The DEA report on ayahuasca risks: “Science” in service of prohibition?

• Autor(a) principal: Labate, Beatriz Caiuby
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Ermakova, Anna O., Sloshower, Jordan, Coelho, Nicole Leite Galvão, Fontes, Fernanda Palhano Xavier de, Antunes, Henrique Fernandes, Assis, Glauber Loures de, Cavnar, Clancy, Araujo, Draulio Barros de, Ribeiro, Sidarta Tollendal Gomes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFRN
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/54170
• topic: Ayahuasca; Drug enforcement administration; Report - Critique

On 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 church, in conjunction with Chacruna Institute, submitted two FOIA requests to the DEA and the Department of Justice requesting all records pertaining to ayahuasca. This report, titled “Ayahuasca: Risks to Public Health and Safety,” was issued in July 2020. In the present article, we challenge a number of claims made in the DEA report and highlight significant factual omissions, theoretical biases, and misinterpretations of existing data. We will demonstrate that the DEA report severely downplays the safety profile and therapeutic potential of ayahuasca and overemphasizes the risks. It also fails to include current research on ayahuasca demonstrating its potential benefits