If you’ve committed a violent crime in Brazil, you might be in for an extremely psychedelic journey. In this South American country, some prisoners are given the opportunity for radical rehabilitation through the powerful psychedelic experience of an ayahuasca ceremony.
High murder rates
Brazil is considered one of the most violent and dangerous countries in the world. In 2016, the country recorded a record 61,819 murders, equivalent to 198 murders per day. In 2017, that number rose to nearly 64,000. So it’s time for change—and specifically within the prison system. In recent years, some prisons in the country have found a unique way to guide prisoners toward full rehabilitation. Services offered to some inmates include guided healing practices such as yoga, reiki, meditation, and, in some cases, ayahuasca sessions. The main goal of these psychedelic journeys is to reduce the likelihood of recidivism after inmates are released.
Ayahuasca is a mixture of various plants, with the MAO-inhibiting Banisteriopsis Caapi as its main ingredient. The brew is particularly popular in the Amazon region, where these psychedelic journeys are guided by shamans. Ayahuasca is drunk as a tea to induce spiritual experiences that can touch users to the depths of their souls. The ceremonies are centuries old and have been practiced by indigenous peoples in South America for many centuries. As a Dutch-Smart reader, chances are you’re already aware of the brew’s unique therapeutic effects, but it’s still quite unusual that these psychedelic substances are being used to “transform” prisoners.
Popularity of Ayahuasca
In recent years, ayahuasca has sparked the interest and curiosity of people around the world, culminating in an ayahuasca tourism industry in the Amazon regions of Central America. As ayahuasca’s international popularity has grown, so too has research into its therapeutic applications. The brew has shown great potential for helping people recover from trauma, PTSD, addiction, and depression, as well as cancer and other conditions.
A convicted murderer serving a prison sentence told The New York Times in 2015 about the lessons he had learned from his ayahuasca experience: “I finally realize that I was on the wrong path in this life,” said Celmiro de Almeida. “Every experience helps me communicate with my victim to beg for forgiveness.”
“Many people in Brazil believe that prisoners must suffer, must endure hunger and depravity,” Euza Beloti, a psychologist with the advocacy group Acuda, told The New York Times in the same article. "This mindset reinforces a system in which prisoners return to society more violent than when they entered prison. At Acuda, we simply view prisoners as people with the capacity to change."
Reducing Recidivism
The ayahuasca program has a twofold goal: Brazil’s prison population has doubled since 2000, and prisons are grossly overcrowded. The retreats are therefore a kind of pilot program to try to reduce recidivism, as only a few prisoners are currently participating. It is still too early to say whether the treatments will help prevent them from returning to the criminal justice system, but it is at least a starting point.
"Our results suggest that hallucinogens can promote prosocial behavior in a population with high recidivism rates," states a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Offenders may benefit particularly from treatment with hallucinogens because involvement in the criminal justice system is often the result of drug-seeking behavior and impulsive behavior exacerbated by compulsive substance use."
