Religious Freedom and the Global Regulation of Ayahuasca

271 Pages·2023·5.172 MB·English

by  Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Clancy Cavnar

Religious Freedom and the Global
Regulation of Ayahuasca
This book offers a comprehensive view of the legal, political, and ethical
challenges related to the global regulation of ayahuasca, bringing together
an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars. Ayahuasca is a
psychoactive brew containing N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which is
a Schedule I substance under the United Nations Convention on Psycho-
tropic Substances, and the legality of its ritual use has been interpreted
differently throughout the world. The chapters in this volume reflect on the
complex implications of the international expansion of ayahuasca, from
health, spirituality, and human rights impacts on individuals, to legal and
policy impacts on national governments. While freedom of religion is gen-
erally protected, this protection depends on the recognition of a religion’s
legitimacy, and whether particular practices may be deemed a threat to
public health, safety, or morality. Through a comparative analysis of dif-
ferent contexts in North America, South America, and Europe in which
ayahuasca is consumed, the book investigates the conceptual, philosoph-
ical, and legal distinctions among the fields of shamanism, religion, and
medicine. It will be particularly relevant to scholars with an interest in
indigenous religion and in religion and law.
Beatriz Caiuby Labate (Bia Labate) is a queer Brazilian anthropologist based
in San Francisco. She has a PhD in social anthropology from the University
of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study
of plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social jus-
tice. She is Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic
Plant Medicines and serves as Public Education and Culture Specialist at the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She is also
Visiting Scholar at Naropa University’s Center for Psychedelic Studies and
Advisor at the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition. Dr. Labate is a
co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP)
in Brazil and editor of its site. She is author, co-author, and co-editor of
twenty-six books, two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed
articles (https://bialabate.net).
Clancy Cavnar has a doctorate in clinical psychology (PsyD) from John F.
Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, CA. She currently works in private
practice in San Francisco, and is Co-Founder and a member of the Board
of Directors of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. She
is also a research associate of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive
Studies (NEIP). She combines an eclectic array of interests and activities as
clinical psychologist, artist, and researcher. She has a master of fine arts
in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, a master’s in counseling
from San Francisco State University, and she completed the Certificate in
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy program at the California Institute of Inte-
gral Studies (CIIS). She is author and co-author of articles in several
peer-reviewed journals and co-editor, with Beatriz Caiuby Labate, of eleven
books. For more information see: http://www.drclancycavnar.com

