ABSTRACT
This study is an interdisciplinary research into Uruguayan ayahuasca users belonging to one neo-shamanic and one Santo Daime group. The study involved the chemical analysis of ayahuasca samples, an ethnographic description of the two traditions and rituals, and the application of psychometric scales to measure personality differences, and the acute psychological effects during an ayahuasca ritual. Personality measurements showed lower scores for Santo Daime in Neuroticism-Anxiety, Dependence, Low Self-Esteem, Anger and Restlessness. These differences may be related to the presence of participants under treatment in the neo-shamanic group and/or to the protective effects of a church religion such as Santo Daime. Regarding acute effects, the neo-shamanic group showed higher scores in Somesthesia and Perception, which can be related to the high-arousal ritual setting. Chemical analysis for the ayahuasca samples showed a typical composition of alkaloids. No adulterants were found. The sample from the neo-shamanic group displayed a higher ß-carbolines:DMT ratio compared to the Santo Daime sample, which could be related to the higher effects observed for Somesthesia for the neo-shamanic group. Significant positive correlations between some personality traits and acute effects were found only in the neo-shamanic group, which may be related to the more individualistic approach of this tradition.
Subject(s)
Alkaloids , Banisteriopsis , Humans , Banisteriopsis/chemistry , Religion , Uruguay , PersonalityABSTRACT
The current article presents a mixed qualitative-quantitative observational study of the effect of ayahuasca ritual on subjective experiences and personality traits on participants of a center specialized in the treatment of substance use disorder in Uruguay. When comparing the psychological traits of ayahuasca participants to a control group, quantitative results using the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire showed statistically significant higher scores in Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Boredom Susceptibility, and Social Warmth scales. Qualitative analysis of ayahuasca experiences resulted in five main categories: emotional experiences (including social emotions such as love and empathy), corporal experiences, spiritual/transcendental experiences, personal experiences, and visions. Last, qualitative descriptions provide support for the importance of social interactions in the phenomenological manifestations of the psychedelic experience. Both quantitative and qualitative results suggest that the combination of social interactions and the pharmacological action of ayahuasca could facilitate the manifestation of social emotions during the ritual, and may contribute to the long-term increase of empathic and social aspects of personality.
Subject(s)
Herbal Medicine , Personality , Social Behavior , Substance-Related Disorders , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/rehabilitation , Uruguay , Humans , Love , Empathy , Banisteriopsis/chemistry , Psychotria/chemistry , Impulsive Behavior , Boredom , Medicine, Traditional , Extraversion, Psychological , Male , Female , AdultABSTRACT
This article analyzes the use of science as a political tool in prohibitionist logic, adopting an externalist perspective. Prohibitionism strives to have its political-moral precepts be considered scientific, that is, the result of an ideologically neutral research process. The article analyzes the case of cannabis and psychedelics to show how prohibitionism has only resorted to "science" to hide its political-moral agenda, while ignoring the results of scientific research that did not fit its apriorisms. Finally, we argue that drug policies should be based on scientific evidence and on certain basic values - the defense of public health, social cohesion, Human Rights - such that an analysis in terms of power relations would allow us to better understand the contradictory relationships between science and drug policies.
Se analiza, desde una perspectiva externalista, el uso de la ciencia como herramienta política por parte de la lógica prohibicionista. El prohibicionismo trabaja para que sus preceptos político-morales sean considerados científicos, es decir, como el resultado de un proceso de investigación neutro a nivel ideológico. El artículo analiza el caso del cannabis y de los psicodélicos para mostrar cómo el prohibicionismo solo ha recurrido a la "ciencia" para ocultar su agenda político-moral, mientras ha ignorado todos los resultados de las investigaciones científicas que no se ajustaban a sus apriorismos. Finalmente planteamos que las políticas de drogas deben fundamentarse en la evidencia científica y en ciertos valores básicos defensa de la salud pública, de la cohesión social, de los Derechos Humanos, por lo que un análisis en términos de relaciones de poder permitiría entender mejor las contradictorias relaciones entre ciencia y políticas de drogas.
Subject(s)
Cannabis , Hallucinogens , Human Rights , Humans , Public Health , Public PolicyABSTRACT
Se analiza, desde una perspectiva externalista, el uso de la ciencia como herramienta política por parte de la lógica prohibicionista. El prohibicionismo trabaja para que sus preceptos político-morales sean considerados científicos, es decir, como el resultado de un proceso de investigación neutro a nivel ideológico. El artículo analiza el caso del cannabis y de los psicodélicos para mostrar cómo el prohibicionismo solo ha recurrido a la "ciencia" para ocultar su agenda político-moral, mientras ha ignorado todos los resultados de las investigaciones científicas que no se ajustaban a sus apriorismos. Finalmente planteamos que las políticas de drogas deben fundamentarse en la evidencia científica y en ciertos valores básicos -defensa de la salud pública, de la cohesión social, de los Derechos Humanos-, por lo que un análisis en términos de relaciones de poder permitiría entender mejor las contradictorias relaciones entre ciencia y políticas de drogas.
This article analyzes the use of science as a political tool in prohibitionist logic, adopting an externalist perspective. Prohibitionism strives to have its political-moral precepts be considered scientific, that is, the result of an ideologically neutral research process. The article analyzes the case of cannabis and psychedelics to show how prohibitionism has only resorted to "science" to hide its political-moral agenda, while ignoring the results of scientific research that did not fit its apriorisms. Finally, we argue that drug policies should be based on scientific evidence and on certain basic values - the defense of public health, social cohesion, Human Rights - such that an analysis in terms of power relations would allow us to better understand the contradictory relationships between science and drug policies.
