Legal status of ayahuasca by country

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This is an overview of the legality of ayahuasca by country. DMT, one of the active ingredients in ayahuasca, is classified as a Schedule I drug under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, meaning that international trade in DMT is supposed to be closely monitored; use of DMT is supposed to be restricted to scientific research and medical use. Natural materials containing DMT, including ayahuasca, are not regulated under the 1971 Psychotropic Convention. [1] The majority of the world's nations classify DMT as a scheduled drug; however, few countries seem to have laws specifically addressing the possession or use of ayahuasca.

Contents

CountryPossessionSaleTransportCultivationNotes

Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalThe Australian Poisons Standard, February 2022, [2] lists N,N-DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE (an active ingredient in ayahuasca) as a Schedule 9 substance, making it illegal to sell, import, produce. and possess.

Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil

LegalLegalLegalLegalAyahuasca has been fully legal in Brazil since 1992. [3] Many private companies and non-profits offer ayahuasca retreats.

Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada

Illegal, unless for religious useIllegal, unless for religious useIllegal, unless for religious useIllegal, unless for religious useIn June 2017 the Santo Daime Church Céu do Montréal received religious exemption to use ayahuasca as a sacrament in their rituals. [4] As of September 2020, a total of six religious organizations have received exemptions to use ayahuasca for religious and spiritual rituals. [5] Medical studies [6] and anecdotal evidence suggest DMT, particularly in the form of ayahuasca, used under proper conditions, may prove helpful for those struggling with addiction, anxiety, depression, and trauma.

Flag of Chile.svg Chile

ControlledControlledControlledControlledThere is contradictory evidence regarding the legality of ayahuasca in Chile. Though no specific laws exist to prohibit ayahuasca, DMT is a controlled substance.

Flag of Costa Rica.svg Costa Rica

LegalLegalLegalLegalSuperficial research[ original research? ] suggests that ayahuasca is fully legal in Costa Rica and there are many private companies and non-profits offering ayahuasca retreats. As of March 2022, Costa Rica's Ministry of Health issued a press release asking the population and commerce in general not to expose themselves and remain vigilant about activities related to ayahuasca and, in case of having knowledge of these practices, make the corresponding complaint in any of their Governing Areas of Health. [7]

Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalAyahuasca contains the drug DMT, which is on the list of illegal drugs in Denmark, making it illegal to import, produce, and consume. The Santo Daime brought a case forward, claiming their right to consume ayahuasca for religious ceremonies, but the Supreme Court of Denmark rejected the case. [8]

Flag of France.svg France

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalIn France, Santo Daime won a court case allowing them to use the decoction in early 2005; however, they were not allowed an exception for religious purposes, but rather for the simple reason that they did not perform chemical extractions to end up with pure DMT and harmala and the plants used were not scheduled. Four months after the court victory, the common ingredients of ayahuasca as well as harmala were declared stupéfiants, or narcotic scheduled substances, making the Daime and its ingredients illegal to use or possess.

Flag of Germany.svg Germany

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalIn Germany, the active substances of Ayahuasca, DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, are listed in Annex I of the German Narcotics Law Betäubungsmittelgesetz. Handling the substances without a permit is punishable by law.

Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalAn attempt in 2014 by a member of the Santo Daime church to gain a religious exemption to import the drug failed. [9]

Flag of Italy.svg Italy

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalAyahuasca was declared illegal in 2022. [10]

Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia

IllegalIllegalIllegalLegalAlthough plants are not prohibited by law, the dry plant material or any other preparation that contains significant amount of controlled drug (DMT) is considered illegal. [11]

Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico

LegalLegalLegalLegalAyahuasca is fully legal in Mexico, and there are many private companies and nonprofits offering ayahuasca retreats.[ citation needed ] Despite not being illegal, since March 2022, the Mexican navy has arrested eight people for introducing ayahuasca by air through Mexico City international airport. [12] In July 2022, during a daily press conference, the Secretary of National Defense announced that 161 kilos of ayahuasca had been seized. [13]

Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalAyahuasca is officially illegal in the Netherlands, as of an October 2019 decision by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. [14] Before this, ayahuasca could be purchased in certain stores in the country, many online sellers of the substance were based in the Netherlands, and it was even possible to book an ayahuasca experience there, but things changed rapidly since the ruling by the Supreme Court. Santo Daime initially won a court case in 2001 [15] which allowed them to continue their ceremonial usage of ayahuasca, [16] but that ruling was also overturned. [14] One factor in this initial decision was a fax from the Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board [17] to the Netherlands Ministry of Public Health, stating that [P]reparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including ayahuasca are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention.

