Towards better ayahuasca practices: A guide for organizers and participants

This document is a compilation of better practices for the use of ayahuasca in non-Amazonian contexts. It covers individual, collective and legal responsibilities.

Ayahuasca is a decoction of different plants with a long history of use in the Amazon, where very old records of its use by native peoples exist. In the last few decades the use of this preparation has been expanding beyond its original context, now reaching many countries outside of the Amazon. One of the consequences of this expansion has been the appearance of new forms of use, which in turn have brought new therapeutic potentials as well as new risks.

It is evident that native communities of the Amazon and other peoples with a long history of ayahuasca use do not need a guide like this. Ayahuasca is part of their cultural and spiritual systems, which include safe ways of working with the effects of the preparation, as well as methods for integrating them into the everyday life of the community. On the contrary, this document is aimed at people who organize or participate in ayahuasca sessions outside of Amazonian contexts.

The objective of this guide is to present a series of minimum safety standards to support ayahuasca sessions in non-Amazonian contexts, as well as to inform potential participants of ayhausca sessions, so that they can better assess the safety and responsibility of the sessions in which they are going to participate, and thus make informed choices.