictive drug on earth, and some people will do anything to kick the habit. Enter ibogaine, a drug made out of the African iboga root, whose intense, hallucinogenic properties make it a class-A felony drug. But many swear it’s the most effective way to kick heroin addiction—especially when combined with a voodoo-type ritual that involves face paint and chanting. Read more…
Full Segment: Vice season 1 episode 7, Part 2
Ibogaine segment begins at 15:20