Why are people turning to psychedelics like ayahuasca?

By Michael Casey The Associated Press

It's widely used in South America where it is legal in several countries, including Peru and Brazil.

But in the United States, it remains illegal because the brew contains the psychedelic N, N-Dimethyltryptamine or DMT.

Despite its illegal status, ayahuasca has become increasingly popular in the US, and interest has intensified as celebrities like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Hollywood star Will Smith talked about attending ceremonies. Supporters have formed churches to hold their ceremonies, which are largely held underground in homes, at rented facilities or in remote locations like deserts.

What happens when you drink the tea?

T H o S e who drink ayahuasca report seeing shapes and colors and going on dream-like journeys that can last several hours. Some say they can encounter dead relatives as well as friends and an assortment of spirits who talk to them. Surveys of tea drinkers have reported that most experience a range of physical and mental effects after drinking ayahuasca. The most common physical reaction, according to a study in PL o S Global Health, was vomiting or nausea while other lesser side effects include abdominal pain and headaches. A majority of participants also reported seeing and hearing things, feeling alone or having nightmares—though almost all those reporting mental effects felt they were beneficial to their growth. According to the study, 2.3% of those surveyed reported needing medical attention after taking ayahuasca.

Why do people take ayahuasca?

A GR oWING number of people in the United States are turning to ayahuasca to address a range of mental ailments they say conventional medicine has failed to remedy.

Many turn to the ceremonies to help with eating disorders, depression, substance use disorders and post-traumatic stress. o ne study, using data from the Global Ayahuasca Project, reported that most people with depression felt it had “very much improved” or “completely resolved,” while most of those with anxiety reported that their symptoms were “very much improved” or “completely resolved.” o ur knowledge (of ayahuasca) is kind of limited,” he said. “There is not as much information about safety as the regular other medical treatments that you might get if you went to a regular doctor in the United States. It’s kind of in the early stages I would say—interesting, intriguing, promising.” o thers worry reports of sexual assaults at ceremonies, sickened participants or organizers ripping off people could prompt the federal government to act.

But medical experts caution that not enough research has been done in the United States to confirm these findings — though smaller studies have been done in Brazil and other countries.

“There aren’t really the same kinds of studies that have been done above ground in the United States that allow us to know how well does it really work, who does it really work the best for, what are the real side effects of it,” said Anthony Back, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He is leading a study using psilocybin, a hallucinogen found in some mushrooms, to help doctors and nurses with symptoms of depression and burnout linked to their work during the pandemic.

Where is the movement headed?

SoM e supporters worry the popularity of ayahuasca could prompt a federal government crackdown. Some advocates have reported ayahuasca shipments from South America being seized and churches closing for fear of legal trouble.

Some groups have formed churches in the hopes of being protected from prosecution by a 2006 US Supreme Court ruling. Citing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a New Mexico church won the right to use ayahuasca as a sacrament. A subsequent lower court decision ruled o regon branches of a different ayahuasca church could use it.

The US Drug e nforcement Administration, which declined to comment for this story, set up a system in 2009 for churches to be recognized as having an excep -

Psychedelic churches in US pushing boundaries of religion

HILDALE, Utah—The tea tasted bitter and earthy, but Lorenzo Gonzales drank it anyway. On that night in remote Utah, he was hoping for a life-changing experience, which is how he found himself inside a tent with two dozen others waiting for the psychedelic brew known as ayahuasca to kick in.

Soon, the gentle sounds of a guitar were drowned out by people vomiting—a common downside of the drug.

Gonzales started howling, sobbing, laughing and repeatedly babbling. Facilitators from Hummingbird Church placed him face down, calming him momentarily before he started laughing again and crawling.

“I seen these dark veins come up in this big red light, and then I seen this image of the devil,” Gonzales said later. He had quieted only when his wife, Flor, touched his shoulder and prayed.

His journey to this town along the Arizona-Utah border is part of a growing global trend of people turning to ayahuasca to treat an array of health problems after conventional medications and therapy failed. Their problems include eating disorders, depression, substance use disorders and PTSD.

The rising demand for ayahuasca has led to hundreds of churches like this one, which advocates say are protected from prosecution by a 2006 US Supreme Court ruling. In that case, a New Mexico branch of a Brazilianbased ayahuasca church won the right to use the drug as a sacrament—even though its active ingredient remains illegal under U.S. federal law. A subsequent lower court decision ruled Oregon branches of a different ayahuasca church could use it.

“In every major city in the United States, every weekend, there’s multiple ayahuasca ceremonies,” said Sean McAllister, who represents an Arizona church in a lawsuit against the federal government after its ayahuasca from Peru was seized at the port of Los Angeles.

The pro-psychedelics movement’s growth has sparked concerns of a government crackdown. In addition to ayahuasca shipments being seized, some churches stopped operating over fears of prosecution. There are also concerns these unregulated ceremonies might pose a danger for some participants and that the benefits of ayahuasca haven’t been well studied.

