Psychedelic church gets shut down in the Bay

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

Today’s freshly dropped news stories are about legal cases involving the use of ayahuasca, and Zide Door closing its second location in San Francisco — you can find those pieces below. If you keep scrolling, you’ll find stories on Mapacho, what to expect during a salvia trip, and how working with psychedelics may improve the symptoms of Long Covid.

If you’re not doing anything this weekend, come hang with us! We’re hosting a workshop — for everyone — on Sex and Psychedelics with the inimitable Dr. Brinkley. You can learn more about it here!

One last thing! Tomorrow’s subscriber story investigates Meta’s censorship of psychedelics — we even spoke to a former employee of Instagram and Facebook. You won’t find this story anywhere else. Upgrade now for first dibs on our Friday Feature!

Until then ☀️ 👋

Mary Carreón
Senior Editor

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People Are Being Prosecuted for Ayahuasca. But Should They Be?

A recent webinar exposed the legal persecution of people arrested for ayahuasca, featuring testimonies from those imprisoned and the fight to reform outdated drug laws.

On February 11, 2025, the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS) hosted a webinar called "Testimonies of Legal Cases Around Ayahuasca." The event gathered individuals who have faced repercussions with the law for their use of ayahuasca alongside members of ICEERS’s legal and scientific teams, who have supported them through the Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF).

Moderated by Constanza Sánchez, ICEERS’s Director of Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights, the conversation dove into the human cost of criminal proceedings related to ayahuasca. It also underscored a broader legal and cultural struggle: how justice systems continue to conflate sacred, traditional plant medicines with prohibited substances (like lab-made DMT) despite mounting scientific and legal efforts to differentiate them.

Since its founding in 2016, the ADF has provided legal assistance to more than 390 individuals in 47 countries. It offers courtroom defense and advocacy to help reshape how legal systems perceive and engage with ayahuasca. As ADF attorney Jesús Alonso explained, the organization's work extends beyond individual cases.

“It is a global effort to educate justice systems about the distinction between ayahuasca and synthetic DMT, dismantling the prohibitionist approach that ignores scientific evidence and ancestral traditions,” Alonso said.

Two testimonies from the webinar revealed the treacher of such legal battles. A healthcare professional, Elizabeth Pérez Brav, spent nearly two years in a Mexican prison after being arrested for possessing ayahuasca. Her story, recounted in the webinar, was one of hardship and resilience. “Prison has been a school of much growth and learning about freedom,” she said, emphasizing the critical support she received from ADF. “When I got out, the first thing I did was kneel down and kiss the ground.”

Mauricio Ramos’s case followed a similar arc. Returning from a retreat in Peru with ayahuasca for personal use, he was arrested upon arrival in Mexico and sentenced to over a year and a half in prison. His experience behind bars was harrowing. “It is desperate to be in a place like this,” he said. “I had never experienced anything so traumatic.” 

Despite going to jail, ayahuasca remained central to Ramos and his family’s healing. His mother’s health greatly improved after a single ceremony, he explained. While he remains in the throes of the legal process, ADF continues to fight on his behalf.

Throughout the discussion, ICEERS experts emphasized the need for judicial education. Scientific Director José Carlos Bouso underscored the role of evidence in legal defense, while Alonso lamented the rigidity of legal institutions. “The problem is that we run into authorities with deaf ears and closed hearts,” he said.

ADF attorney Natalia Rebollo explained that these cases ripple beyond those prosecuted and affect entire communities. “Each case has taught us something and allowed us to build better defense strategies.”

The fight remains largely uphill despite legal victories, thanks to global drug laws.

Sánchez closed the webinar by acknowledging the community that sustains ADF and reminding attendees that its work is made possible through public support. Ultimately, the message was clear: This is not just a legal battle — it is a fight for justice, dignity, and the right to traditional medicine. 

“Human beings come to life to do three things: to love, to serve, and to be happy,” Pérez Bravo said. “And if you have those three things, you’ve made it.”

