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The measure affects the drink and derivative products, such as oral solutions, honey, florals and microdoses, advertised or sold online by companies and individuals
On January 28, Anvisa (the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency) published a resolution in the Union Official Journal banning the marketing and advertising of ayahuasca-based products by individuals or companies. The measure applies to any type of advertising or sale over the internet, due to the lack of registration and operating authorization required by health legislation.
According to the agency, the sale of these products without registration constitutes an infringement of the laws regulating medicines (Law No. 6,360/1976) and the technical standards established by RDC (Regime Differentiated of Public Contracts) No. 26/2014.
The new measure makes it clear that any individual or legal entity that promotes or sells ayahuasca on digital platforms is subject to legal sanctions.
The resolution extends a 2021 decision by Anvisa, which focused on ayahuasca-based florals. The new measure makes it clear that any individual or legal entity that promotes or sells ayahuasca on digital platforms is subject to legal sanctions, even if the sale is presented as a “natural remedy” or “spiritual supplement.” The aim of the measure is to avoid risks to public health, since these products do not undergo safety and efficacy assessments.
Although the new rule does not directly interfere with the ritualistic and religious use protected by law, Anvisa stresses that selling ayahuasca to the general public distorts its original purpose and can open up space for opportunistic and irregular practices.
Ayahuasca groups and specialists have spoken out against the sale of the drink, advocating that ayahuasca be produced by the communities themselves and remain restricted to ritualistic and research contexts.
Ayahuasca groups and specialists have spoken out against the sale of the drink, advocating that ayahuasca be produced by the communities themselves and remain restricted to ritualistic and research contexts.
“With the explosion in the use of ayahuasca in Brazil and around the world, it’s only natural that the issue reaches government agencies,” says the founder and executive director of the Chacruna Institute, Bia Labate, an anthropologist who has been researching the ayahuasca field for almost 30 years.
For Labate, the current situation reflects the exploitation of a new market for services and products aimed at an urban middle class. “Apparently, the regulatory forces are manifesting themselves now. Although ayahuasca does not offer any substantive health risks, and even less so in mild doses, improper marketing and promises of miraculous cures should be avoided,” she warns.
The anthropologist stresses, however, the importance of Anvisa sticking to its specific regulatory role. “Interfering in important decisions about the future of ayahuasca in our country without consulting indigenous peoples, religious users and researchers would be a disaster.”
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Amazonian Ancestral Drink
Ayahuasca is a drink of Indigenous origin, traditionally used in healing rituals and spiritual practices for hundreds of years, especially by Amazonian peoples. It is prepared from a combination of the plants Banisteriopsis caapi (vine) and Psychotria viridis (leaves), which together produce a psychoactive effect.
Since the 1980s, the ritual use of the drink has expanded into urban contexts, with the emergence of various ayahuasca religions, such as Santo Daime, UDV (União do Vegetal), and Barquinha, which use ayahuasca in religious ceremonies.
The ritualistic and religious use of ayahuasca was officially recognized in Brazil in 1987, after a series of discussions promoted by CONFEN (Federal Council on Narcotics), the predecessor body of CONAD (National Council on Drug Policy).
In 2010, CONAD published a resolution that consolidated the right to religious use of ayahuasca, as long as it was part of well-defined cultural and religious practices, with rules to prevent misuse and commercialization.
Despite this legal recognition, ayahuasca is not considered a medicine by Anvisa and therefore cannot be produced, sold or advertised commercially. The current ban affects not only the sale of the traditional drink, but also products derived from it, such as oral solutions, honey, florals, and microdoses.
Note: This article was originally published in Portuguese on Psicodelicamente here.
Art by Mulinga.
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