It was dark as the Hummingbird ceremony began on a Friday night in October, except for flickering candles and the orange glow of heaters. Psychedelic art hung from the walls; statues of the Virgin Mary and Mother Earth were positioned near a makeshift altar.

Participants sat in silence, waiting for Taita Pedro Davila, the Colombian shaman and traditional healer who oversaw the ceremony.

A mix of military veterans, corporate executives, thrill seekers, ex-members of a polygamous sect and a man who struck it rich on a game show had turned up for the $900 weekend. Many appeared apprehensive yet giddy to begin the first of three ceremonies.

The brew contains an Amazon rainforest shrub with the active ingredient N, NDimethyltryptamine, or DMT, and a vine containing alkaloids that prevents the drug from breaking down in the body.

Those who drink ayahuasca report seeing shapes and colors and going on wild, sometimes terrifying journeys that can last hours. In this dreamlike state, some say they encounter dead relatives, friends and spirits.

“You were invited for a weekend of healing,” Davila told the group, before people lined up for their tea.

Locking eyes with each participant, Davila uttered a prayer over the cups before blowing on them with a whistling sound and handing them over to drink.

Gonzales and his wife, Flor, were among the ayahuasca newcomers.

They had driven from California, hoping for relief for 50-year-old Gonzales. He'd battled drug addiction for much of his life, was suffering the effects of Covid-19 and had been diagnosed with early stage dementia.

“My poor body is dying and don’t want it to die,” said Gonzales, who rarely sleeps and is prone to fits of anger.

Maeleene Jessop was also a newcomer but grew up in Hildale, the Utah town where the ceremony was held. She is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, a polygamist offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hildale was the group's stronghold. The ceremony was held in a tent on the grounds of a house once owned by a former FLDS member.

Jessop, 35, left the church after its leader, Warren Jeffs, was arrested for sexually assaulting girls he considered brides. He is serving a life sentence in federal prison. Jessop has struggled to adapt to her new life, battling depression and haunted by the physical and sexual abuse she endured as a child.

The roots of ayahuasca go back hundreds of years to ceremonial use by Indigenous groups in the Amazon. In the past century, churches have emerged in several South American countries where ayahuasca is legal.

The movement found a foothold in the United States in the 1980s and interest has intensified more recently as celebrities like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Hollywood actor Will Smith talked about attending ceremonies.

Some spend thousands of dollars to tion to the Controlled Substances Act. But Sean McAllister, who represents an Arizona church in a lawsuit against the federal government after its ayahuasca from Peru was seized at the Port of Los Angeles, said no churches have been approved. Most people in the movement, he said, view that option as “a complete waste of time."

“The government wants to keep a lid on this thing. They want to keep it as small as they can,” said McAllister, adding that the D e A would be skeptical of people claiming ayahuasca connects them to God.

Could decriminalization help?

So M e supporters hope moves to decriminalize ayahuasca and other psychedelics in several states will reduce the risk of prosecution. Decriminalization efforts have succeeded in Colorado and o regon and a bill is pending in California. More than a dozen cities — mostly in California, Massachusetts and Washington—have passed resolutions that deemphasize the prosecution of various drugs including ayahuasca.

“Part of what we are trying to do is get the word out and change the laws in the United States so this is 100% legal and you never have to worry about it,” Brian Cantalupi, a lead facilitator with the California-based Hummingbird Church, told participants at a recent ayahuasca ceremony. The church, which once largely operated underground, now holds ceremonies in the open. But it’s unclear if the new laws sanction ayahuasca ceremonies. even if they did, participants could still face federal prosecution.

“From the perspective of Colorado, it does seem under the new law that people can get together and share ayahuasca but the question is how much are they allowed to have. That is not clear,” said Mason Marks, the senior fellow of a psychedelics project at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School. “It doesn’t mean that it’s a free for all and people can do what they want. There are still a lot of restrictions.” attend five-star ayahuasca retreats in the Amazon. But in the US, the movement remains largely underground, promoted by social media and word of mouth, with ceremonies held in supporters’ homes, Airbnb rentals and remote areas to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

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Like many of these, Hummingbird won’t be mistaken for a traditional Western church.

It has no written text and relies primarily on Davila’s prayers, chants and songs to guide participants through the ceremony.

Davila follows traditions learned from his grandfather.

Courtney Close, Hummingbird’s founder who credits ayahuasca with helping her overcome cocaine addiction and postpartum depression, believes the designation as a church helps show that participants are “doing this for religious reasons.” But when it comes to defining it as a religion, Close stressed that depends on individual participants’ experience.

“We just try to create a spiritual experience without any dogma and just let people experience God for themselves,” she said.

Back in California, Flor Gonzales is convinced ayahuasca is behind her husband’s improvement. “I just feel like we have a future,” she said. AP