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On epistemic injustices, biomedical research with Indigenous people, and the legal regulation of ayahuasca in Brazil: The production of new injustices? - A Commentary


Web link: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.11...

Pages: 136346152211208, 6 pages

Abstract

We find that, despite their commitment to “overcoming epistemic injustices,” Schenberg and Gerber not only fail to identify ways to overcome epistemic injustices, but end up committing new epistemic injustices by keeping the initiation and control of the scientific process in the hands of biomedical experts and their tools and also by excluding the Brazilian ayahuasca churches from their active role in shaping the current legislation and contributing to the biomedical science and research around ayahuasca. This regulatory framework, despite its shortcomings, has influenced legislation elsewhere and still plays an important role internationally because Brazilian scientific research, too, is having a worldwide impact. Brazil held the first clinical trial on ayahuasca and has a unique flavor, where psychedelic researchers have first-hand experience, close contact with research subjects, and are allowed a rich cultural environment, free from prohibition, in contrast to their restricted peers in the North. We hope the next decade brings direct involvement, advocacy, and agency of Indigenous representatives in the production of knowledge about ayahuasca in a way that supports their autonomy and sovereignty.