General situation
As in most countries, the plant ingredients used to brew ayahuasca and the ayahuasca decoction itself are not specifically scheduled as controlled substances in Denmark. However, as in many other countries, DMT is strictly controlled. It is forbidden under Denmark’s Euphoric Substances Act of 2008. Denmark’s judicial and penal systems are quite progressive, therefore the penalties for criminal offenses involving DMT are lighter than in many other countries. This is examined in further detail in the “National Drug Legislation” section below.
The Danish High Court has stated that the importation of ayahuasca in Denmark is illegal and, moreover, the use of ayahuasca as a sacrament in religious ceremonies is not protected by Denmark’s religious freedom law. However, various neo-shamanic organizations do continue to advertise ayahuasca ceremonies with various modalities of use in and around Copenhagen.
To our knowledge, there have been two court cases involving ayahuasca in Denmark, one criminal and one civil. The criminal case, decided in 2016, was brought by the Danish authorities against a practitioner named Jan Hansen, who was arrested for importing ayahuasca from Peru. Initially, he received a sentence of 6 months, which upon appeal was reduced to 120 hours of community service because of his good character and other mitigating circumstances.
The civil case, brought forward by the Santo Daime to protect their right to serve their sacrament in religious services in Denmark, was decided on March 15, 2016, with a result unfavorable to the Santo Daime. Santo Daime spokesperson Klaus Kornø Rasmussen speaks briefly about the decision here (Danish, no subtitles). However, in the verdict the court implied that there might have been a possible violation of the Santo Daime’s religious freedom, opening up the possibility of appeal. The Santo Daime has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Denmark, which granted the Santo Daime “free process,” meaning that all lawyers’ fees and litigation expenses are paid for by the state, which is a positive sign.
International law
The Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) subjects several psychoactive compounds 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 among 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.
National drug legislation
The plant ingredients used to brew ayahuasca and the ayahuasca decoction itself are not specifically scheduled as controlled substances in Denmark, however, DMT listed is illegal in Denmark under the Euphoric Substances Act of 2008, Denmark’s drug law. On July 1, 2012, group bans of psychedelic substances came into effect in Denmark with the amendment of the Euphoric Substances Act, which extended the application of the law to all new psychoactive substances, sometimes called “research chemicals.”
Under Denmark’s Euphoric Substances Act of 2008, everything but for the use of substances listed in the Act is a criminal offense punishable by a fine or imprisonment of a maximum of two years. DMT is listed in Appendix 1, list B, No. 70 of the Act.
The import, export, sale, purchase, delivery, receipt, production, processing, and possession of DMT in Denmark is a criminal offense punishable by a fine or imprisonment of a maximum of two years −and up to 10-16 years in certain circumstances. Section 191 of the Danish Criminal Code provides for such stricter punishment for violations involving psychoactive substances when those substances are transferred to large numbers of people (e.g. in a large ayahuasca ceremony) or for considerable remuneration (e.g. a high price per person) or under other particularly incriminating conditions.
It is important to note, however, that the use of a listed substance is not mentioned as an offense in the Danish Criminal Code. Thus, ceremony participants may not be criminally charged. Moreover, neither the plant ingredients of ayahuasca, B. caapi and P. viridis, nor the harmala alkaloids contained within the ayahuasca vine are listed in the Euphoric Substances Act.
Even so, the Danish High Court made it clear that “without permission it is illegal to import ayahuasca-wine in Denmark,” when it confirmed the Danish Ministry of Health’s refusal of Santo Daime’s request for permission to import its sacrament into Denmark.
The attempted importation of ayahuasca in liquid form from Peru into Denmark has resulted in the arrest of at least one person in Denmark, in 2016, which is discussed below in the “Cases” section.
Cases
Santo Daime
In 2014, a Santo Daime group with connections to Céu Sagrado, in Sorocaba, São Paulo state, Brazil, appealed to two Danish government ministries seeking to crystallize its rights to use its sacrament in its religious services in Denmark.
Santo Daime’s first appeal was to the Danish Ministry of Health, from which the Santo Daime requested an exemption from the Euphoric Substances Act for the import and distribution of ayahuasca (containing DMT) into Denmark. The Ministry of Health rejected the appeal on January 8, 2015.
The Santo Daime’s second appeal to was the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, from which the Santo Daime requested recognition as a religious congregation in Denmark. The Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs refused to recognize the Santo Daime as a religious congregation on January 27, 2015, on the understanding that the Santo Daime would use ayahuasca in its religious services −because the Santo Daime stated that ayahuasca was indispensable to their religion −and thus be in violation of Denmark’s narcotics laws.
Santo Daime appealed the decisions of the two ministries to the Danish High Court, which ruled in favor of the government ministries −effectively banning the Santo Daime from importing and distributing ayahuasca in Denmark −on March 15, 2016.
On the positive side, the Danish High Court granted Santo Daime a “free process,” meaning that the state paid for Santo Daime’s attorney’s fees and litigation expenses, and implied in its verdict that a violation of Santo Daime’s religious freedom may have occurred. This implication opened a window for Santo Daime to appeal the decision and Santo Daime appealed to the Supreme Court of Denmark, which again granted it a “free process.” This is indicative of doubt about the lower court’s verdict. Moreover, it gives hope for a favorable decision for the Santo Daime when the case is heard.
Jan Hansen
The first (and the only to our knowledge) criminal conviction related to ayahuasca in Denmark came in 2016, after the practitioner Jan Hansen was arrested in 2014 for importing 25 kilograms (in liquid weight) of ayahuasca from Peru into Denmark. The court ruled that the DMT in the ayahuasca contained the equivalent of 300-600 doses of LSD and sentenced him to 6 months’ imprisonment.
Upon appeal, Jan Hansen’s original sentence of 6 months imprisonment was dismissed. The court emphasized that he did not have a previous criminal record and he has good personal relationships and replaced his sentence with 120 hours of community service. The judgment, however, made it clear that he could not perform any more ayahuasca ceremonies in Denmark.
Updated: October 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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