Traveling the world to get in touch with your spiritual side isn’t something new, as many people yearly will take to retreats, mountain tops and hiking trails to find their zen and peace.
However, the dangers of one method of rekindling your spirituality has been warned about after an American fell victim to a shocking effect and passed away.
Castranova died Monday (June 2) after drinking a strong hallucinogenic plant brew called ayahuasca, something that is banned in the US and several other countries globally.
It was reported that Castranova was taking part in a shamanic ritual at La Casa de Guillermo ICONA, a ‘spiritual tourism’ location in Loreto.
The mind-altering drug is something that has been long used in Amazonian tribes for their spiritual rituals, but tourists who are looking for a reprieve from their mental health struggles, or a renewed sense of purpose have begun to take an interest in experiencing it.
Despite its history, the US Embassy in Peru have warned people about its potentially fatal effects.
“However, Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a strong hallucinogen that is illegal in the United States and many other countries.”
According to officials, the US man is not the first to have died during this ritual, claiming that several have passed away or suffered from severe mental health crises or physical issues just last year after consuming the DMT drug.
According to Partnership to End Addiction, DMT is ‘a mind-altering substance in the hallucinogen family’ that can ‘change a person’s reality, causing dramatic changes in mood, thought and emotions’.
However, hostel managers in Peru have reportedly claimed that Castranova’s death and adverse reaction to the drug could be because he allegedly failed to inform ceremony organizers he was on antibiotics, which may have had a fatal reaction.
The powerful psychedelic can cause ‘irreversible damage’ and death, Lopez said as per Infobae.
Castronova’s death isn’t the first that has been reported in the last year, as mother-of-three, Maureen Rainford from the UK suffered a similar reaction, as per the Daily Mail.