Ayahuasca is legal in Peru. It is not legal in most of the countries our guests travel from, and the position varies more than people expect. Some countries prohibit it outright. Some have granted a religious exemption to a named church and to nobody else. In at least one the law is settled against it while ceremonies continue in a grey area.
This page is the index to eleven country guides. Each one covers the law where you live, what options exist within reach of it, and what is involved in travelling to Peru instead. Find your country below.
What the law usually restricts
Almost no country legislates about ayahuasca by name. What is controlled is DMT, one of the compounds the brew contains, and the restriction reaches ayahuasca through it. Three distinctions do most of the work when you are reading your own country's position:
- Prohibited means possession, supply and importation are offences. This is the position in most of the countries covered here.
- Religious exemption means a specific, named congregation has been granted permission that does not extend to anyone else. Canada and the United States are the two countries here where this exists.
- Decriminalised is not the same as legal. It usually changes the penalty for personal use and leaves supply, import and the running of ceremonies untouched.
None of this governs what happens in Peru. What it does govern is anything you carry across a border, which is why every one of these guides says the same thing: do not travel home with ayahuasca or any preparation of it.
The position in Peru
Ayahuasca is legal in Peru, and traditional ayahuasca practice has been recognised by the Peruvian state as part of the country's cultural heritage. Ceremonies here are not conducted in a grey area or under an exemption. That is the single largest practical difference between a retreat in Peru and the alternatives described in the guides below.
Travelling to Peru for a retreat is a matter of ordinary tourism. See Travelling to Iquitos for routing, and our retreats for what a stay involves.
No legal route at home, and nothing nearby
- Australia
- DMT is a Schedule 9 prohibited substance, there is no religious exemption, and no legal ayahuasca option exists anywhere in the region.
- New Zealand
- DMT is a Class A controlled drug, and as in Australia there is no lawful route and nothing within reach of one.
No legal route at home, with options elsewhere in Europe
- Germany
- DMT is a controlled substance under German narcotics law with no religious exemption, and the closest alternatives are in Spain and Portugal.
- Ireland
- Irish law prohibits DMT, and Irish residents living in Britain are dealing with a second jurisdiction on top of the first.
- Norway
- DMT is prohibited under Norwegian narcotics law, though national drug policy has been shifting, and the nearest options are elsewhere in Europe.
- Sweden
- Swedish law criminalises use itself, not only possession and supply, which makes it one of the strictest positions in Europe.
- Switzerland
- DMT is a controlled substance and the position on ayahuasca specifically is unsettled, with the closest alternatives in Spain and Portugal.
- United Kingdom
- DMT is Class A and Schedule 1 under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and England and Wales recognise no religious exemption.
A legally protected route exists, for named congregations
- Canada
- Health Canada has granted Section 56 exemptions to a small number of Santo Daime and União do Vegetal congregations, and that is the only lawful route in the country.
- United States
- Federal law prohibits DMT, but four religious organisations, the UDV and the Santo Daime among them, hold court or DEA recognised exemptions. State and city decriminalisation does not create one.
Prohibited, with an unstable operating picture
- Netherlands
- DMT is Schedule I under the Opium Act, and the courts have declined to protect ayahuasca even for religious use. What is unstable is which operators still run.
Why these eleven pages look alike
The eleven guides share a structure because they answer the same five questions for different jurisdictions: what the law says, what exists nearby, what is involved in coming to Peru instead, what to sort out before you travel, and how to get here. What changes from one to the next is the law where you live and the options within reach of it. What does not change is the retreat, which takes place in Peru under Peruvian law.
If your country is not listed, the legal sections will not apply to you but the travel and preparation sections largely will. Start with Travelling to Iquitos.
If you cannot travel
Some people are not in a position to come to Peru, and some want support once they are home again. We list practitioners we know personally on our healers in other countries page.