Okay, I heard from someone with a connection that they just submitted their application yesterday.
Yes, it is a monumental scam. As I described in the article, even if they did have permission to serve ayahuasca to the public, membership in a church has nothing to do with it.
But don't get into this if you write to the DEA, they can figure it out for themselves. (And getting into too many different things could make it sound like you have a personal grudge.) Just stick to the point that unqualified or incompetent people running large group ayahuasca ceremonies is not safe. Especially since they actually advertise on their web site that they can help people with PTSD, suicidal thoughts, etc. -- ayahuasca does have the potential to help with things like that, but only in skilled hands, and it can't be done in huge groups of twenty or forty or a hundred people. And these people have no competence for that kind of therapy.
The DEA doesn't know much about ayahuasca, it is relatively new on their radar, so they will be receptive to guidelines about how to think about it. We don't want to close the door to legitimate research and therapy -- ayahuasca can be an extremely valuable therapeutic tool in the right hands -- so you want to distinguish legitimate therapeutic and religious use from exploitation.
Since this is a forum about cults, I would guess that a priority here would be the fact that ayahuasca has a huge potential for exploitation by unscrupulous cult leaders (especially since many people would come who are looking for help with psychological problems, vulnerable and desperate people who would trustingly and perhaps tragically put themselves in the wrong hands). If the legal door were opened for any cult leader to start serving ayahuasca to people, especially in large groups, the kind of psychological damage you see happening to cult victims could become so much greater. So this, I imagine, would be the priority concern for people here, and it could be presented as a safety concern for the DEA, since safety is their main priority as well.
Quote
dabcult
I Know for sure that Trinity is sending mass email telling people that
they will be able to be taking ayahuasca in America if they join his church right now ...for only his church members will be able to attend ceremonies ..
If Gayle is right ....then it is a monumental scam ..by a guy who cannot even enter the USA ...
Yes, it is a monumental scam. As I described in the article, even if they did have permission to serve ayahuasca to the public, membership in a church has nothing to do with it.
But don't get into this if you write to the DEA, they can figure it out for themselves. (And getting into too many different things could make it sound like you have a personal grudge.) Just stick to the point that unqualified or incompetent people running large group ayahuasca ceremonies is not safe. Especially since they actually advertise on their web site that they can help people with PTSD, suicidal thoughts, etc. -- ayahuasca does have the potential to help with things like that, but only in skilled hands, and it can't be done in huge groups of twenty or forty or a hundred people. And these people have no competence for that kind of therapy.
The DEA doesn't know much about ayahuasca, it is relatively new on their radar, so they will be receptive to guidelines about how to think about it. We don't want to close the door to legitimate research and therapy -- ayahuasca can be an extremely valuable therapeutic tool in the right hands -- so you want to distinguish legitimate therapeutic and religious use from exploitation.
Since this is a forum about cults, I would guess that a priority here would be the fact that ayahuasca has a huge potential for exploitation by unscrupulous cult leaders (especially since many people would come who are looking for help with psychological problems, vulnerable and desperate people who would trustingly and perhaps tragically put themselves in the wrong hands). If the legal door were opened for any cult leader to start serving ayahuasca to people, especially in large groups, the kind of psychological damage you see happening to cult victims could become so much greater. So this, I imagine, would be the priority concern for people here, and it could be presented as a safety concern for the DEA, since safety is their main priority as well.