Popular Entheogenic Church Shuts Down Its San Francisco Location

Ambrosia’s Door of San Francisco has closed, with its pastor blaming city officials for targeting them with costly structural repairs.

Ambrosia’s Door, the San Francisco branch of the entheogenic church Zide Door, based in Oakland, closed its doors at the end of 2024. According to its pastor, Dave Hodges, the SF Planning Department ultimately forced the church out by imposing an escalating series of structural mandates, many of which were not required when the church opened its location in SOMA (South of Market Street) in April 2023. These changes — which he said were financially insurmountable — forced the church to abandon its space. 

“It was obviously hostility from people in the Planning Department,” Hodges said in a press release, expressing concerns that the crackdown amounted to religious discrimination.

San Francisco has relaxed enforcement laws around naturally occurring psychedelics, such as mushrooms, thanks to a resolution passed by local lawmakers in September 2022. But the broader political climate for psychedelics in California has shifted, especially since SB1012 didn’t make it through the legislature last year. The bill, which would have legalized psychedelic-assisted therapy in CA, was seen as a step toward broader acceptance of entheogenic substances. Its failure, Hodges argued, dampened efforts to secure a more favorable legal environment for religious institutions that use psychedelics in their ceremonies.

The church’s landlord in SF, Tatiana Takaeva Shiff, says she never had issues with the city until the church opened. “I never had any problems with the Planning Department until Dave opened the church,” she said. “It was fine.”

The building, however, is in an area that is frequently vandalized. Hodges said the church made the area safer by sharing videos with the police, including one of a stabbing outside the back door of the church. The church also responded to multiple overdoses, sometimes calling ambulances or distributing Narcan.

“We’ve saved lives,” Hodges said. But when windows are broken, the city forbids boarding them up. Instead, planners require costly “ingressed” shutters that cost six figures and are designed to be flush with the building exterior and (allegedly) prevent break-ins.

Zide Door, the Oakland-based church, remains open and continues to serve its 120,000 members.

Hodges tells DoubleBlind that he has a meeting with the City of San Francisco this week, presumably to discuss reopening Ambrosia’s Door. 

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Sex, love, and psychedelics are life’s most potent catalysts. Each holds the potential to transform our inner worlds and spark profound healing. But what happens when they converge?

Join Monica Cadena and Dr. Brinkley, PsyD, LMFT, for a stimulating conversation on the electrifying intersection of sex, love, and psychedelics. Dr. Brinkley will explore how dynamic synergy can unlock new pathways for growth, heal deep-seated wounds, and foster profound and intentional connections.

The workshop is FREE for all DoubleBlind+ members. If you’re not a member, you can sign up for your free trial here.

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Learn with Us

🦠 Covid feels like a bad dream we’d all rather forget, but for some, the nightmare just keeps going. Millions of people still suffer from debilitating symptoms of Long Covid. A new study suggests psychedelics may help. Read the full story here. 

💨 Mapacho, a potent strain of tobacco from the Amazon, is central to every single Indigenous shamanic culture in the Amazon basin. It isn’t a “psychedelic,” there are no visions… so why is it so revered? Discover the rich history, power, and teachings of Mapacho here. 

🌿 “Sage of the Seer” is one of the wildest, strangest trips in the world. Out-of-body experiences, adventures in self-contained 2D universes, transmuting into birds, becoming microscopic, or fits of hysterical laughter, this plant packs a visionary punch. Learn more about tripping on salvia divinorum here.

DoubleBlind Digs

Here are today’s recommendations to help you live more psychedelically… 

1. Are you menopausal or perimenopausal? Hystelica is looking for participants for a groundbreaking research study on the effects of microdosing on menopause symptoms. Learn more and register for the study here.

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Curious about sex and psychedelics but not up for a full workshop? Watch this deep dive we did with Britta Love last year. We go into all the juicy details of psychedelics, sex, intimacy, and personal empowerment. Watch the video here.