For inquiries regarding the utilization of ethnobotanicals, or in case you are experiencing an adverse situation or difficulty integrating and experience, please read this page. For inquiries regarding legal support , please read this page.
We are an expert resource for legal clarity and protection. Thanks to support from the international community, we’ve worked with over 100 defendants and their legal teams in 27 countries. We’ve educated judges, lawyers, ambassadors, diplomats, government officials with results. Our work is supported by a Steering Committee and Expert Committees made up of drug policy experts, lawyers, legal strategists and renowned academics.
We are dedicated to addressing the challenges presented by the growing criminalization of practices with ayahuasca and other teacher plants. We engage with policy makers, law enforcement authorities and all relevant actors to work towards sensible, human-rights based public policy.
The ICEERS Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF) helps people who have been arrested by uniting state-of-the-art legal, scientific, community, and public policy expertise. In addition to providing educational information to prevent legal incidents, we promote best practices and sensible policy that respects indigenous cultural heritage and human rights.
Language, in addition to communicating, can become an ideological tool. Words are not only vehicles of information, but also construct realities. And, in the field of drug policy, the words used determine who is criminalized, which practices are delegitimized, and which knowledge is rendered invisible.
The 68th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) took place between March 10th and 14th. An event in which governments, international organizations and civil society meet to review and follow up on the international drug control treaties, outline drug policy guidelines, and share new challenges and opportunities.
On February 11, 2025, ICEERS organized a webinar entitled “Testimonies of legal cases around ayahuasca.” The event brought together people who have faced legal proceedings for ayahuasca use and members of ICEERS’ legal and scientific team, who provided them with support through the Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF).
Over the past few years, we have witnessed an increase in the number of legal incidents related to ancestral medicines, particularly ayahuasca.
A recent report by Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, titled “Drug Use, Harm Reduction and the Right to Health,” provides a thorough analysis of human rights protection within drug policy and emphasizes the preservation of Traditional Indigenous Medicines.
Claude Bauchet is a key figure in the Santo Daime community in France. He has faced significant legal challenges since 2005 when ayahuasca was classified as a controlled substance by the French Ministry of Interior. Despite the lack of evidence supporting its classification as a narcotic, Claude Bauchet was arrested again in 2019 and is now facing multiple charges.
At the national levels there is a widespread divergence of interpretation of how international legal frameworks should be to ayahuasca. In order to avoid risks, it is important to know the specific legal situation of each country.
Technical Reports
26 pages with all the latest research-based facts about ayahuasca, its uses, pharmacology, legal status and therapeutic effects, signed by 11 world-class experts and researchers.
Annual Reports
The ADF has been assisting defendants involved in legal cases around the world since 2010. These are our annual reports.
Studies and Papers
Our studies generate useful evidence in order to work towards sensible, human-rights based public policy.
My three-year legal battle for ayahuasca possession…
Jeffrey Bronfman endorses the Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF).
Tal Arnon about the Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF).
Felipe Toro tells his experience with the ADF.
