Buying Ayahuasca and other entheogens online: A word of caution

Abstract

Since the mid 1990's a number of publications have appeared in the UK and Europe and stimulated interest in a number of psychoactive plants native to South and Central America that had previously been relatively obscure outside of their places of origin. While information describing the effects of these together with extraction techniques was widely available, the plants themselves remained difficult to source until the proliferation of online “headshops” trading in legal alternatives to controlled drugs. The main aim of this study was to assess users’ own experience of accessibility of information available from online suppliers of these drugs. An online survey was carried out via relevant websites where the participants were users of such and such drugs. Measurements were done by semi-structured online interview. It was concluded that none of the online dealers provided any instruction regarding safety issues such as possible toxicity, methods of ingestion or possible interactions with other substances. Therefore, while the practice is legal, there remain larger ethical and moral questions to be addressed.

• Ayahuasca
• monoamine oxidase inhibitor
• dimethyltryptamine
• beta-carboline
• adverse reaction