Concern in Colombia for the excessive consumption of ayahuasca among tourists

The increase of the so-called “ancestral tourism”, which leads foreign visitors to visit communities where they consume ayahuasca, worries the Colombian authorities, after the death in Cartagena of a couple of Dutch tourists who had ingested the hallucinogenic concoction during their stay in the country.

The investigation came to involve the son of the mayor of the city, Abraham Dau, who was questioned by the authorities, since the tourist couple, Robert Gerrit Kootte and Nienke Guri Trishna Bawa, had eaten food in a restaurant they owned.

The investigators came to the clue that the tourists had previously passed through Medellín and Santa Marta. In the latter place they consumed ayahuasca or yagé, as the ancestral plant is known in Colombia, under the auspices of native communities in the area, local media reported.

Ayahuasca or yagé is the result of preparing an infusion of roots and leaves of two Amazonian species, the liana Banisteriopsis caapi and the chacruna. Used in shamanic rituals in various parts of Latin America, it is a type of concoction whose ingestion usually produces hallucinations, as well as nausea and diarrhea. As the case of the two Dutch tourists shows, the consumption of this drink also carries risks for life.

AYAHUASCA TOURISM

Authorities of the Medellín Ombudsman noted the lack of provisions or regulations that regulate ancestral tourism in the communities of the corregimientos —suburban or rural areas close to the city— and expressed concern about the lack of security measures.

From the Medellín Ombudsman they went to the corregimientos to make recommendations to the communities, with the aim of preventing possible deaths due to excess substances among visitors “from other countries and from other cities in Colombia who see the city as a tourist destination to carry out internships such as yagé or ayahuasca,” reported Semana.

“What we did was go to the territory, talk with the community and with those who provide this service. We identified that they are very well organized, but there are no regulatory provisions that regulate the situation, because it is simply not a practice that is conceived of as tourism in the city,” said Carlos Calle, leader of the Medellin Personería Tourism Observatory.

From the Ministry of Tourism they requested local entities, “to have articulation actions to generate regulatory spaces around the certification of organizations, especially the organization Concejo Familias Ancestrales with councils and traditional or older authorities to endorse the benefits of their services and provide the service guaranteeing the rights of tourists.”

With information from Sputnik

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