Debates on the Legality and Legitimacy of Yage in Colombia

The consumption of yagé (ayahuasca) in Latin America has spread through different forms of use varying by country. In Brazil, religious use is recognized, while in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, therapeutic use has allowed recent expansion of ritual consumption. In Colombia, the close relationship between yagé and Indianness in the national imaginary has enabled new uses beyond traditional contexts. Despite commodification and transnational expansion, the legality and legitimacy of yagé uses remain rooted in national social and legal frameworks. This chapter explores Colombia's diversity of uses—from traditional Indigenous and mestizo practices to new urban uses—and examines the normative and legal frameworks regulating them in relation to the multiculturalism adopted by the Colombian State in the 1990s, along with policies of patrimonialization and medicalization, to consider future challenges.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In Latin America, the consumption of yagé, or ayahuasca, has spread under different forms of use in each country. In Brazil, religious use is recognized, while in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, therapeutic use has allowed the recent expansion of ritual consumption. In fact, in the latter case, it has been the close relationship between yagé and Indianness in the national imaginary that has allowed new uses to prosper beyond traditional contexts. Despite the process of commodification and transnational expansion of this practice, the legality and legitimacy of the uses of yagé are still registered in national social and legal frameworks. This chapter explores the case of Colombia and seeks to account for the diversity of existing uses in the national territory; from the traditional uses of the Indigenous and mestizo peoples, to the new and diverse urban uses and the existing forms of social representation that legitimize them. This chapter seeks to better understand the normative and legal frameworks that regulate these uses in relation to the multiculturalism adopted by the Colombian State in the 1990s, and the policies of patrimonialization and medicalization of yagé that have been proposed in the country, in order to ponder the challenges facing the use of yagé in the future.