💧Ayahuasca in Peru? US Embassy says no

Welcome back to The Drop In, DoubleBlind’s newsletter serving up news, culture, and independent journalism about the psychedelic underground straight to your inbox.

Today’s psychedelic dispatch features a freshly reported story about recent warnings from the U.S. Embassy in Peru and Costa Rica’s Health Ministry telling people to avoid an array of plant medicines. Our other reported news piece is about the first “consumer-protection” lawsuit in the psychedelics space brought against a psilocybin retreat center in Oregon. You can read them below! Keep scrolling and find stories on purple MDMA, how to use drug-checking kits, and the safety of “trip killers.”

Happy trails 🖖

Mary Carreón
Senior Editor

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Peru and Costa Rica Issue Warnings Against Consuming Plant Medicine

The US Embassy in Peru and the Ministry of Health in Costa Rica issue serious health warnings urging people—Americans, specifically—to steer clear from ayahuasca, kambo, and ibogaine.

On January 23, the U.S. Embassy in Peru issued a warning to American tourists to avoid consuming ayahuasca and kambo. Then, on Jan. 28, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health issued a similar warning, advising people not to consume ayahuasca and ibogaine at local retreats.

Peru’s advisory specifically says “ayahuasca/kambo” is dangerous but does not clarify whether it is referring to the substances when consumed individually or combined. However, it cites recent deaths, serious health complications, and crimes associated with ayahuasca retreat centers.

The Ecstatic Integration newsletter points to a post in r/ayahuasca by Redditor ”Usual-Package9540,” stating that the U.S. Embassy in Peru has issued similar warnings to Americans in the past, specifically in 2012, 2013, and 2022. But Usual-Package9540 says this one is different. “This [most recent] one has a stronger wording, which may suggest escalation from their side.” The poster also points out that the embassy ironically only lists some (not all) of the risks of consuming “ayahuasca/kambo.”

We reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Peru for more context, but they did not respond to our inquiries.

Meanwhile, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health has taken a similarly hard stance against plant medicine, issuing a strict warning against advertising, consuming, and using ayahuasca and ibogaine for therapeutic purposes. Unlike in Peru, where ayahuasca is protected as part of Indigenous tradition, Costa Rican officials emphasize that these substances lack proper “sanitary registration, making them illegal under the country’s regulations.” The Ministry has urged residents and tourists to report any unlicensed retreats or ceremonies. (Despite the fact that hundreds of businesses facilitate the brew, Costa Rica does not have a formal licensing system for ayahuasca retreat centers.)

None of this changes the fact that ayahuasca tourism is more popular now than ever, attracting millions of people a year, including Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, wellness influencers, professional athletes, and renowned musicians and actors. Some travelers may be deterred, but others will likely see the warnings as another chapter in the long, complicated relationship between psychedelics and government regulation.

Oregon Psilocybin Retreat Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged False Advertising

A lawsuit against an Oregon psilocybin retreat challenges advertising claims, raising questions about expectations and consumer protections in the emerging industry.

A woman is suing an Oregon-based psilocybin retreat center business for allegedly misleading customers about the experience they were paying for, according to Willamette Week. The case is said to be the first consumer-protection lawsuit in the psychedelics space and is raising broader questions about the high costs associated with attending psychedelic retreats.

On January 27, 2025, Lynne Silva filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (making it a federal court case) alleging that Mandala Journey Work LLC, a licensed service center under the Oregon Health Authority, marketed its psilocybin retreat as a four-day immersive experience in a “supportive, tranquil home” with outdoor activities in the forests surrounding Eugene. But, according to the complaint, she arrived at a cramped Airbnb where “one of the other retreat participants had to sleep in a common room, making it off-limits after bedtime.”

Silva alleges in the complaint that Mandala failed to secure accommodations for the duration of the retreat (three nights and four days), causing guests to check out and relocate. “The new Airbnb was not spacious, did not have a dining table, did not have a backyard with privacy from neighbors, and was far from tranquil, as Defendant had advertised.”

Instead of taking retreat attendees through the forest, the complaint states that the guide took guests into the yard of the first Airbnb and to a public park, and “then killed time by driving them around downtown Eugene.”

“After reviewing the correspondence and evidence, it appears that Mandala Journey Work informed [Lynne Silva] from the outset that if they did not reach their target number of attendees, the retreat accommodations would need to change to keep costs affordable,” Mike Arnold, council for Mandala Journey Work LLC, tells DoubleBlind in response to the allegations. “When that happened, they presented a new option to her, which she consented to. Throughout the retreat itself, she appeared to enjoy the experience and even acknowledged that it went very well. She did, however, receive candid feedback from other participants—some of which may have been difficult to hear—and we suspect this contributed to her change of heart.”

Arnold contends that his clients acknowledged that they made an oversight regarding the booking accommodations a day short, requiring last-minute adjustments. “They were fully transparent about this, obtained the group’s agreement, and provided additional gestures, such as taking everyone to lunch and offering additional integration sessions, to make amends,” he tells DoubleBlind. “They have documented all correspondence, including photos of the revised Airbnb, and proactively communicated each change with the goal of reducing her overall cost.”

We asked Silva’s attorney, Michael Fuller, to comment on the implications of this case for the retreat industry at large. “We support psilocybin legalization, and these types of unlawful trade practices only stand to set the movement back,” he tells DoubleBlind.

Whether this lawsuit is an outlier or the start of a broader reckoning for the psychedelic retreat industry remains to be seen. But as the demand for psilocybin retreats continues to rise — especially legal ones located within the U.S. — so does the need for conversations about transparency, expectations, and the evolving standards of care in this emerging space.

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Learn with Us

💜 Is purple MDMA just a marketing gimmick, or does the color actually mean something? We’ve got the facts about this trend here. (And don’t forget to test your drugs!)

🧪 Speaking of testing our drugs… Drug checking kits can help ensure you aren’t taking adulterated substances, whether it’s MDMA, LSD, Ketamine, or something else. Here’s how to use a kit effectively.

⏳ Wondering when that tab you took will wear off? From come up to come down, we’re breaking down the typical LSD timeline and the factors that can influence your trip's duration.

🌀 Losing your sense of self is a hallmark of many psychedelic experiences, and it’s something that many seek out specifically. Here’s what you should know about the phenomenon of ego death.

DoubleBlind Digs

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Watch Now

If you hear the words “smokeable ayahuasca” and your curiosity is piqued then Changa might be for you. Changa is a unique blend of smokeable herbs spiked with DMT, offering a shorter, more accessible alternative to traditional ayahuasca ceremonies. But is it the same? DB’s Editor-in-Chief has the details for you. Tune in and learn about changa’s effects and how it compares to other DMT experiences here.