Timothy Leary had LSD. Now ayahuasca’s the thing.
Aya-what?
Ayahuasca, or yage, yet another min-altering drug, as if there weren’t enough out there.
But some scientists—and users—warn that ayahuasca can be dangerous. It can be fatal when mixed with other drugs, such as antidepressants, and should be avoided by those who are bipolar or schizophrenic, since it has been known to trigger psychotic episodes. In 2012, a young man from California died after taking ayahuasca in Peru. And last year a Canadian tourist killed a Briton during a nighttime ritual that local authorities are still investigating.
The brew is made by boiling together a jungle vine called Banisteriopsis caapi with the leaves of a shrub that contains dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a psychedelic that is illegal in the U.S. DMT can cause seizures and, in high doses, comas and respiratory arrests, said Mike Colston, a U.S. Navy captain who heads a Department of Defense agency in charge of studying psychological health and brain injury. The hallucinations caused by ayahuasca can be so traumatic that they can worsen medical conditions such as PTSD, Dr. Colston cautioned.
Look, guys, I’m a mom, and my reaction is, “stay away from that stuff.”
An acquaintance in her early 60s went on an ayahuasca tour of Peru a few months ago. She is still a mess: she quit her really good job, left her very nice boyfriend, and last I heard (about six weeks after she got back) can’t shake the hallucinations. The boyfriend went on the trip too, but after the first “trip,” didn’t take any more; he’s just fine. She had never tried drugs other than a little bit of pot and booze before, but she did the full five “trips” that were included in the tour. I hope she gets her mind back to normal, but the bridges of her professional and personal life have been burned.
That’s terrible, Rona. I hope she heals.