Ayahuasca Deaths
Although ayahuasca deaths are rare, they should not be ignored. Ayahuasca deaths can result from negligence or malpractices. Participants may not be screened thoroughly, or prepared properly. Some may be given toxic admixtures. Participants themselves may not disclose conflicting medications or ill health.
Transparency is important. This information about ayahuasca deaths is provided for public awareness, as a public service.
Soul Quest– r/https://www.wftv.com/news/9-investigates/no-charges-after-death-investigation-at-ayahuasca-church/852255976
Canto Luz – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2941085/Jennifer-Logan-dies-drinking-tea-Peru-shaman-ceremony.html
Phoenix Ayahuasca Retreat – r/http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/29599/1/a-story-of-drugs-darkness-and-death-deep-in-the-jungle
Etnika’s Shamanic Healing Center– r/http://cuzcoeats.com/tourist-dies-ayahuasca-rite/
Shimbre Shamanic Center – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202459/Kyle-Joseph-Nolan-death-Peruvian-shaman-confesses-buried-body-U-S-teen-spiritual-retreat.html
Sacha Huarmi– https://web.archive.org/web/20161215192905/http:/diarioahora.pe:80/es/muere-turista/
Tsunki Chiriap Ayahuasca – http://latinamericacurrentevents.com/ecuador-shaman-to-be-sentenced-to-prison-term-in-death-of-u-s-citizen-during-ayahuasca-ceremony/39110/
Espiritu de Anaconda/Anaconda Cosmica – https://www.mensjournal.com/features/the-dark-side-of-ayahuasca-20130215/
Harry Morton, Lindsay Lohan’s ex, Over-uses Ayahuasca and his Heart Stops for ‘Real Death Experience’ – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7729759/Harry-Morton-died-38-sudden-cardiac-arrest.html
Ayahuasca Legal Status in the US
Republished as a public duty from the original publication of the Santo Daime Organization , that cautions readers about ayahuasca deaths and illnesses:
All legal information should be verified through other sources.
http://ayahuascadefense.com/index.php/national-legal-status/
Ayahuasca deaths and legal status is summarized in this report. Ayahuasca (which contains DMT) is illegal to import, consume, possess, sell, and distribute in the United States with a judicially granted exception for the syncretic Christian churches União do Vegetal (UDV) and the Santo Daime (in Oregon and Los Angeles) based on religious freedom. These exceptions only apply for these specific religious groups, and were obtained after protracted legal battles that, in the case of the UDV, reached all the way to the Supreme Court.
The DMT in ayahuasca is a Schedule I controlled substance regulated by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The statutory maximum punishment for possession or import of DMT or a substance found to contain DMT is 20 years imprisonment. There have been several legal incidents related to ayahuasca in the USA, however so far no person has ever been sentenced to prison for ayahuasca, but people have been arrested for it.
Although the Native American Church has an exemption from the CSA for the sacramental use of peyote, ayahuasca legal status for this exemption does not apply to sacramental use of ayahuasca.
NATIONAL DRUG LEGISLATION
DMT is regulated under Schedule I, section c), of the 2000 Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which includes hallucinogenic substances.