e use of ayahuasca among rubber tappers of the Alto Juruá

The chapter reviews a decade of non-policing government monitoring of ayahuasca use in Brazil, where the brew is known as Daime, Santo Daime, or Vegetal. It argues that cost-benefit analysis of drug policy is fundamentally resolved on the cultural level, rejecting a simple mechanistic view like pharmacological determinism. The Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) sees ayahuasca not as an end in itself but as a vehicle in a path of sacrifice and austerity, while it remains an important instrument for achieving spiritual goals for the communities that use it. The chapter advocates for adopting or modifying just public policies directed to drugs, based on this pioneer experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter presents the Brazilian Federal Narcotics Board, concerning the brew called ayahuasca, known in Brazil by the names 'Daime', 'Santo Daime' or 'Vegetal'. It evaluates a decade of non-policing government monitoring of ayahuasca use, in order to promote, from this pioneer experience, the adoption or modification of just public policies that are directed to the question of drugs, ordinarily subject to multiple peculiarities. The chapter convinces that the cost-benefit analysis of the drug problem is fundamentally resolved on the cultural level. It emphasizes that a developed and mature understanding with reference to drugs cannot accept a simple mechanistic point of view, like that of pharmacological determinism. The Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) has expressed that they do not see the brew as an end in itself, but as a vehicle in a path of much sacrifice and austerity. Nevertheless, ayahuasca is itself an important element for the communities that use it, since it is an instrument for achieving spiritual goals.