A hallucinogenic tea, laced with controversy : ayahuasca in the Amazon and the United States / Marlene Dobkin de Rios and Roger Rumrrill.

"One country's sacrament is another's illicit drug, as officials in South America and the United States are well aware. For centuries, a hallucinogenic tea made from a giant vine native to the Amazonian rainforest has been taken as a religious sacrament across several cultures in South America."

"In this book, de Rios and Rumrrill take us inside the history and realm of, as well as the raging arguments about, the substance that seems a sacrament to some and a scourge to others. Opponents fight its use, even as U.S. scientists and psychologists continue investigations of whether ayahuasca has healing properties that might be put to conventional use for physical and mental health. This book includes text from the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances and interviews with shamans in the Amazon."-- book jacket

Westport, Conn. ; London : Praeger, 2008.

162 pages ; 25 cm

Native use of ayahuasca -- Drug tourism -- The new shamans -- The União de Vegetal and the U.S. Supreme Court -- Globalization and the future of ayahuasca.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [155]-159) and index.