“This article is misleading. There is really no danger in ayahuasca becoming a "recreational drug"; in fact, there is nothing recreational about it at all. And used in a strictly religious context, it should not be considered a drug at all - no more than the alter wine consumed during the Christian Communion should be considered a drug.
And nobody has died from it! A misleading medical report was published three years ago concerning a death caused by a "herbal tonic" believed to be ayahuasca, but that turned out to be something else. On the contrary, there is an abundance of scientific evidence that proves that ayahuasca is physiologically harmless.
Also, when received within a proper context, there is evidence for health benefits, both on a personal physical and psychological level and on a psychosocial level.
Please, read this research report regarding the subject:
http://crfdl.org:1111/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/286/Halpern%20safety.pdf
As a scientific report, it is maybe hard to read, but I may come up with an easier reading list concerning the minimum of factual information any journalist writing about the subject should know.”

“This is interesting to me as I have spent the last year at Schumacher College, Dartington, doing my masters degree. My dissertation was about the use of ayahuasca in the Peruvian rainforests. Should it be of interest to the journalists at the Herald, it can be downloaded free at my blog which is www.simonralli.com. It would be really interesting to present an alternative perspective on ayahuasca, which as one of the world's strongest hallucinogens, is not a street drug for a reason, but it could potentially be of enormous interest and value to the medical, psychological and even physical and biological disciplines.”

“Dan, your relative is far more likely to be klled by a drunk driver who uses perfectly legal drugs.
Condolences, of course, if you speak from experience, but the scenario you describe is beyond the realms of lottery winning.
All religion is flawed and there is far too much 'We can do what we want because we follow an organised belief system that must not be questioned'. A truly secular society is the way foreward.
-- noises of climbing down from soapbox”

“Dan, nobody has died in the UK as a result of using Ayahuasca in a Sainte Daime context. Thousands of animals die in terror and pain each day in the UK as a result of allowing anachronistic, barbaric Halal slaughter.

I'm highlighting the unequal treatment of one religious group as compared to another religious group. On the one hand you have a group that causes little or no harm and yet is clamped down on with an iron fist yet on the other hand we have a group that salughters animals in an inhumane way and is allowed to do so because "it's their culture."

Which of these two groups do you think the government is running scared of and bending over backwards to accommodate in the name of "community harmony."?”

“kevin, would you be so understanding if a member of your family was killed as a result of someone hallucinating as a direct result of this drug?.

I think not, so dont try and condone the use of drugs.I don't believe in the muslim way of killing animals for their religious purposes, however two wrongs dont make a right”