Скачать или смотреть PERU: TRADITIONAL MEDICINE USED FOR TREATING DRUG ADDICTION

(12 Jun 1999) Spanish/Nat

Deep in the Amazon jungle, traditional medicines are being used to treat a growing modern day problem- drug addiction.

Addicts are treated with Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic beverage said to cleanse the soul and spirit, which has been traditionally used by shamans.

A rehabilitation clinic in Peru which has developed the treatment now receives patients from all over the world.

Deep in the Peruvian jungle, 600 kilometres north east of the capital Lima, is the town of Tarapoto.

It's home to Takiwasi, a drug rehabilitation clinic with a difference.

Fifteen patients from around the world are currently at the clinic hoping to beat their habits.

Addicts are treated with Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic beverage used in shamanism throughout the Amazonian region.

The treatment has been developed by a French doctor who has spent twelve years studying shamanism.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"Shamanism or traditional medicine intends to modify the conscience of the addict, but with substances that he can control allowing them to explore themselves, to look for answers, but guided and controlled, metabolising substances and concepts without side effects, with the integration of the experience."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr. Jack Mabit, Founder and President of Takiwasi Rehabilitation Centre

The Ayahuasca treatment is carried out once a week in a group session with doctors and patients.

The aim of the drink is to purify the addict's body and soul by eliminating the bad spirits - usually by vomiting.

Ayahuasca in Quechua means the "rope of death", and its powers to heel and drive away evils are legendary throughout Peru.

Herbs and plants are the only cure for many living in the jungle.

For Diego, a Mexican patient with a hard drug history, the Ayahuasca experience has been effective in his rehabilitation.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"Personally it helps me a lot, I had a history with magic mushrooms and LSD, it helps you to confront your problems, it brings them back and their is no way back"
SUPER CAPTION: Diego Quiroz, Mexican Patient

Curiously this part of the jungle also hides one of the biggest coca plantations in the region.

Shamans believe the addiction to drugs can only be cured in the same place where the poison is grown.

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