Flag of Norway.svg Norway

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalIt is illegal to prepare plants that contain narcotic drugs. [18]

Flag of Peru.svg Peru

LegalLegalLegalLegalSuperficial research suggests that ayahuasca is fully legal in Peru and there are many private companies and non-profits offering ayahuasca retreats. Powdered forms of ayahuasca are openly sold in markets, especially in parts of the country within the Amazon basin, such as the city of Iquitos.

Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal

DecriminalizedIllegalIllegalIllegalIn 2001, Portugal decriminalized all previously illegal drugs. This means that though not legal, the possession and use of ayahuasca, just like its active component DMT, is no longer a criminal offense and doesn't carry a jail sentence. The sale, transport, and cultivation of the substance remain criminal offenses, however. [19]

Flag of Romania.svg Romania

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalLegal for scientific and medical research studies by authorized doctors in clinics and hospitals only.[ citation needed ]

Flag of Spain.svg Spain

ControlledIllegalControlledControlledSale to the public is prohibited due to its toxicity. Use and marketing is restricted to the manufacture of pharmaceutical specialities, master formulas, officinal preparations, homeopathic strains and research. [20]

Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalIt is illegal to prepare plants that contain narcotic drugs. [21]

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom

IllegalIllegalIllegalIllegalDMT is a Class A Drug and is therefore illegal to distribute or possess. [22] As a DMT containing plant, ayahuasca is therefore illegal in the UK. [23]

Flag of the United States.svg United States

Illegal, unless for religious useIllegal, unless for religious useIllegal, unless for religious useIllegal, unless for religious useAyahuasca typically contains DMT, a Schedule I substance, making ayahuasca illegal under federal law. People have been federally prosecuted for ayahuasca possession as recently as 2018. [24] State law also typically outlaws DMT. However, federal courts have granted specific religious groups the right to use ayahuasca for ritual purposes.

In Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal , the Supreme Court heard arguments on 1 November 2005, and unanimously ruled in February 2006 that the U.S. federal government must allow the Brazil-based União do Vegetal (UDV) church to import and consume ayahuasca for religious ceremonies under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In September 2008, the three Santo Daime churches filed suit in federal court to gain legal status to import DMT-containing ayahuasca tea. The case, Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey, [25] presided over by Judge Owen M. Panner, was ruled in favor of the Santo Daime church. As of 21 March 2009, a federal judge says members of the church in Ashland can import, distribute and brew ayahuasca. U.S. District Judge Owen Panner issued a permanent injunction barring the government from prohibiting or penalizing the sacramental use of "Daime tea". Panner's order said activities of The Church of the Holy Light of the Queen are legal and protected under freedom of religion. His order prohibits the federal government from interfering with and prosecuting church members who follow a list of regulations set out in his order. [26]

Except for ornamental purposes, growing, selling, or possessing Banisteriopsis spp. is prohibited by the Louisiana State Act 159.

In June 2019, the city of Oakland, California, in January 2020, the city of Santa Cruz, California, and in September 2020, the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, decriminalized all "entheogenic" plants, including all natural materials used to produce ayahuasca. [27] [28] [29] [30] In November 2020, more than 76 percent of voters in Washington D.C. voted in favor of the initiative to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi. [31] In October 2021, Seattle's city council voted unanimously to decriminalize the cultivation and sharing of psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, ibogaine, and non-peyote-derived mescaline. [32] [33] In November 2021, the city of Detroit made "the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants by adults the city's lowest law-enforcement priority." [34]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayahuasca</span> South American psychoactive brew

Ayahuasca is a South American psychoactive brew, traditionally used by Indigenous cultures and folk healers in Amazon and Orinoco basins for spiritual ceremonies, divination, and healing a variety of psychosomatic complaints. Originally restricted to areas of Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, in the middle of 20th century it became widespread in Brazil in context of appearance of syncretic religions that uses ayahuasca as a sacrament, like Santo Daime, União do Vegetal and Barquinha, which blend elements of Amazonian Shamanism, Christianity, Kardecist Spiritism, and African-Brazilian religions such as Umbanda, Candomblé and Tambor de Mina, later expanding to several countries across all continents, notably the United States and Western Europe, and, more incipiently, in Eastern Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.

