RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND TRANSNATIONALIZATION: The regulation of Brazilian ayahuasca religions under United States and Netherlands jurisdiction

Abstract

This work analyses legal conflicts on the international arena, involving Brazilian religions that use ayahuasca in their worship and provides evidence that the process of legalising these religions and the very right to religious freedom are being encroached upon by the so-called war on drugs. A brief history of ayahuasca in Brazil is presented, as well as the origins of the Brazilian religions that use the substance. The process of regulating the drink for religious ends is analysed, as well as the expansion of these religions into the international arena. Finally, an analysis of comparative law is presented regarding jurisdiction and legislation of the substance, in the United States of America and the Netherlands. The research shows the importance of the global debate concerning international drugs policy and its interrelationship with the obstacles to fulfilling the right to religious freedom.

Keywords

• human rights
• ayahuasca
• religious freedom
• comparative law