Psicodélicos S. A.: reflexiones sobre la capitalización y el corporativismo de las plantas de poder

Contemporary psychedelic capitalism reproduces dynamics of biopiracy and bioappropriation by medicalizing, regulating, and commodifying ancestral psychoactive substances such as psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, and ayahuasca. Drawing on the theory of the coloniality of power, the article argues that the Global North's psychedelic industry, backed by hegemonic biomedical and legal frameworks, extracts indigenous knowledges and entheogens from their cultural contexts to create commercial products, reinforcing social, economic, and epistemic inequalities. The United States' war on drugs functions as a biopolitical device that regulates and criminalizes these practices, limiting access to alternative forms of knowledge.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article aims to understand how contemporary psychedelic capitalism, through medicalization, regulation, and commodification of ancestral psychoactive substances (such as psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca and others), reproduces dynamics of biopiracy and bioappropriation that exploit the territories, knowledge, and practices of indigenous communities. From a critical perspective grounded in the theory of the coloniality of power, the paper examines how the psychedelic industry of the Global North, supported by hegemonic biomedical and legal frameworks, extracts these knowledges and entheogens from their cultural contexts to transform them into commercial products, thereby reinforcing social, economic, and epistemic inequalities. Additionally, it analyzes the role of the United States’ war on drugs as a biopolitical device that regulates and criminalizes these practices, limiting access to and the use of alternative forms of knowledge.