A new report estimates that more than four million people in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand have consumed ayahuasca at some point in their lives.
Only 10% of these four million people belong to Indigenous groups where ayahuasca has traditionally been an integral part of their knowledge systems.
The report, published by ICEERS, which began the research in 2020, has also analysed the fatalities the media associated with the consumption of ayahuasca.
To produce the report, the organisation analysed a number of different sources including drug consumption surveys, academic research, media reporting and insights from retreat centres.
Carlos Suarez Alvarez Suarez, lead author of the study, stated: “This report not only gives us a detailed picture of those people taking ayahuasca around the world, but also underscores the importance of honouring and supporting the Indigenous Amazonian communities that have been the traditional bearers of this knowledge.”
The analysis shows that approximately 820,000 people drank ayahuasca so in 2019 alone.
Deaths in the media
The report also looked at media reports that attributed deaths to the use of ayahuasca.
It shows that, among the 58 deaths linked to ayahuasca worldwide, not a single autopsy has attributed the fatalities to acute ayahuasca intoxication, specifically referring to the traditional brew of Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis.
Social, economic, and environmental implications
ICEERS emphasises that the report was intended to contribute to public debate and inform the development of public policy, providing an overview of the expansion of ayahuasca and the social, economic, and environmental implications it entails.
It also provides a basis for future research and serves as a reminder of the need for safety and ethical standards in ceremonial ayahuasca settings. The full 196-page report includes a detailed analysis of each death associated with ayahuasca, consumption statistics by country, and an in-depth analysis of the data collected.
This document is available to any interested person or organization upon request and ICEERS will publish a series of articles on its website to present the details of this research in the coming weeks.