Routledge Studies in Religion
Muslims of Post-Communist Eurasia
Edited by Galina M. Yemelianova and Egdūnas Račius
Christian Orthodox Migrants in Western Europe
Secularization and Modernity through the Lens of the Gift Paradigm
Maria Hämmerli
Domestic Demons and the Intimate Uncanny
Edited by Thomas G. Kirsch, Kirsten Mahlke and Rijk van Dijk
Jews and Muslims in London and Amsterdam
Conflict and Cooperation, 1990–2020
Sipco J. Vellenga and Gerard A. Wiegers
Alternative Spirituality, Counterculture, and European Rainbow
Gatherings
Pachamama, I’m Coming Home
Katri Ratia
Religious Freedom and the Global Regulation of Ayahuasca
Edited by Beatriz Labate and Clancy Cavnar
Interreligious Encounters in Europe
Sites, Materialities and Practices
Edited by Jan Winkler, Laura Haddad, Julia Martínez-Ariño and
Giulia Mezzetti
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
religion/series/SE0669
Religious Freedom and
the Global Regulation
of Ayahuasca
Edited by
Beatriz Caiuby Labate and
Clancy Cavnar
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Beatriz Caiuby Labate and
Clancy Cavnar; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors
for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 9780367028756 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032439327 (pbk)
ISBN: 9780429001161 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429001161
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
Contents
List of Contributors ix
Introduction: The Regulation of Ayahuasca and Its
Challenges: From the Global to the Local 1
BEATRIZ CAIUBY LABATE, CLANCY CAVNAR AND
HENRIQUE FERNANDES ANTUNES
1 Ayahuasca Vision 2021: Legal Status of Ayahuasca in
the United States 17
SEAN T. McALLISTER
2 Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey:
The Regulation of a Santo Daime Church in the State
of Oregon 38
HENRIQUE FERNANDES ANTUNES
3 Intersecting Cultures: Exploring Ayahuasca’s Legal and
Ethical Journey in Canada 51
EMMA GARROD AND KATRINA BLOMMAERT
4 Regulating Ayahuasca in the United Kingdom:
Proactive Approaches 69
CHARLOTTE WALSH
5 Santo Daime in Belgium and the Netherlands:
Prejudice, Pluralism, and the Daunting Quest for
Religious Freedom in Europe 85
BEN MEEUS
viii Contents
6 The Landscapes of Ayahuasca in Contemporary France 106
CLARA NOVAES AND MARIE ROSE MORO, TRANSLATED FROM
FRENCH BY JO ANN CAHN
7 Ayahuasca and Freedom of Religion in Australia:
Entheogens in a Post-Colonial Shadow 122
AMAR DHALL, TORSTEN WIEDEMANN AND
MANAV SATIJA
8 A Genealogy of the Ayahuasca Cultural Heritage
Registration Process in Brazil 142
BEATRIZ CAIUBY LABATE AND GLAUBER
LOURES DE ASSIS
9 “Authorization? That’s Outrageous:” Ayahuasca
Environmental Legislation and Indigenous Populations
in Brazil 160
BEATRIZ CAIUBY LABATE, HENRIQUE FERNANDES ANTUNES
AND IGOR FERNANDES ANTUNES
10 Debates on the Legality and Legitimacy of Yage in
Colombia 177
ALHENA CAICEDO FERNÁNDEZ
11 Ayahuasca in Uruguay: Legal Aspects and Public
Debates on Drugs and Religion 193
JUAN SCURO, ISMAEL APUD AND SEBASTIÁN TORTEROLA
12 Mystics or Criminals? “Cults,” Religion, and Drugs 207
MASSIMO INTROVIGNE
13 A Defense Expert Witness on Ayahuasca: An Interview
with José Carlos Bouso 222
BEATRIZ CAIUBY LABATE
Afterword: A Call for Public Support against the
Current Demonization of Ayahuasca Practices in Spain 239
BEATRIZ CAIUBY LABATE, HENRIQUE FERNANDES ANTUNES,
GLAUBER LOURES DE ASSIS AND CLANCY CAVNAR
Index 249
Contributors
Dr. Henrique Fernandes Antunes is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cen-
tre d’Étude des Mouvements Sociaux (CEMS) of the École des Hautes
Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). He has a PhD in Anthropology
from the University of São Paulo (2019), with a research internship as a
visiting scholar at the University of California Berkeley. He holds a MA
degree in Anthropology from the University of São Paulo (2012) and a
BA in Social Sciences (2006) and Anthropology (2008) from the Uni-
versidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP-FFC). He
is a member of the research group Religion in the Contemporary World
of the Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP). He is also
a member of the Ayahuasca Community Committee of the Chacruna
Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and a researcher at the Inter-
disciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP). He specialized in
the fields of urban anthropology, anthropology of religion, anthropology
of secularism, and sociology of public problems.
Igor Fernandes Antunes is a master’s candidate in the Sustainability Program
at University of São Paulo. He has a degree in Environmental Management
from the University of São Paulo (2020). During his undergraduate stud-
ies, he developed research on the relationship between religion, society,
and environment, focusing on the socio-environmental impacts linked
to the expansion of the religious use of ayahuasca. His current research
focuses on the management of the plant species that make up ayahuasca
and forms of sustainability of ayahuasca groups in Brazil. He is an associ-
ated researcher of the Research Center for Religions in the Contemporary
World of the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) and
the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies—(NEIP).
Katrina Blommaert is a research consultant and midwife in training, living,
and working on the traditional, unceded territory of the xwmeθkwey’em
(Musqueam) Nation. Katrina has worked in psychedelic research for
eight years, and managed the successful completion of phase II and
phase III clinical trials for 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
(MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder