General situation
Belgium is located between (and is culturally influenced by) two neighboring countries with very different political, legal, social, cultural and religious traditions – France and the Netherlands. France has very restrictive drug laws and policies, and is notable for having explicitly banned ayahuasca in 2005. Also, France views any emerging spiritual and/or religious groups that don’t fit in the framework of recognized religions as potentially dangerous cults.
The Netherlands, in contrast, has a tradition of openness and tolerance, which translates into a liberal approach to drug-related issues (despite increasing restrictions in recent years) and a higher degree of openness towards emerging spiritual movements.
These cultural influences are reflected in differing cultural attitudes between the two main linguistic communities in Belgium: the northern Dutch-speaking region and the southern French-language region. Although these two regions enjoy an increasing degree of political and legislative autonomy, drug policies and laws remain a federal matter, and are uniform throughout the country.
DMT is a controlled substance under Belgium´s drug laws, however none of the plant ingredients used in the ayahuasca brew, nor the brew itself, are scheduled. Some legal interpretations have considered that the ayahuasca decoction is a preparation containing a controlled substance (DMT) and therefore considered illicit (see below). Since the legal status of ayahuasca remains uncertain and because confiscations can happen randomly, ayahuasca seems to be a low priority for police and customs – police raids remain the exception and sizable busts are rare, happening almost exclusively at Brussels National Airport.
Underground ayahuasca circles usually operate in a very discreet manner and, as is the case with other countries, it is difficult to estimate their number. One recent news article put the figure at twenty at least, but this remains speculative. There are a handful of Santo Daime groups operating in Belgium, of which at least one hosts its activities in the Netherlands for increased legal safety. Non-Daime groups are loosely structured around or inspired by a wide variety of ayahuasca traditions. Since the French ban on ayahuasca in 2005, a few French groups have organized some of their ceremonies in Belgium. Itinerant Amazonian shamans visit Belgium regularly on their European tours and have apparently not run into trouble thus far.
At least partly due to the influence of the very active surveillance and repression of cultish movements and the explicit prohibition of ayahuasca and iboga in France, the Belgian Information and Advice Center on Harmful Sectarian Organizations (CIAOSN/IACSSO), an official body instituted by law, has devoted a case study to “the use of psychotropic substances [i.e. ayahuasca and iboga] in the spiritual market” in its 2009-2010 biannual report [in French – in Dutch]. Although the Center only focuses on adverse effects and the risks of psychological influence exerted on especially vulnerable and suggestible subjects, it stresses that the aim is not to suggest that ayahuasca and iboga are cultish by nature, but rather to encourage readers to make responsible choices based on objective knowledge of the risks and possible consequences.
International law
The Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) subjects several psychoactive compounds contained in plant species to international control. DMT (N,N-dimetyltryptamine, a tryptamine alkaloid contained in Psychotria viridis and other plants generally used in the preparation of ayahuasca) is a Schedule I controlled substance in the Convention. However, according to the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) Report for 2010 (par. 284) ‘no plants are currently controlled under that Convention […]. Preparations (e.g. decoctions for oral use) made from plants containing those active ingredients are also not under international control’.
There is no general consensus among judges and law enforcement officials on whether ayahuasca is illegal because it contains DMT, or not. It is up to national governments to make the final decision in their own jurisdictions on whether to impose controls on these plants and preparations, including ayahuasca.
National drug legislation
Drug legislation in Belgium has three legal bases: the Law of February 24, 1921, regarding the trafficking of narcotic and psychotropic substances; the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971; the Royal Decree of September 6, 2017, regulating narcotic, psychotropic and soporific substances.
The UN Convention does not prohibit the import or use of plant materials or their preparations, and thus ayahuasca does not fall under its scope. However, the Belgian Royal Decree goes further than the Convention. It lists the substances and plants that are explicitly forbidden.
None of the plant ingredients of ayahuasca are directly listed, but DMT, one of the active components of ayahuasca, is mentioned. Article 1 of the same law also explicitly states that the notion of “psychotropic substances” includes “the preparations containing these substances.” In theory, in its plant form, ayahuasca could safely be imported, acquired or possessed, although leaves containing DMT have been known to get seized by customs.
It must be noted that Belgian drug legislation prohibits almost everything related to drugs (manufacture, importation, export, sale, acquisition, possession, incitement to use, etc.), except use itself. Mere use could, however, be equated to possession. It could therefore be argued that Belgian drug law contains some degree of legal uncertainty regarding the use of controlled substances, and that the legal safety of people participating in ayahuasca ceremonies remains unclear.
Cases
Belgium has not seen many ayahuasca-related cases going to court. We know of at least two instances where postal parcels containing brewed ayahuasca were seized by customs, the addressees summoned and interrogated by the police, but no charges were pressed. Charges in court usually revolve around the importation, possession and/or incitement to the use of a controlled substance, or the illegal practice of medicine. The Santo Daime is the only group to have sought an exemption from drug laws on religious grounds, albeit unsuccessfully (see below).
Ayahuasca practitioner in Flanders
Following a search in October 2010 and the seizure of bottles of ayahuasca at Brussels International Airport in January 2011, charges were pressed against an ayahuasca practitioner who held neo-shamanic Peruvian ceremonies throughout Flanders. He was charged with importation, possession and incitement to the use of ayahuasca. In 2014, the lower court in Ghent sentenced him to a suspended prison term of six months and a fine of 5,500 euros (of which 4,950 euros were suspended and 550 euros were effective).
The defendant appealed this sentence, and in March, 2015, the Court of Appeal in Ghent confirmed the guilty verdict and sentenced him to 80 hours of community service and a suspended fine of 5,500 euros. The two other defendants in this case had both received ayahuasca shipments for the ceremonies and were convicted to a suspended 3-month prison term and a suspended fine of 1000 euros in the lower court, but the Court of Appeal dropped these charges.
Finally, in October 2015, the principal defendant reached an out-of-court settlement with the public prosecutor in Ghent after he brought the case to the Court of Cassation, the highest court of appeal, in which the case was settled with a 1500 euro fine. Also, the criminal charges were cleared from his personal criminal record.
Santo Daime case
The Santo Daime church has been active in Belgium since the early nineties, and its membership revolves around a handful of groups. Following a complaint filed in 2011 over a financial dispute unrelated to ayahuasca by some members of one of the groups against other group members, the police started scrutinizing the whole Santo Daime movement in Belgium.
After the seizure of two parcels containing Daime (ayahuasca) at Brussels National Airport, the leader of one of the larger groups and the non-profit organization that coordinated its activities were charged with illegal importation, possession and delivery of a controlled substance.
In 2014, the lower court in Bruges found the defendants guilty but discharged them without punishment. The defendants appealed this decision, seeking acquittal and a recognition of their freedom of worship. The Court of Appeal in Ghent upheld the guilty verdict in 2015. The group leader – having no criminal record or intention of trading in ayahuasca – was not sentenced, but the non-profit received a suspended fine of 18,000 euros. The court deemed ayahuasca to be a danger to public health. Finally, in 2016, the Belgian Court of Cassation upheld the verdict of the Court of Appeal.
Jeremy Narby case
This case has not yet been to court but it sheds an interesting light on the methods and priorities of the police forces with regards to ayahuasca-related issues.
In 2012, the anthropologist and author Jeremy Narby, famous among ayahuasca enthusiasts for having written The Cosmic Serpent, gave a lecture in Liège about the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and medicinal plants. His talk was part of a series of lectures and exhibitions promoting environmental justice and drawing attention to the threats faced by tropical forests. During three minutes of the hour-long talk, Narby addressed the topic of ayahuasca, pointing out that the brew is not something to be taken lightly and entails certain risks.
Two months later, much to his surprise, Narby learned that a police inspector was among the audience that evening – aiming to “infiltrate the ayahuasca scene,” as he told the director of the venue – and that several of the organizers of the event had subsequently been questioned by the police, sometimes in an intimidating manner. Some weeks later, Narby received a convening letter from the Counter-Terrorism Section of the Belgian Judicial Police ordering him to submit to questioning in relation to a charge of “incitement to the use of psychotropic substances.” (In this case, perhaps due to a suspicion of proselytizing, the Belgian police linked ayahuasca to cultish activities, which are dealt with by the Counter-Terrorism Section).
Wishing to avoid unnecessary travel, Narby replied that he had never incited anyone to use ayahuasca during his lecture, and sent a recording and a transcript of his talk to support his statement. A few months later, he learned that his file had been transferred to the prosecutor. Nothing was heard from the case since then, leaving Narby to speculate about whether his case has been dropped or merely held up in the Belgian judicial maze.
This episode raises several questions: Why the need to “infiltrate” a public lecture? What’s the perceived “danger” posed by an anthropologist? Is ayahuasca really a low-priority issue to the Belgian police forces?
World on Ayahuasca case
World on Ayahuasca is a Dutch organization that holds ceremonies in The Netherlands. Previously, they also held ayahuasca and mushroom ceremonies in Belgium, which were advertised online. Consequently, Belgian police created an email address under a false name to pass themselves off as a potential participant and to gather information.
The police then raided a ceremony in March of 2015, seizing a few liters of ayahuasca, various plant materials, cell phones and a laptop computer. Both organizers of the ceremony were interrogated and charged with possession and trade of various substances.
Two years later, the Correctional Court of Antwerp sentenced one of them to 120 hours of community service and a fine of 6000 euros, and the other to a conditional prison sentence of 6 months and a conditional fine of 6000 euros. They were also sentenced to pay the judicial expenses. Neither of them appealed the decision due to both strategic reasons and lack of funds to continue paying for legal assistance.
Raid on an ayahuasca neo-shamanic group
An ayahuasca group that had been advertising ceremonies in Belgium online, were raided by police in October 2016 while a ceremony was being prepared. Three people were detained for about eight hours. A few liters of ayahuasca as well as laptops and cell phones were seized. The case is following its judicial course. Meanwhile, this group has stopped organizing retreats in Belgium.
Updated: November 2017
Relevant documents
- Fax INCB 2001 Netherlands
- INCB letter ICEERS
- Hoasca 1971 Convention Legal Brief
- INCB Annual Report 2010
- INCB Annual Report 2012
- UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- TNI/ICEERS Ayahuasca Policy Report
- ICEERS Technical Report on Ayahuasca
- Plantaforma Ayahuasca Report Spain (Spanish)
- Declaration of Principles of the Religious Groups who consume the Tea Hoasca
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