On July 24 of 2013 the Provincial Court of Barcelona acquitted mister F. L., accused of a crime against public health for receiving a shipment from Peru containing two bottles of ayahuasca. The tea was made from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis with a total weight of 896.6 grams and a concentration of DMT (dimethyltryptamine) of 0.13%.

The prosecutor asked for a sentence of four years in prison and a fine of € 16,200 plus payment of court costs, considering that ayahuasca can cause “serious damage to health”. The judges acquitted the defendant dismissing the arguments of the prosecutor, taking the arguments of the defense into consideration: that the ayahuasca was destined for personal use and experimentation in treatments with patients of the defendant. The judge also recognized that there is no explicit illicit market of ayahuasca and, therefore, was not intended for trafficking.

The judgement states that DMT is in Schedule 1 substance according to the UN Convention of 1971, but recognizes the fact that the ayahuasca brew is not under control in Spain and can not be considered being a substance that causes serious damage to health in section 368 of the Penal Code. The judgement also states that in Brazil and the U.S. ayahuasca is permitted (in religious contexts) and in France specifically controlled.

In this blog report, of April 2012, we warned about the critical situation that took place in Spain with the arrest of dozens of people for the same offense. Now, a year later, the first trials fortunately confirm that these statements were real;

1.Arrests for receiving ayahuasca have no legal basis.
2.Ayahuasca is not a controlled drug under the international conventions.

With this case setting an example, we hope that all people who are waiting trail will have the same fate.

In 2009 Chile already set the example with similar process that also ended with the acquittal of the accused. Not only did the judges recognize ayahuasca is not a threat to public health, it recognized that it had been beneficial for the participants of the sessions…

In case someone suffers legal problems in relation to ayahuasca, ICEERS offers legal advice for those in need.