On February 13, 2023, the DEA released a single document to the legal team representing the Church of the Eagle and the Condor (“CEC”). The sole disclosure comes 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—requests that went ignored and unanswered in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. This document, titled “Ayahuasca: Risks to Public Health and Safety,” was issued in July 2020 and was referenced in the Soul Quest denial letter in April 2021.
The DEA’s ayahuasca risk assessment (see below) concludes that ayahuasca is a risk to public health and safety and conflates dimethyltryptamine (“DMT”) with ayahuasca—which many find objectionable. Further, the language of the assessment does not take into account the benefits of ayahuasca and likely overstates the risks of ayahuasca use, particularly in a controlled religious or spiritual setting with adequate screening and informed consent procedures. If you have any comments or feedback on the risk assessment, email us at council@chacruna.net.
Chacruna and CEC are grateful for the community support of this effort to bring light to the government’s position on ayahuasca. We will continue to update the public as new information is released and publicly available in the case.
See also:
- “Ayahuasca FOIA Requests Reveal Increased Ayahuasca Seizures, Lack of Due Process and Government Secrecy“
- “Community Alert! Arrests and Encounters with Law Enforcement are Increasing“
- “Warning: Increase in Recent Seizures by Homeland Security in the US“
Art by Karina Alvarez.
