ABSTRACTAyahuasca has become a subject of great interest in recent years. Academics, spiritual seekers, communities, and curious individuals have all been intrigued by this topic through either writing about it or direct participation in the contemporary spiritual phenomenon that is ayahuasca, which holds promises of bestowing upon its users profound wisdom or healing. However, what...
Abstract Ayahuasca is a psychedelic plant brew originating in the Amazon basin. It is typically made from two basic components: the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi), containing various harmala alkaloids, and the leaves of a plant containing the potent psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT), such as the chacruna plant (Psychotria viridis). Evidence suggests the brew has been used for at least...
This chapter looks at the various proactive approaches that may be taken in the quest to regulate plant medicines. It opens with a legal analysis of the refusal by the Secretary of State in the UK—and subsequent applications to appeal this decision—to allow an ayahuasca-using church, the União do Vegetal (UDV), to be granted a license to import, possess, and supply its sacrament. This is...
This chapter aims to investigate the genealogy of the ayahuasca cultural heritage registration process in Brazil. Through a historical and comparative perspective, we identify the main players involved, as well as the conflicts, disputes, and alliances that form this scenario. First, we describe briefly the cultural heritage registration process of various psychoactive plants in Latin America....
February 27, 2023Amar Dhall, Torsten Wiedemann, Manav Satija1 citation
The legal framework that regulates ayahuasca in Australia has federal, state, and territory dimensions. This chapter will tease out the complex relationships that exist between various agencies and legislation across these jurisdictions to make plain the state of ayahuasca regulation in 2018. A brief review of unsanctioned ayahuasca use is provided, outlining the implications of imported,...
In this interview, performed in 2018, anthropologist and ayahuasca researcher Dr. Bia Labate speaks with Dr. José Carlos Bouso, who is a clinical psychologist with a PhD in pharmacology and is Scientific Director of the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS). Dr. Bouso speaks on his first experience being a defense expert witness on ayahuasca in Spain...
Ayahuasca appeared in Uruguay in the 1990s through different groups such as Santo Daime church and different neo-shamanic and holistic centers. Since then, different legal cases and public discussions arose, in a debate where drug policies and religious rights were involved. The current chapter describes and analyzes some cases that recently emerged in the public scenario. First, we will...
February 27, 2023Alhena Caicedo Fernández3 citations
In Latin America, the consumption of yagé, or ayahuasca, has spread under different forms of use in each country. In Brazil, religious use is recognized, while in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, therapeutic use has allowed the recent expansion of ritual consumption. In fact, in the latter case, it has been the close relationship between yagé and Indianness in the national...
The laws in the United States around the legality of ayahuasca are complex, detail oriented, and contradictory in many ways. There are both judicial and administrative processes for religious adherents or churches that use ayahuasca to seek exemption from Controlled Substances Act prohibitions and criminal sanctions. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a federal law enforcement...
February 27, 2023Clara Novaes, Marie Rose Moro, Jo Ann Cahn2 citations
This chapter is inspired by some of the questions raised in my doctoral dissertation in psychology about contemporary ritual experiences with the Amazonian drink, ayahuasca, in urban areas in Brazil as well as Europe, especially France. Here, our purpose is to problematize the relations between the contemporary world, the new modes of subjectification that these experiences induce, and the...