Ibogain is a very difficult drug to describe...and I still have mixed impressions about it. Being an opiate/heroin addict for years; I had done a lot of research on ibogain and talked to alot of people about it. Honestly, $500 is very cheap from what I have heard and what I have come accross. Obviously it is illegal in the US; because afterall we are the nation of closed minded individuals. I assume from your post that you have read about ibogain and what it does...for those of you that don't know, it actually makes you hallucinate, but the result is opiate detox without the awful withdrawls. After talking to many people the person that was most helpful to me was a friend that is very involved with native americans and natural healing...from what he said, the results can be good and it can be a life changing experience all together. However, he also said that it is not always effective. The biggest risk as he explained it to me (and as I have read) is actually finding an honest and true source...in other words, there are many people out there that know how desperate opiate addicts are to find an escape from their addiction and there are aLOT of dishonest individuals out there who scam, steal, and defraud addicts of there money and sometimes even their lives! Because this is not legal in the US, addicts pay money and travel to other countries where many times they are never given anything, but they are just robbed of their money. There have been some reports that people have been given "other substances that induce halluncination" (which this can be induced by a simple concoction of over-the-counter medications that cost less than $50 total; but are passed off as being ibogaine...for which they can charge $5,000). SO, my advice to you is to be very careful! I am still sitting on the fence with this one...it sounds like it may be very helpful in treating addiction; but the risks seem to be too great. Trust me, I KNOW how desperate an opiate addict becomes to quit the habbit...it is the worst position possible to be stuck in--you want to quit, but quitting is the hardest thing to do and seemingly impossible. If you do decide to go ahead and try the ibogain; be sure to protect yourself...research thorrowly, and do not go alone. I would be interested in hearing the outcome! Hang in there! You can overcome this!