Howard Lotsof

Howard Lotsof (March 1, 1943 – January 31, 2010) was an American scientific researcher and patent holder.

When he was 19 years old and addicted to heroin, he accidentally discovered the anti-addictive effects of ibogaine in 1962. He later attended Fairleigh Dickinson University and then New York University, graduating with a degree in film in 1976. But he was most active in promoting the use of ibogaine, authoring or co-authoring numerous research papers.

He was awarded a number of patents for the treatment of various chemical dependencies with ibogaine. The first of Lotsof's patents, issued in 1985, was US Patent 4,499,096, Rapid Method for Interrupting the Narcotic Addiction Syndrome. The last patent in the series for the use of ibogaine to treat chemical dependence was US Patent 5,152,994, Rapid Method for Interrupting or Attenuating Poly-Drug Dependency Syndromes, awarded October 6, 1992.

Lotsof was active in promoting medical usage and further research of ibogaine and had an interest in chemical dependence patient advocacy including authoring the Ibogaine Patients' Bill of Rights.

Lotsof was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates and President of the Dora Weiner Foundation. In March 2009, Lotsof was honored for his discovery of ibogaine's antiaddictive effects during the Sayulita, Mexico ibogaine Provider and Facilitator conference. Some fifty experts from around the world joined to present on ibogaine and associated subjects.

He died on January 31, 2010, aged 66, from liver cancer.