One ayahuasca expert estimates that, on any given night, 50 to 100 ayahuasca groups are in session in New York City alone. And thanks in part to L.A.'s yen for spiritual enlightenment, and in part to its willingness to experiment with drugs, ayahuasca is incredibly popular here — with at least three subcommunities flourishing in the area. (See one local woman's account of what it's like to try ayahuasca.)
Some of the same doctors and researchers who have, in recent years, gotten approval from the Food & Drug Administration for breakthrough studies involving MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms now are turning their attention to ayahuasca. Preliminary work suggests the brew could help treat depression, chronic addiction and fear of mortality.
People with less-defined diagnoses but a hunger for something missing say that ayahuasca offers something ineffable: compassion, connectedness, spirituality.
"Ayahuasca is penetrating American society, and its highly successful people, way more than any other psychedelic," says Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a nonprofit research association based in Santa Cruz. "The number of people who have had incredible experiences with ayahuasca, if they could all surface in the public sphere at the same time, it would be absolutely astonishing."
