ABOUT

“We are considered the trash of Brazil, but this place accepts us,” said Darci Altair Santos da Silva, 43, a construction worker serving a 13-year sentence for sexual abuse of a child under 14. “I know what I did was very cruel. The tea [caapi vine/chacruna leaf] helped me reflect on this fact, on the possibility that one day I can find redemption”.

FACTS

In a quest to ease pressures on the Brazilian prison system, mental health workers have opted to give prison inmates the psychedelic brew ayahuasca, in the hopes of helping them to work through their deeply-rooted emotional traumas.
 
It is no secret that the current prison system is in shambles. Over crowded holding spaces, abusive staff, unsanitary living conditions – these types of environments are rarely conducive to redemption and rehabilitation. Instead almost always seed further violence, aggression, and feelings of alienation from society.
 
Supervisors at Acuda, who obtain a judge’s permission to take about 15 prisoners once a month to the temple ceremony, say they are mindful of the risks of ayahuasca… Acuda’s therapists consume the brew with the inmates, as well as with the occasional prison guard who volunteers to accompany the group.
 
“This is how it should be,” said Virgílio Siqueira, 55, a retired police officer who works as a guard at the prison complex that includes Acuda. “It’s gratifying to know that we can sit here in the forest, drink our Daime, sing our hymns, exist in peace.”
 

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE / MEDICINAL EFFICACY

A single ayahuasca dose was associated with significant, fast-acting, and enduring antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects. These positive results started in the first hours after ayahuasca intake and remained significant 21 days later. – Read More
 
Neuropsychological investigation have found that long-term ayahuasca users had better performance than control subjects on tests of frontal function and on the WHO-UCLA auditory verbal learning test. – Read More
 
The ayahuasca group presented a lower level of grief in the Present Feelings Scale of Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, showing benefits in some psychological and interpersonal dimensions. – Read More
 
Among volunteers who take ayahuasca for studies, scientists have documented a rise in certain key traits that mirror those of experienced meditators. These changes include increases in openness and optimism. – Read More