Chacruna Publishes Article Challenging DEA Ayahuasca Report

Chacruna Institute

In February 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a document to the legal team representing the Church of the Eagle and the Condor (CEC). This disclosure came two years after the CEC and the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines submitted two FOIA requests to the DEA and the Department of Justice requesting all records pertaining to ayahuasca.

The report, titled “Ayahuasca: Risks to Public Health and Safety,” was issued in July 2020. It takes a very clear stance against the use of ayahuasca, claiming that it presents a significant risk to public health and safety. The report is in line with the prohibitionist approach of the US government, which has continued to target ayahuasca groups through seizures, arrests and other actions. The report is also a strong indication that the government will be resistant to recognizing religious minorities and traditional populations’ rights.

On June 9, 2023, the Chacruna Institute published an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Psychedelic Studies contesting the DEA’s report. The article, “The DEA Report on Ayahuasca Risks: ‘Science’ in Service of Prohibition?” was written in partnership with leading experts on ayahuasca, including scholars from the fields of biology, neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, and sociology.

THIS ARTICLE SHOWS THAT THE PROHIBITIONIST PARADIGM AND THE PERSECUTION OF ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS MINORITIES WILL NOT BE IGNORED AND THAT THE GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IS TAKING A STAND AGAINST THE CRIMINALIZATION OF AYAHUASCA.

The article challenges a number of assertions made by the DEA, highlighting significant factual omissions, theoretical biases, and misinterpretations of existing data. The article highlights how the DEA report severely downplays the safety profile and therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, ignores a vast body of epidemiological evidence from its use among Indigenous and religious communities around the world, and overemphasizes the risks, while failing to include current research on ayahuasca demonstrating its potential benefits.

This shows that the prohibitionist paradigm and the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities will not be ignored and that the global scientific community is taking a stand against the criminalization of ayahuasca. If you want to read the full critique of the DEA’s report, click the button. To support this kind of critical psychedelic scholarship, please consider donating to support Chacruna’s mission.

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