Regulating Ayahuasca in the United Kingdom
OpenAlex – February 27, 2023
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Ayahuasca's potential for therapeutic use is underscored by the legal hurdles faced by the União do Vegetal (UDV) in the UK, where a refusal to grant a license for importation and possession was met with appeals. This chapter explores proactive regulatory approaches, advocating for decriminalization as a preferable model over strict legal frameworks. With insights drawn from indigenous practices, it emphasizes the importance of best practice guidelines generated by practitioners. A shift in policy could significantly enhance access to these plant medicines and their benefits.
Abstract
This chapter looks at the various proactive approaches that may be taken in the quest to regulate plant medicines. It opens with a legal analysis of the refusal by the Secretary of State in the UK—and subsequent applications to appeal this decision—to allow an ayahuasca-using church, the União do Vegetal (UDV), to be granted a license to import, possess, and supply its sacrament. This is followed by a broader discussion of the ways in which plant medicines might be regulated were prohibition to end, moving from a consideration of strict legal regulation through to the recommended model of decriminalization, with this latter approach ideally supplemented by practitioner generated best practice guidelines, voluntarily ascribed to, drawing lessons from indigenous cultural practices.