General situation
Ayahuasca is not specifically named in Israel’s drug laws, however, DMT is listed as illegal under Israel’s Dangerous Drugs Act of 1973. The importation of DMT-containing plants and DMT-containing drinks such as ayahuasca into Israel can carry criminal penalties.
Several people have already been charged and prosecuted for importing and distributing ayahuasca in Israel. In 2011, a television and theater actor was arrested on suspicion of attempting to import “dangerous drugs” from Brazil when two packages containing ayahuasca arrived at his house, though addressed to a fake name. More recently, in 2016-2017 the ADF provided strategic support in two Israeli court cases involving ayahuasca transiting through France and the United States, respectively, that was on route to Israel.
Israeli law does give a second-chance to first-time users of what it refers to as “dangerous drugs” (including cannabis and DMT) when those users are “normative persons” who don’t have a previous criminal record.
Current reports from sources in Israel indicate that the import of ayahuasca is strictly controlled. At the same time, ayahuasca culture is alive in Israel, with numerous scientific studies and underground circles with people connected to Peruvian vegetalismo and groups related to the Santo Daime. Some groups have described their work as “spiritual” and as a way to create bridges between Jewish and Palestinian populations, and some war veterans have claimed to drink ayahuasca for healing from PTSD.
International law
The Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) subjects several psychoactive ingredients contained in plant species to international control. DMT (N,N-dimetyltryptamine, a tryptamine alkaloid contained in Psychotria viridis and other plants generally used in the preparation of ayahuasca) is a Schedule I controlled substance in the Convention. However, according to the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) Report for 2010 (par. 284) ‘no plants are currently controlled under that Convention […]. Preparations (e.g. decoctions for oral use) made from plants containing those active ingredients are also not under international control.’
There is no general consensus between judges and law enforcement officials on whether ayahuasca is illegal because it contains DMT, or not. It is up to national governments to make the final decision in their own jurisdictions on whether to impose controls on these plants and preparations, including ayahuasca.
Israel signed the Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1973.
National drug legislation
Ayahuasca (because it contains DMT) is illegal under the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1973. The Dangerous Drugs Act does not separate drugs into “Schedules,” like is done in many other national drug laws. Instead, all “dangerous drugs” are illegal.
However, Israeli law does give a second-chance to first-time users of what it refers to as “dangerous drugs” (including cannabis and DMT) when those users are “normative persons” who don’t have a previous criminal record. Such a person would not be criminally charged and their file would be closed, given that they satisfy four conditions.
For non-“normative persons,” the punishment is severe. Unauthorized possession or use of any “dangerous drugs” including DMT in Israel is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 5,65 million Israeli shekels (about 1.47 million USD), though possession for the purpose of personal consumption carries reduced penalties of maximum 3 years imprisonment and 226,000 shekels ($59,000).
The plant ingredients of ayahuasca, B. caapi and P. viridis, are not specifically controlled and can be purchased online, but we have received reports that shipments of these and other DMT-containing plants such as M. hostilis have been intercepted by customs.
Cases
2011
Police arrested an actor, director, and two other men under charges of conspiracy to import “dangerous drugs” in May 2011 after two packages from Brazil containing ayahuasca arrived at the actor’s house. The packages were addressed to a fake name, but police arrested the actor after he signed for the packages.
2016
The ADF provided strategic support to two cases involving ayahuasca shipments that transited through the USA and France on route to Israel. In these cases, customs agents informed the Israeli police that illegal shipments were on their way, resulting in the arrest of the people receiving the packages.
In one case, the defendant claimed the ayahuasca was for personal use. The case was settled with a plea bargain of 5 months of full time community service and a small fine. In the other case, law enforcement first arrested the woman to whom the ayahuasca shipment was addressed and confiscated her computer. They then used information obtained from her computer to identify and interrogate over 25 people from the list of ceremony participants. Law enforcement also arrested her sister, as well as a woman trained in traditional Peruvian vegetalismo and as a psychotherapist at the Californian Institute for Integral Studies, two men accused of helping organize the ceremonies, and a third woman who the police claimed (based on an email they found in the woman’s computer) had broken the law in the past by importing ayahuasca. The sister, psychotherapist, the men, and the woman spent one week in prison and were released with charges.
A sixth woman was arrested and spent 4 days in prison before being released with charges. The ADF closely collaborated with the psychotherapist and her legal representatives throughout the process.
An important fact to highlight is the following. The defense made the case that the presence of DMT is found in many other plants, including in a type of citrus fruit. The citrus fruit was analyzed in a lab in Israel and trace amounts of DMT were indeed found within it. This evidence was so significant that during the court process the judge called the prosecutor and defendant and indicated he wanted to end the case in a settlement, which was accepted by both parties. The case of the two men, the woman who had imported ayahuasca in the past and the sixth defendant were all dropped. The addressee and the psychotherapist settled for 6 months of community service and a small fine, and the sister of the addressee received a small fine and 3 months of probation.
Updated: December 2017
Relevant documents
- Fax INCB 2001 Netherlands
- INCB letter ICEERS
- Hoasca 1971 Convention Legal Brief
- INCB Annual Report 2010
- INCB Annual Report 2012
- UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- TNI/ICEERS Ayahuasca Policy Report
- ICEERS Technical Report on Ayahuasca
- Plantaforma Ayahuasca Report Spain (Spanish)
- Declaration of Principles of the Religious Groups who consume the Tea Hoasca
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