Legislation in Peru: Protecting Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca is a tropical plant that has been used by indigenous people throughout the centuries for numerous reasons. Although many nations, including places like the United States, were wary of this plant because of its hallucinogenic properties, other South American places, including Peru, protect ayahuasca due to the fact that it is used for religious and medicinal purposes.  

Article 299 of the Peruvian penal code states possessing drugs is not punishable if contained to certain quantities, showing how lenient Peru is when dealing with drugs as opposed to other countries. However, the reason why ayahuasca is now protected by Peruvian law is that ayahuasca is not seen as a drug. More accurately, it is a liquid form of a vegetable mixture that is used in tea and other beverages. It is not harmful or addictive, which is very common in many drugs. Ayahuasca has been utilized by many groups in South America for a millennium. Legally, ayahuasca is not viewed as a drug. It is also protected because the strong ties to the cultural traditions with this plant that many defenders of this decision say is an “expression of a world of diversity and cultural enrichment” (Ayahuasca Peru, 2016). Because of this, it is protected in Peru, even spreading to other continents. This is possible due to its classification. Specifically, the Peruvian government declared ayahuasca to be recognized as a part of Peruvian cultural heritage. 

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) explains, “the ayahuasca-ancient herbal preparation use among South American indigenous peoples, nor is, nor should be considered a way of making [drugs]. Ayahuasca is grown naturally and happens in many living things, including humans” (Ayahuasca Peru, 2016). Ayahuasca is a substance that is spread in nature, which is one of the main reasons why it is legal. However, some opposing ayahuasca explains that other drugs have come from nature as well. This is addressed, however, because the only type of ayahuasca that is illegal for the INCB, is if there was a drug that is mixed and created synthetically. This type of exception would be considered a Schedule I drug in the hallucinogenic substances. Ayahuasca has been used for more than simply a religion and medicinal uses. The beverage form has caused an increasing number of tourist coming to the region, which has grown. Now, ayahuasca is commoditized globally (Homan, 2011). 

Ayahuasca legislation has been having lasting impacts on not only Peru but around the world. Ayahuasca has now spread to the West, due to the precedent legality of it in South America. For example, there was a recent court case in the United States that now allows ayahuasca use for religious practices. Specifically, Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao de Vegetal was heard in the US Supreme Court in 2005, which ultimately led to the allowance of tea for religious use because of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Ayahuasca Peru, 2016). The Peruvian’s protection of ayahuasca has had an influence abroad and can be seen throughout the world, where more understand its effects and realizing that despite its hallucinogenic effects, it has a place for medicinal purposes and in religion. It is legal in Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, and Chile. It is even legal in all the countries that follow the Narcotics Control Board. This shows how widespread the tropical plant has become because of the efforts of the people that ayahuasca is native to. 

Today more people are open to ayahuasca for religious and medical purposes. For example, many tourists who visit enjoy trying it. Also, it has been accepted for those who use it in religious purposes in many countries in the Western Hemisphere. Ayahuasca is known as a tropical plant native to the Amazon region and used by many ethnic groups in this region for medicinal and medicinal uses, despite its hallucinogenic factors. With more open to hallucinogenic substances being used for recreational and medicinal use, it is no wonder why it is protected in Peru’s legislation. Although many were afraid that ayahuasca was a hallucinogenic, Peruvian legislation still protects it because of the religious ties and long history with the vine.

References

Ayahuasca Peru (2016). Ayahuasca is legal?. Ayahuasca Chaman. Retrieved from http://ayahuasca.com.pe/index.php/Ayahuasca_is_Legal?

Homan, J. E. (2011). Charlatans, seekers, and shamans: The ayahuasca boom in western Peruvian Amazonia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas).