Ancient psychoactive plants in a global village: The ritual use of cannabis in a self-managed community in Catalonia.

Autor: Kohek M; International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS), Carrer de Sepúlveda, 65, Local 2, 08015 Barcelona, Spain; Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Catalunya Campus, Av. Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain., Sánchez Avilés C; International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS), Carrer de Sepúlveda, 65, Local 2, 08015 Barcelona, Spain., Romaní O; Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Catalunya Campus, Av. Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain., Bouso JC; International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS), Carrer de Sepúlveda, 65, Local 2, 08015 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jcbouso@iceers.org.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The International journal on drug policy [Int J Drug Policy] 2021 Dec; Vol. 98, pp. 103390. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jul 30.
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103390
Abstrakt: Background: Cannabis is a plant with a rich history of medical, recreational, industrial and spiritual uses. This paper aims to explore drug use rituals as methods of community-controlled use that help maintain a self-regulated and healthy relation to the substance in questions. Furthermore, it explores how cannabis is used in developing spirituality and a sense of community. The ritual use of cannabis is discussed in the context of drug policy.
Methods: Ethnographic research methods, such as fieldwork, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and qualitative analysis, were used to research a phenomenological community in rural Catalonia, where ancient psychoactive plants (APP), such as ayahuasca and cannabis, are regularly used in a ritual context.
Results: Cannabis has a long history of ritual/spiritual uses and is still being used for such purposes in Catalonia. The rituals are effective harm reduction techniques and can even generate beneficial effects for the individual as well as the community by strengthening bonds between community members. The rituals associated with APP are seen as spiritual or religious practices, as well as forms of self-care and community-care, rather than involving drug dependence or addiction.
Conclusion: The contemporary use of APP in Western societies is gaining popularity. International drug policies and the schedule of controlled drugs claim to be based on scientific evidence, but this evidence is limited. The contemporary myopic focus on the risks and harms of drugs overlooks important realities, such as the benefits of non-problematic drug use. These omissions could in part be rectified through the consideration of scientific findings from the field of ethnography regarding the spiritual and community dimensions of drug use.
Competing Interests: Declarations of Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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