Is Ayahuasca Cultural Heritage of Brazil?

Henrique Fernandes Antunes 

Ayahuasca, a drink produced from two plants native to the Amazon region, has gained notoriety in Brazil and internationally, especially because it contains small amounts of DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine), a controlled substance under the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances. In Brazil, the use of ayahuasca is widespread throughout the country. One can highlight the consumption by several Indigenous groups and the religious groups recognized by the Brazilian government and academic literature as “Brazilian ayahuasca religions” (Labate & Araújo, 2002): Santo Daime, Barquinha, and União do Vegetal (UDV). Besides these groups, there is a series of newer groups classified under the category “neo-ayahuasca groups” (Labate, 2004), referring to new modalities of ayahuasca consumption in urban centers that range from artistic to psychotherapeutic use, incorporating oriental, New Age, neoshamanic elements, and other esoteric features... continue reading.