Ayahuasca is a South American psychoactive brew, traditionally used by Indigenous cultures and folk healers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins for spiritual ceremonies, divination, and healing a variety of psychosomatic complaints. Originally restricted to areas of Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, in the middle of the 20th century it became widespread in Brazil in the context of the appearance of syncretic religions that use ayahuasca as a sacrament, like Santo Daime, União do Vegetal and Barquinha, which blend elements of Amazonian Shamanism, Christianity, Kardecist Spiritism, and African-Brazilian religions such as Umbanda, Candomblé and Tambor de Mina, later expanding to several countries across all continents, notably the United States and Western Europe, and, more incipiently, in Eastern Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.
Ayahuasca pot in Ecuador
Ayahuasca cooking
Ayahuasca being prepared in the Napo region of Ecuador
Ayahuasca cooking in the Loreto region of Peru
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent, or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance that changes the function of the nervous system and results in alterations of perception, mood, cognition, and behavior. These substances have various applications, including medical use like psychedelic therapy, recreationally, or for spiritual reasons. Some categories of psychoactive drugs may be prescribed by physicians and other healthcare practitioners because of their therapeutic value.
An assortment of psychoactive drugs, including both street drugs and medications: Cocaine Crack cocaine Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Ephedrine MDMA (ecstasy) Peyote (mescaline) LSD blotter Psilocybin mushroom (Psilocybe cubensis) Salvia divinorum (salvinorin A) Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) (Unscheduled drug) Amanita muscaria mushroom (muscimol) Tylenol 3 (acetaminophen/codeine) Codeine with muscle relaxant Pipe tobacco (nicotine) (Unscheduled drug) Bupropion (Unscheduled drug)
Alcohol is a widely-used psychoactive drug. The global alcoholic drinks market was expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2013. Beer is the world's third-most popular drink, after water and tea.
Zoloft (sertraline) is an SSRI antidepressant.
Historical image of legal heroin bottle