At Chacruna: In Defense of the Use of Sacred Plants in the Americas

Nidia Olvera-Hernández & Bia Labate

Since their inception, international policies toward drugs have been characterized by being racist, classist, colonialist, and created by a Western elite that has failed to consider the diversity of traditional uses for plants and psychoactive substances. This disregard has generated political, economic, and social repercussions, and has affected cultural practices, particularly in indigenous communities. These communities have seen a big impact on the ritual, religious, and medical wisdom about plants that are, and have always been, considered sacred for many societies in the Americas... continue reading.