HIGHER POWER BARK –
April 29, 2024 – An Arizona-based nonprofit has reached the first federal settlement that will exempt ayahuasca from the United States Controlled Substances Act (CSA), allowing it to import the psychedelic substance and use it for religious purposes. The Church of the Eagle and the Condor (CEC) announced the news on April 22.
Ayahuasca contains dimethyltryptamine, commonly known as DMT, which is banned under the CSA Schedule I. CEC’s settlement—which involves the Department of Justice, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration—will now permit the organization to import ayahuasca in either paste or liquid form.
After CBP seized and destroyed an ayahuasca shipment in 2020, CEC filed a complaint in an attempt to prevent similar incidents in the future. Negotiations with the federal government began in October 2023.
