In February 2021, the Church of the Eagle and Condor (CEC) and the Chacruna Institute joined forces to initiate the “Ayahuasca Religious Freedom Initiative.” On March 16, 2021, lawyers for the CEC and Chacruna Institute filed Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests on U.S. Customs Border Patrol and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. This article reviews the insights gained from the government’s disclosures, or lack thereof, to the Initiative’s public records requests.

You likely know a lot about psychedelics. You know that in most cases, these substances are illegal under U.S. law. But do you know how to...

In 2016, I found myself with the horrifying responsibility of informing traditional cannabis farmers, with decades of cultivation experience, that their assets and knowledge...

This article provides an update on two separate cases in U.S. federal court involving the religious use of ayahuasca—one in Florida brought by Soul Quest and one in Arizona brought by the Arizona Yagé Assembly. Both organizations are suing the DEA to vindicate their religious rights. Chacruna’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants reflects on the status of both cases in facing these blatant injustices and how they might impact other organizations using ayahuasca as a sacrament.

The ayahuasca tourism industry has been built on and propelled by ayahuasca’s increasing popularity as a spiritual and healing medicine worldwide. Despite thousands of...

We, representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the Juruá Valley—Apolima-Arara, Ashaninka, Huni Kuin, Jaminawa, Jaminawa-Arara, Kuntanawa, Nukini, Puyanawa, Shanenawa, Yawanawá and Shawãdawa, Noke Koi—assembled at the Third...

The Supreme Court’s December 2020 ruling in Tanzin v. Tanvir has several lessons for psychedelic religions, as well as the promise that they have a path to compensation for discrimination at the hand of federal officials. Psychedelics law expert Gary Smith explains the ruling and its potential opportunity for expanded recognition of psychedelic religious liberty.

In November 2022, Colorado will vote on the Natural Medicine Health Act, also known as Proposition 122. If passed, this act will legalize possession of psilocybin, ibogaine, DMT, and mescaline. In this article, Martha Hartney provides five key points of commentary on this proposed law.

The recent sentencing of Brazilian ayahuasca practitioner Eduardo Chianca Roca in Moscow made it clear that Russian courts will readily prosecute people using or...

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon: SECTION 1. Findings. The People of the State of Oregon find that: (1) Oregon has the...