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The union of the vegetable: the ritualised use of hoasca tea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Eliseu Labigalini Júnior  and
John Dunn
Eliseu Labigalini Júnior
Affiliation:
Departamento de Psiquiatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Rua Botucatú, 740, São Paulo – SP, 04023 – 900, Brazil
John Dunn
Affiliation:
Departamento de Psiquiatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Rua Botucatú, 740, São Paulo – SP, 04023 – 900, Brazil
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In the Amazon rainforest there grow two plants: the mariri (Banisteriopsi caapi) and the chacrona (Psychotria viridis), which have been used by native Indians for hundreds of years to make an infusion. The infusion, known as ‘hoasca tea’, is no ordinary herbal brew but one with psychoactive properties. The leaves of these plants contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which has hallucinogenic effects, and beta-carbolines, which are monoamine oxidase inhibitors that prevent the degradation of DMT in the gastrointestinal tract. The preparation and consumption of these substances are legal in Brazil; although the Federal Council for Narcotics (CONFEN) states that they can only be used during recognised rituals.

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Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 19 , Issue 5 , May 1995 , pp. 313 - 314
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995

References

Macrae, E. (ed.) (1992) Guiado Pela Lua – xaminismo e uso ritual da ayahuasca no culto do Santo Daime. São Paulo, Brazil: Brasiliense.Google Scholar
Randall, T. (1992) Ecstasy-fuelled ‘rave’ parties become dances of death for English youths. Journal of the American Medical Association, 268, 1505–1506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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