By Charles Johnston · October 11, 2026
We Owe Norma Lotsof More Than Thanks
A movement can become popular and still forget the people who helped make it possible. I want us to pay attention to Norma Lotsof, and then do something with that attention.
I recently learned about the fundraiser supporting Norma. I include myself in this challenge. It is easy to feel grateful, talk about the history, and then let the practical need slip out of sight. I do not want to do that here.
Norma Lotsof. Photo: Norma Lotsof GoFundMe campaign.
1. Remember the people behind the movement
For many of us, Howard Lotsof is an informal godfather of the modern ibogaine movement. In this video, I explain why I believe I owe my life to his work. That is my personal account, not a promise about what another person will experience.
Norma belongs in that story too. I describe her as someone who was there in the early days, helping people and helping develop the movement. When we talk about a legacy, we should also see the person who is still here. Appreciation should reach beyond the name in a history lesson.
Howard and Norma Lotsof. Photo: Norma Lotsof GoFundMe campaign.
2. Make gratitude practical
My challenge is especially for those of us who have benefited from this work. If it has changed your life, or helped make your work possible, what does giving back look like now? The question is for me as well.
In the recording, I call on ibogaine clinics and the wider community to contribute. My comments about clinic revenue and donations are my perspective, not a financial assessment of the industry. The point is the responsibility I believe comes with benefiting from someone else's decades of work.
Gratitude can be a bridge between what someone gave us and what we choose to do next. It needs something at the other end: a contribution, a conversation, a share that helps the right person find this appeal.
3. Support Norma, and help the appeal reach people
The campaign organizers describe needs involving housing, medical expenses, ongoing support, and preserving the Lotsofs' research. The fundraiser is organized by Katie Schacht and others on behalf of Noah Rand; its story says Noah and Johanna manage the proceeds for Norma. Nekawa is sharing the appeal, not collecting these donations (Schacht, 2023).
I would love to see this community raise $100,000 for Norma. That is my aspiration. The campaign's stated goal is $60,000. Please use the live campaign page for current figures and updates.
Read the campaign and support Norma
If you can contribute, consider doing that. If you cannot, sharing still helps the appeal reach people. Send it to someone who knows this history or has benefited from it. Let's turn appreciation into something Norma can feel in her day-to-day life.
Context for the recording
The recording keeps the age and donation figures as I spoke them. "85" is the age quoted in the campaign story published March 30, 2023, not a verified current age. Roughly $42,000 is the figure I quoted in this recording on October 10, 2026; it differs from the campaign page reviewed while preparing this article, so check the live GoFundMe for its current total. The campaign's displayed goal is $60,000; $100,000 is my aspiration, not a replacement goal. What I say about clinic revenue and giving is my own observation and opinion, not an independently verified financial audit.
The Beond and Ambio logos that appear on screen identify the clinics I refer to. They are editorial references, not sponsorship or endorsement.
A brief note on health and safety
This video is a fundraising appeal and personal testimony, not medical advice. Ibogaine can prolong the heart's QT interval and cause life-threatening arrhythmias, and deaths have been reported (Koenig & Hilber, 2015). Qualified medical screening and monitoring are essential. The MAPS Ibogaine Investigator's Brochure summarizes the research and risks; it is a research resource, not a clinical-care protocol or proof of regulatory approval (MAPS, 2026). Our page on whether ibogaine is safe goes deeper.
About the author
Charles D. Johnston is co-founder and lead teacher of Nekawa. After years of heroin and cocaine addiction, he went through ibogaine treatment in 2013 and helped launch six ibogaine projects in Mexico and Costa Rica before founding Nekawa in Brazil. He is initiated in Bwiti and continues training with Gabonese elders in Brazil and Gabon. Read his story.
Frequently asked questions
Related reading
References (3)
- Koenig, X., & Hilber, K. (2015). The anti-addiction drug ibogaine and the heart: A delicate relation. Molecules, 20(2), 2208–2228. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules20022208
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. (2026, June 1). Ibogaine investigator's brochure (Version 01; effective July 1, 2026). https://maps.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Combined_CoverLetter_and_IB_July2026.pdf
- Schacht, K. (2023, March 30). Support ibogaine pioneer: Norma Lotsof [Fundraising campaign]. GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/f/norma-lotsof
Transcript
This is Charles Johnston at Nekawa Ibogaine in Brazil and I want to talk about a very important topic. You're going to want to share this because this is about appreciation and gratitude. I was recently informed of a fundraising effort to support a woman named Norma Lotsof.
Norma is the widow of Howard Lotsof and Howard Lotsof for many of us is like an informal godfather. He was the man that discovered Ibogaine's anti-addictive effects in the 1960s and started the movement of Ibogaine in the treatment of opioid use disorder and other addictions. So I believe I owe my life to this man because otherwise I don't think I would have known about Ibogaine 40 years later from when he did it.
She's an 85 year old woman, she's been challenged financially the last few years as she ages.
There's been a GoFundMe that's been around for over three years now that is raising money to support Norma into moving into a better situation and having a better livelihood in how she spends the rest of her life.
She lives in New York City and they're trying to raise $60,000. They've raised roughly $42,000 so far and some of the people that have given money, I have to appreciate Talia Eisenberg. She's given over $10,000. She runs the clinic Beond and I think that's exactly what should be happening.
These Ibogaine clinics that oftentimes are making over a million dollars a month should be the ones to fund. I haven't seen some of the other clinics like a very big one in Tijuana give very much money to Norma but it would be a very small percentage of their revenue if they could cover all of her costs.
It'd be great if we could raise $100,000 for Norma because this woman was right there as Ibogaine was moving along and she was giving it to people, helping people in the early days and developing what Ibogaine has become today and we owe her a great deal of appreciation and generosity.
So again, please share, check out the GoFundMe and let's raise some money so that this woman can feel secure and feel good about her contribution to everyone because she gave selflessly for many years when it was not popular and now it's becoming super popular and it's time that we give back, that the clinics give back, that those that are benefiting give back.
So thanks, please I'd love to see that number go up and if you have other things that you'd like me to touch on, I'm here. Again this is Charles at Nekawa Ibogaine in Brazil and I'll talk to you later.