<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-Dimethyltryptamine Chemical compound

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including humans, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine. DMT is used as a psychedelic drug and prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes as an entheogen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychedelic drug</span> Hallucinogenic class of psychoactive drug

Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states and an apparent expansion of consciousness. Also referred to as classic hallucinogens or serotonergic hallucinogens, the term psychedelic is sometimes used more broadly to include various types of hallucinogens, such as those which are atypical or adjacent to psychedelia like salvia and MDMA, respectively. This article makes use of the narrower classical definition of psychedelics. Classic psychedelics generally cause specific psychological, visual, and auditory changes, and oftentimes a substantially altered state of consciousness. They have had the largest influence on science and culture, and include mescaline, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT.

<i>Psilocybe cubensis</i> Species of fungus

Psilocybe cubensis, commonly known as the magic mushroom, shroom, golden halo, cube, or gold cap, is a species of psilocybin mushroom of moderate potency whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. It belongs to the fungus family Hymenogastraceae and was previously known as Stropharia cubensis. It is the best-known psilocybin mushroom due to its wide distribution and ease of cultivation. This mushroom being optimal for home cultivation specifically, as was suggested in the 1970s, is primarily what led to P. cubensis being the psilocybin mushroom species most common on the black market as a street drug.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entheogen</span> Psychoactive substances that induce spiritual experiences

Entheogens are psychoactive substances that induce alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior for the purposes of engendering spiritual development or otherwise in sacred contexts. Anthropological study has established that entheogens are used for religious, magical, shamanic, or spiritual purposes in many parts of the world. Entheogens have traditionally been used to supplement many diverse practices geared towards achieving transcendence, including divination, meditation, yoga, sensory deprivation, asceticism, prayer, trance, rituals, chanting, imitation of sounds, hymns like peyote songs, drumming, and ecstatic dance. The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as those experienced in meditation, near-death experiences, and mystical experiences. Ego dissolution is often described as a key feature of the psychedelic experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psilocybin mushroom</span> Mushrooms containing psychoactive indole alkaloids

Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or shrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin, which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina.

<i>Banisteriopsis caapi</i> Species of plant

Banisteriopsis caapi, also known as, caapi, soul vine, or yagé (yage), is a South American liana of the family Malpighiaceae. It is commonly used as an ingredient of ayahuasca, a decoction with a long history of its entheogenic use and its status as a "plant teacher" among the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5-MeO-DMT</span> Chemical compound

5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) or O-methyl-bufotenin is a psychedelic of the tryptamine class. It is found in a wide variety of plant species, and also is secreted by the glands of at least one toad species, the Colorado River toad. Like its close relatives DMT and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT), it has been used as an entheogen in South America. Slang terms include Five-methoxy, the power, bufo, and toad venom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psilocin</span> Chemical compound

Psilocin is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic substance. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocybin. Psilocin is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Acting on the 5-HT2A receptors, psilocin modulates the production and reuptake of serotonin. The mind-altering effects of psilocin are highly variable and subjective and resemble those of LSD and DMT.

A psychedelic experience is a temporary altered state of consciousness induced by the consumption of a psychedelic substance. For example, an acid trip is a psychedelic experience brought on by the use of LSD, while a mushroom trip is a psychedelic experience brought on by the use of psilocybin. Psychedelic experiences feature alterations in normal perception such as visual distortions and a subjective loss of self-identity, sometimes interpreted as mystical experiences. Psychedelic experiences lack predictability, as they can range from being highly pleasurable to frightening. The outcome of a psychedelic experience is heavily influenced by the person's mood, personality, expectations, and environment.

The Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal is a religious society founded on July 22, 1961 in Porto Velho (Rondônia) by José Gabriel da Costa, known as Mestre Gabriel. The UDV seeks to promote peace and to "work for the evolution of the human being in the sense of his or her spiritual development", as is written in its bylaws. The institution today has over 18,000 members, distributed among more than 200 local chapters located in all the states of Brazil, as well as in Peru, Australia, several countries in Europe, and the United States. The translation of União do Vegetal is Union of the Plants referring to the sacrament of the UDV, Hoasca tea, also known as Ayahuasca. This beverage is made by boiling two plants, mariri and chacrona, both of which are native to the Amazon rainforest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santo Daime</span> New religious movement

Santo Daime is a syncretic religion founded in the 1930s in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Acre by Raimundo Irineu Serra, known as Mestre Irineu. Santo Daime incorporates elements of several religious or spiritual traditions including Folk Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritism, African animism and indigenous South American shamanism, including vegetalismo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4-HO-MiPT</span> Chemical compound

4-HO-MiPT is a synthetic substituted aromatic compound and a lesser-known psychedelic tryptamine. It is thought to be a serotonergic psychedelic, similar to magic mushrooms, LSD and mescaline. Its molecular structure and pharmacological effects somewhat resemble those of the tryptamine psilocin, which is the primary psychoactive chemical in magic mushrooms.

<i>O</i>-Acetylpsilocin Chemical compound

O-Acetylpsilocin is a semi-synthetic psychoactive drug that has been suggested by David Nichols to be a potentially useful alternative to psilocybin for pharmacological studies, as they are both believed to be prodrugs of psilocin. However, some users report that O-acetylpsilocin's subjective effects differ from those of psilocybin and psilocin. Additionally, some users prefer 4-AcO-DMT to natural psilocybin mushrooms due to feeling fewer adverse side effects such as nausea and heavy body load, which are more frequently reported in experiences involving natural mushrooms. It is the acetylated form of the psilocybin mushroom alkaloid psilocin and is a lower homolog of 4-AcO-MET, 4-AcO-DET, 4-AcO-MiPT and 4-AcO-DiPT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoned ape theory</span> Theory on the history of human cognitive development

The stoned ape theory is a controversial theory first proposed by American ethnobotanist and mystic Terence McKenna in his 1992 book Food of the Gods. The theory claims that the transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens and the cognitive revolution was caused by the addition of psilocybin mushrooms, specifically the mushroom Psilocybe cubensis, into the human diet around 100,000 years ago. Using evidence largely based on studies from Roland L. Fischer et al. from the 1960s and 1970s, he attributed much of the mental strides made by humans during the cognitive revolution to the effects of psilocybin intake found by Fischer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention on Psychotropic Substances</span> 1971 UN treaty to regulate recreational drugs

The Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 is a United Nations treaty designed to control psychoactive drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and psychedelics signed in Vienna, Austria on 21 February 1971. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 did not ban the many newly discovered psychotropics, since its scope was limited to drugs with cannabis, coca and opium-like effects.

The legal status of unauthorised actions with psilocybin mushrooms varies worldwide. Psilocybin and psilocin are listed as Schedule I drugs under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no recognized medical uses. However, psilocybin mushrooms have had numerous medicinal and religious uses in dozens of cultures throughout history and have a significantly lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I drugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psilocybin decriminalization in the United States</span> Movement to decriminalize psilocybin in the United States

The movement to decriminalize psilocybin in the United States began in 2019 with Denver, Colorado, becoming the first city to decriminalize psilocybin in May of that year. The cities of Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, decriminalized psilocybin in June 2019 and January 2020, respectively. Washington, D.C., followed suit in November 2020, as did Somerville, Massachusetts, in January 2021, and then the neighboring Cambridge and Northampton in February 2021 and March 2021, respectively. Seattle, Washington, became the largest U.S. city on the growing list in October 2021. Detroit, Michigan, followed in November 2021.

Initiative 81 was a Washington, D.C. voter-approved ballot initiative that changed the police priorities related to the possession, consumption, and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi. The short title of the initiative was Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020. The measure was approved by 76% of voters on November 3, 2020 and went into effect on March 16, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastião Mota de Melo</span> Historical Brazilian religious leader

Sebastião Mota de Melo, also recognized as Padrinho Sebastião, was a significant religious figure in Brazil, notable for establishing the religious organization CEFLURIS, a prominent branch of Santo Daime.

References

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Further reading

Labate, Bia; Cavnar, Clancy (2023). Religious Freedom and the Global Regulation of Ayahuasca. ISBN 978-0367028756