CONFEN/CONAD/GMT
SOCIAL POLITICAL
On the legislation regarding the use of Ayahuasca in Brazil
The religious use of Ayahuasca tea is supported by two resolutions of the now extinct Federal Council on Narcotics (Confen), whose functions were absorbed two years ago by the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad). These resolutions, approved unanimously, date from 1986 and 1992 and result from two years of research (which we witnessed as observers) conducted by interdisciplinary commissions instituted by the Ministry of Justice, which attested to the beneficial character of the religious works carried out around the use of the potion.
According to a report of the Federal Council on Narcotics, signed by Dr. Domingos Bernardo Gialluisi da Silva Sá, it was concluded that the plants used in the elaboration of Ayahuasca should be excluded from the list of products proscribed by Dimed (Medical Division of Confen). This conclusion was approved by the plenary of Confen, based on research conducted by a Working Group appointed by the Ministry of Justice on the initiative of União do Vegetal (UDV). The report attests that there is no fact proving that Ayahuasca is socially harmful. As a consequence of these investigations and research, on June 2, 1992, the council decided to definitively and officially release the use of Ayahuasca for religious purposes throughout the national territory. The rapporteur of the investigation process, Domingos Carneiro de Sá, explained that the fundamental fact for the release of the beverage was the behavior of the users and the seriousness of the centers that use the tea in their rituals. No anti-social attitudes were observed in the participants of the cults; on the contrary, constructive effects were noted in individuals who, before participating in the rituals, presented social or psychological maladjustments. Subsequently, a Multidisciplinary Working Group (GMT) was instituted in order to define the ritual use of the tea and deontology.