Addressing the criminalization of practices with teacher plants

Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF) is the name of the Legal Support Service of ICEERS. The ADF is dedicated to addressing the challenges presented by the growing criminalization of practices with ayahuasca and other traditional Indigenous medicines.

We named the project Ayahuasca Defense Fund for the sake of clarity and communications: 99% of the arrests that come to us are ayahuasca related. In a prior stage of the project we used the description “teacher plants” translated from the term used in shamanism “plantas maestras,” that includes other traditional plants like San Pedro, peyote, and iboga. Though we simplified the name to ayahuasca, the ADF focuses on the ceremonial, therapeutic or personal/spiritual development work with all “teacher plants” sacred to traditional cultures worldwide.

These plants or their concoctions do not fall under the UN 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Drugs, even though they can contain molecules that are prohibited under that convention, like DMT or mescaline. Though the ADF does not focus on cannabis or opium poppy, two of the three plants prohibited under the UN 1961 Convention of Narcotic Drugs, traditional use of mambe (coca leaf), the third plant, does fall into the ADF’s area of operation.

There is a knock on the door… “Police!! Open the door! This is a drug raid!” Arrested for a practice that is sacred to me and to communities around the world… What now?

• Step 1: Stay calm!
• Step 2: Don’t declare anything until you speak to your lawyer.
• Step 3: Get in touch (and get your lawyer in touch) with the ICEERS’ Legal Support Service as soon as possible.

In terms of legal defense, the ADF accompanies and works with select defendants facing legal troubles for working with ayahuasca and other similar traditional plants. From the very first moment, we accompany defendants through the entire legal process. We get all the facts of their case, strategize with them, discuss the requirements of what a suitable lawyer would be and, if they haven’t found one, activate our network to find such lawyer. We work with the lawyer by providing the defense arguments of prior cases and a full understanding of the subject matter in terms of international drug conventions, health, and cultural dimensions.

We engage with policy makers and respected local leaders to encourage the justice department or court to give sensible treatment to the case. We activate our network of ayahuasca research scientists to write letters and testify and work with local respected scientific experts to fully educate them about the peculiarities of ayahuasca so they can testify in court and write an expert report in support of the defense.

The role of the ADF in legal defense is one of close collaboration with defendants and defendants’ lawyers, accompanying them in each step, together unfolding the right process that leads to an acquittal. Here is an overview of the ADF’s support process as well as a breakdown of the 3 levels of support we provide.

Through monthly donations from the community, match donations by organizations, and contributions or commitments from philanthropists, our aim is to grow a strong financial capacity within the Fund so that the Fund can cover part of the financial costs of cases.

In order for us to invest community resources in a case, we need to establish that a defendant will be 100% collaborative with us in all steps of the support process, build a relationship of trust, and move forward together. We take 18 criteria into account in the process of decision making as the collaboration unfolds. We have established three levels of support. At the third level of support, we will help partly cover legal costs, but requests for aid without effort to meet our criteria and work with us closely will be denied.

For example, we have received emails from people we barely know or have never heard of before asking for us to cover the writing of a scientific report by an expert asking 500 €/hour. In those cases our only answer was that we have already developed a scientific report signed by the most renowned biomedical ayahuasca researchers in the world… It doesn’t make sense to start from scratch when experience and work from prior cases can be utilized. With the accumulated experience of the ADF’s joint expert committee, our networks, database of court sentences, letters from national and international government bodies, scientific reports, etc., we can significantly reduce the costs of legal defense by closely collaborating with defendants and lawyers.

The ADF is committed to transparency and utilizing community resources efficiently and responsibly at all times. We publish an annual report with information about funds raised, expenditures, cases we have supported (respecting confidentiality and protection of private data), educational and policy activities, relevant data about the ADF’s operations, and lessons learned through our interventions. We welcome input and questions from the community at all times. You can read more about the ADF’s fundraising strategy.

As many of us know, there are problematic practitioners offering ceremonies or therapy sessions with plants like ayahuasca.

Some do aggressive marketing on social media, while others make false claims, such as being a legal church -even the first legal church- albeit not having a license; others claim the ability to cure cancer. There are cases of sexual abuse, messianic or guru-like behavior, psychological manipulation, financial abuse, and worse.

This is the unfortunate result of lack of regulation, without systems in place, such as through an ethics board,  or a regulatory system, it’s very difficult address such problematic behavior.

The ADF’s biggest challenge is to work efficiently within this reality. Fortunately, there are many people involved in these practices with their heart in the right place, people who are well trained and organized, people who uphold strong ethics and responsibility, and who want to contribute well-being to their community.

The ADF decides its level of involvement with  defendants on a case-by-case basis. We follow clear guidelines to make that decision. Decisions are not made based on a checklist, but instead on human interaction. During our initial contacts, we invest in the relationship to learn who our defendants are, how they work, what their values are, and their reputation in the community.

We are committed to utilize community resources efficiently and responsibly at all times. We have distinguished three levels of support. It is important to note that, even though we don’t feel the ADF should invest community resources into supporting problematic practitioners, we don’t believe jail sentence for the mere fact they work with ayahuasca (or similar plants) is the way to go. If practitioners engage in criminal activity (sexual abuse, etc.) that should be what they are prosecuted for, not the ayahuasca.

The ADF will not contribute resources to defend organizations that have chosen to affiliate with ONAC with the belief they are legally protected under ONAC’s umbrella.

The ADF is of the opinion that the “legal protection” the ONAC offers to groups working with ayahuasca is false and that members are putting themselves at risk, often publicly announcing ceremonies. It is up to the lawyers of ONAC to offer legal consultancy and support to those who pay them to be a member, but the ADF has serious doubts about the validity of their “legal construction.”

In our view, groups who want to be “legal ayahuasca churches” and engage in publicity and subscription to ceremonies online should go through a process of applying for a license or exemption based on religious freedom from the appropriate legal authority.

Though ayahuasca was traditionally made and utilized by Indigenous peoples in the Upper Amazon, virtually all recent arrests for the importation or use of ayahuasca have taken place abroad. The lack of legal certainty for practices involving ayahuasca outside of the Amazon is in part causing problems in Indigenous communities related to ayahuasca tourism and exploitation.

The objective of the ADF is to work with defendants, including both Indigenous shamans who travel abroad to do ceremonies as well as non-native providers. The ADF believes that in a world with interconnected societies where cultural practices spread, influence, inspire and sometimes clash, it is crucial to foster a correct understanding of the value of these practices in front of the authorities, so that sensible policy response can be given based on compassion, evidence, and human rights.

The ADF is not an initiative that directly focuses on the cultural protection of Indigenous communities or addresses “ayahuasca tourism,” but we believe that, if we advance in achieving legal frameworks for responsible utilization of these plants in other territories, that will positively influence the ayahuasca globalization process.

The ADF is a project with clearly defined objectives and other projects that ICEERS or other organizations have developed are focused on the specific issue of cultural protection of Indigenous traditions.