Skip to content

Interview with Jeffrey Bronfman, RepresentativeMestrefor the Uniâo do Vegetal Church in the United States

Marlene Dobkin De Rios, Charles S. Grob

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs June 1, 2005 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2005.10399800 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Interview Peer reviewed
Population Jeffrey Bronfman, representative mestre for the União do Vegetal Church in the United States
Topics Ayahuasca
Keywords Legislation Supreme court Law Coercion linguistics Religious studies
Citations 5
Key points The União do Vegetal Church's sacramental use of ayahuasca conflicts with U.S. drug laws, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the church's freedom of religion case.

Abstract

A telephone interview was held in November of 2004 with Mr. Jeffrey Bronfman, representative mestre for the União do Vegetal Church in the United States, which utilizes ayahuasca as a religious sacrament. At the time of this writing, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a large quantity of the ayahuasca tea was seized in the U.S. destined for sacramental use in church ritual. Mr. Bronfman discusses his church's attempt to seek remediation in the courts on this freedom of religion issue, in conflict with current drug legislation outlawing the ayahuasca tea as a scheduled drug.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on ayahuasca, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The antipodes Of the mind Indigenous people, shamans, members of different religious sects using Ayahuasca, and... 2002 Qualitative study
Drug Tourism or Spiritual Healing? Ayahuasca Seekers in Amazonia Westerners participating in an ayahuasca retreat in Amazonia 2005 Qualitative study
Therapeutic Effects of Ritual Ayahuasca Use in the Treatment of Substance Dependence—Qualitative Results Therapists, expert researchers, and individuals who underwent ayahuasca-assisted... 2014 Qualitative study n = 29
Nourishing the Spirit: Exploratory Research on Ayahuasca Experiences along the Continuum of Recovery from Eating Disorders Individuals previously diagnosed with an eating disorder 2017 Qualitative study n = 16
Exploring ayahuasca‐assisted therapy for addiction: A qualitative analysis of preliminary findings among an Indigenous community in Canada Indigenous adults in Canada who participated in ayahuasca-assisted ceremonial retreats 2019 Qualitative study n = 11

Citations in the library

Explore topics