More than half of people who take the popular and potent psychedelic drug ayahuasca suffer mental health problems related to their trip — and one in 10 need prolonged professional support, data suggest.
In some, rarer cases, use of the plant — which contains the hallucinogen N-N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) — can prove fatal, due to its effect on the heart, with some data suggesting this occurs in one in 100 people who take it.
The physical impact of the drug is well known, with users handed buckets at ayahuasca ‘ceremonies’ to cater for the violent vomiting that the drug triggers.
But focus has now been drawn to its life-threatening effects following the death of 54-year-old social worker Maureen Rainford, who had travelled to a Bolivian retreat in the Amazon that supplies ayahuasca tea.
The social worker collapsed 10 minutes after drinking the tea, reportedly complaining of feeling ill as her breathing and heart rate dropped. Despite CPR, Ms Rainford died an hour after she collapsed.
A spokesman for the retreat said her passing was due to a ‘medical emergency that was not related to ayahuasca’.
It follows warning from experts that promotion of ayahuasca’s supposed healing properties from famous faces like Prince Harry could inspire others to try the hallucinogen.
Ayahuasca has previously been blamed for the deaths of at least three Brits, one of whom took her own life due to its effect on her mental health.
Social worker Maureen Rainford, 54, (pictured) booked a ten-day stay at the Ayahuasca and San Pedro Pisatahua Retreat, an Amazon commune billed as a wellness and detox retreat
There is little data on how commonly the brown-reddish brewed drink (pictured) is used in the UK. But it is thought to be popular among the middle classes
Ayahuasca is the same drug that Prince Harry admitted to taking to help him cope after his mother Princess Diana’s death
Despite the risks interest in ayahuasca is rising. Almost 4.5 million people reported using the drug in their lifetime, according to a report the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service published last year.
The group, a non-for-profit that explores the use of traditional indigenous medicines, also found 820,000 people globally tried the drug in 2019 alone, the latest figure available.
While the authors described this as a record figure, they predicted it had likely been eclipsed given rising usage of the drug worldwide.
Estimates on how many Brits have used ayahuasca are more difficult to calculate.
DMT, and by extension ayahuasca, is a Class A drug in the UK meaning possession can come with a prison term of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.
A 2017 study conducted by Kings College London found only some 35 Brits out of a sample of about 10,000 who participated about in an anonymous drug survey reported using ayahuasca recently.
Experts have warned that despite some legitimate evidence DMT could have use in a clinical setting, adverse effects from psychosis and suicide to heart attacks had been recorded.
Professor Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, previously told MailOnline: ‘Ayahuasca is an under-researched botanical hallucinogenic and psychedelic drug that has shown some rather preliminary promise in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.
Kate Hyatt killed herself in October 2021. The actress and artist suffered severe psychosis after taking the hallucinogen for what she believed were medicinal reasons
‘Adverse effects are on record, some of which are serious.
‘Its promotion as a life-changing treatment is unwise at best and irresponsible at worst.’
Dr Max Pemberton, an NHS psychiatrist in London, speaking on Prince Harry’s previous detailing of his positive experience on using the drug added: ‘Harry plainly has no understanding of the serious damage these substances can wreak on users – damage that I see on mental health hospital wards with upsetting frequency.’
An international study, published in Plos Global Health in 2022, found of 11,000 ayahuasca users, just over one in 50 needed medical help for physical problems caused by taking the drug, though two in three reported symptoms.
But over half reported adverse mental health effects in the weeks or even months after consumption, with just over a tenth needing professional help as a result.
The study also cited a decade’s worth of data, from the American Association of Poison Controls Centers, that found over one in six people who contacted them about ayahuasca reported a worryingly elevated heart rate.
Additionally, one in 50 reported seizures and one per cent noted cases in which someone was not breathing or suffering a cardiac arrest after using the drug.
As with many other analyses, it cannot be proven if these incidents were directly related to ayahuasca use or another substance.
Jake Paul has revealed how Ayahuasca – a hallucinogen drug – inspired him to fight Mike Tyson after visualising himself taking on the 58-year-old two years ago
Last year, actor Will Smith revealed during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he drank the brew over 12 times during a retreat in Peru while having marital problems with his wife Jada
Actress Lindsay Lohan credited drinking ayahuasca – which is created by pounding vine stems in boiling water – with helping to free her from ‘the wreckage of my past’
While most experts agree taking ayahuasca is dangerous for your health unpicking exactly how risky it can be is uncertain.
This is part due its use in ritual rather than a clinical setting meaning the dose of DMT, and if other hallucinogenic substances are added, can vary by practitioner.
Actual DMT content per vine can also vary by region and harvest adding an inherent layer of unpredictability.
Anyone with heart conditions or those taking antidepressants or with a history of psychotic episodes are frequently urged not to use the drug.
However, as many Brits are living with undiagnosed heart conditions, or lie about their mental health seeking ayahuasca’s healing properties, many can be at risk.
Experts have feared discussion of using ayahuasca by celebrities like Prince Harry could lead to rising interest by members of the general public.
In an interview published last year, he said ayahuasca triggered feelings of ‘release’ and ‘comfort’ that helped him deal with his trauma, Prince Harry said.
He added: ‘It was the cleaning of the windscreen, cleaning of the windshield, the removal of life’s filters just as much as on Instagram, these layers of filters.
‘It removed it all for me and brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold on to for a period of time.
‘I started doing it recreationally and then started to realise how good it was for me, I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and pains of the past.’
In a previous interview, Prince Harry claimed he would not recommend taking the substance recreationally.
But he added: ‘Doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.’
Other famous faces who have spoken about taking the drug include boxer Jake Paul, who revealed taking ayahuasca inspired him to fight Mike Tyson, and actors Will Smith and Lindsay Lohan.
Ayahuasca, also called the ‘vine of the soul’, is a hallucinogenic drug that’s extracted from, which has been used by Amazonian tribes for centuries.
It is made by combining the bark from a Banisteriopsis caapi vine tree and leaves from the Psychotria viridis bush — both of which are native to south America — and originally used by shamans for healing and religious rituals.
Despite its illegality in Britain multiple ‘wellness retreats’ offering the drug op up with alarming regularity.
The Mail on Sunday attended one such retreat, where dozens of Brits paid £800 per to take ayahuasca, undercover last year.
While ayahuasca isn’t recommend by most experts, scientists are exploring how to it could potentially be used to tackle addiction, depression and trauma in a clinical setting.
A recent University College London study found the so-called ‘jungle tea’ may boost wellbeing and lower the risk of depression.
Any such legitimate DMT therapy would likely be highly controlled in terms of exact dosage and screening of patients to ensure they didn’t have conditions that could lead to adverse side effects.