Exploring Changes in Substance Use Patterns Pre- and Post-Ayahuasca Retreats: A Longitudinal Study Design

Background and Purpose: Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew that has been used traditionally by indigenous people as an herbal or plant medicine for religious and therapeutic purposes. Recently, it has become popular worldwide among people seeking mystical experiences for spiritual growth or healing from past trauma. One potential contributor to the popularity is caused by the illegality of ayahuasca in almost all Western countries (e.g., US, Europe, Canada), whereas the consumption of ayahuasca is legal in most Latin American countries (e.g., Peru, Costa Rica). This longitudinal prospective cohort study (three timepoints: baseline pre-retreat, post-retreat, and one-month post-retreat follow-up) aims to investigate the effects of ayahuasca retreat experience on changes in substance use patterns, and explore potential important factors contributing to the changes in substance use patterns. Methods: Data was collected from participants attending ayahuasca retreats in one of the ayahuasca retreat center’s locations (Costa Rica or Peru) from August 2022 to March 2023. Participants who reported a drug use history prior to the ayahuasca retreat experience and completed all three timepoints surveys were included in the analyses (n=117; Mean Age=38.68, SD=9.10; Female=55.6%, White/Caucasian=82.9%, resident in North America=91.5%, completed at least part college education=94.8%, annual household income over $150,000=32.5%, never married=46.2%). Descriptive analyses and Pearson correlation were conducted in SPSS. Results: Firstly, our study results found that the most commonly reported substances used prior to the ayahuasca retreat experience were alcohol (65.7%), cannabis/marijuana not as prescribed (59.4%), hallucinogens (e.g., psilocybin, LSD, 5-MeO-DMT; 44.6%), tobacco (e.g., cigarettes; 30.9%), and amphetamine-type stimulants (29.7%). However, at one-month post-retreat follow-up, there were significant reductions in substance use frequency in the past month post-report, with 48.6% of participants reporting decreased use frequency for alcohol, 38.8% for cannabis not as prescribed, 20.6% for hallucinogens, 17.1% for tobacco, and 17.1% for amphetamine-type stimulants. Additionally, participants reported significant reductions in substance use craving in the past month post-retreat, with 51.4% of participants reporting decreased craving for alcohol, 41.1% for cannabis not as prescribed, 20.5% for amphetamine-type stimulants, 20.0% for hallucinogens, and 16.6% for tobacco. Secondly, our study results revealed that younger age was positively correlated with more decreased use frequency for hallucinogens (r=.33, p<.001), nicotine products (e.g., e-cigs; r=.26, p<.01), and amphetamine-type stimulants (r=.20, p<.05) at one-month follow-up. Younger age was also positively correlated with greater decreases in craving for vaping nicotine products (r=.31, p<.001), using amphetamine-type stimulants (r=.26, p<.01), and smoking tobacco (r=.24, p<.01) at one-month follow-up. Conclusions and Implications: Our study findings suggest the ayahuasca effect may lead to decreased cravings and use frequencies of substances, which is consistent with existing ayahuasca research evidence on its therapeutic potential to treat drug addiction issues. Our study findings also highlight an important factor of age in relation to changes in substance use patterns. Further research with more rigorous study designs (e.g., clinical trials) is needed to confirm these findings.