When you write to the DEA, just stick to the safety issue. Don't talk about cults, delusional pseudo-shamans, fake spirituality or any of that. That is outside of their purview and would muddy the issue for them. Make it clear and simple, just talk about the unsafety of AH's lack of qualifications and say that it would be dangerous public policy to set a precedent to let just anyone, with no qualifications, offer ayahuasca to the general public in the name of "religion." But ayahuasca does have potential therapeutic benefits in the right hands, so we don't want to close the door on that.

No 1 Dear Gayle ...
What religion does Guzman fallow anyway ..
Santo Daime is very Christian ...the name of Jesus is ever present in the ceremonies ....Guzman talk about Osho and a hundred other things ...there is no ONE religion in that guy

NO 2 I think that if Guzman cannot come to the USA right now he will possibly organise ceremonies in south America ...and have people travel to PERU or Mexico and give sell pitches via YOUTUBE...and get money somehow from those people .

Ayawaska might be legal ...but making money in those countries is not ..on a tourist visa anyway ...
So help me emailing this video to various immigrations in Peru Equadoe ext ..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2016 11:59PM by rrmoderator.

Hello dabcult --

1) Guzman doesn't follow any religion, he makes it up as he goes along. He thinks that calling AH a "religion" and a "church" and a "faith" is enough. The DEA will look at that too -- they (and the courts) are not permitted to consider the content of a religion's beliefs but they can look at the sincerity -- whether the religion is just made up to get around the law.

But it won't carry any weight for people to write them about AH's religiousness or lack of it. People always criticize other people's religion, and it also makes it sound like the letter-writer is just prejudiced because they have different religious beliefs. What will have more impact is just if you describe what you have already talked about seeing in Daime works when people have problems, and emphasize how these inexperienced AH people are not qualified to handle people who may have problems in ceremony. That will carry a lot of weight. Safety, or lack of it, is the issue that can sink AH's attempt to become legal.

2) If Trinity organizes ceremonies in Peru (which he has helped to do before) he will be just one out of hundreds doing that. The ayahuasca scene is completely unregulated in Peru. And there are all kinds of ways he could set up some kind of financial arrangement that would not look like he is working illegally. But he won't make nearly as much money there. He wanted to come to the US where the market is completely open and he thought he could have a monopoly here, too. That can be stopped.

I am Canadian ...so My opinion might not matter to the DEA .

i would like to know what is the deal with Guzman not being able to enter the USA
is that temporary ...is it permanent ? How can we help to make it permanent.?
Maybee Gayle ...or someone else on this forum should contact the US immigration to make sure he is out for good of the USA .And important testimonial like the one from this Canadian ex army guy should be included in advising the DEA .
..................................................................................

Ayahuasca Healings of Elbe, WA , led by Christopher "Trinity" de Guzman and Marc Shackman, has removed this comment from one of their Youtube videos. Fortunately someone managed to grab a copy. This is part of a testimony from a man in Canada, a military vet, who found himself badly exploited by Trinity financially and labor wise, and who fortunately got himself free.

I've spaced this quote for ease of reading:

Interesting .... Didn't see Trinity once during the TeePee build. Must be nice and warm in that house you're having people paint and renovate for you while you're in France... What's even more interesting is if you don't little digging on Trinity, you'll discover a few of his entrepreneurial videos discussing idea on how to get other people to create and run your business for you... Its great that there is the freedom to express something like this and the idea looks great on paper - don't get me wrong - but the distribution of work is what definitely turned me off.

I signed up as a volunteer, went through a few interviews and skype calls. I was to go down there from BC Canada, pay my way there and back; cover all my costs, and I was expected to bring tools and all this other expensive gear, and because of my military history - it was established that a role I could fill would be that of a medic - so that's more supplies I was expected to bring - more money... After I got a truck, specifically for this ggroup, and after I went out and bought camping gear and tools, a generator, heaters and tons of other crap - I was informed just weeks before I was to depart, that I had to first pay the fee to sit with them and take aya with them as anyone else would that comes to the retreat... Which is 2,000 or so Canadian - probably more with the conversion to American.

So.. Here I am. A veteran of the Canadian army of 10 years, offering all my experience and training, coming with a truck, all this extra gear - and just before I go I'm told I need to pay to sit with them - and after I take aya with them then they'll decide if I'm a good fit for the group and can even be a volunteer to begin with.

You'd think that someone would be given it free? I wasn't even interested in that - I just wanted to be a part of something - but if you're thinking you want to do this, you gotta pay to play - and not only that, Trinity never spoke to me once, never met the guy saw the guy or anything - and all of his emails were mass emails, very generalized and he was always away tripping his balls off while everyone else is doing the work - like poor Marc in the video - the best part is I have a daughter - who i haven't seen in the last 5 years because of my military service - now that I'm out I can see her every day - so I expressed to them that I need to be able to be home often to maintain a relationship with her - but even after explaining that, the expectation was that I would commit to 2-3 weeks every month to them and be there in the states - Which would have looked like this Pack the truck 6 hour drive Unload Stay 3 weeks (after paying my 2,000+ dollar "minimum" donation - which baffles me a little because months ago, Trinity said something about only "asking" for a "donation" of around 800 dollars for volunteers) go home 1 week Drive back 6 hours to Canada (and I was told when you cross the border don't tell them you're going to take ayahuasca or help build this) And I wasn't even allowed to know the location lol

So figure out the cost of gas there and back in an 8 cyl truck. Then 3 weeks buying food.The work involved.Plus the 2,000+

Money isn't the issue. The issue is the "volunteers" are actually the customers and the workers- it's a genius business model I'll give him that... But red flags started going up the first time he got back to everyone in one of his emails saying he needed to get different land - one that would have a house on it this time for him - Notice how far away they put the teepees in relation to the cabin/house? Who do you think gets to sleep there?"

Quote
dabcult
I am Canadian ...so My opinion might not matter to the DEA .

That doesn't matter at all. They are not looking for your vote. They are not even elected officials. They will be looking for evidence of whether this is safe or not.

Quote

i would like to know what is the deal with Guzman not being able to enter the USA

What I heard is that the border officials, after looking him up on the internet, decided that he was illegally running a business in the
US.

By the way, in this forum is there ever a point where you can just post without waiting all day for it to be approved? I can understand wanting to keep out trolls and flamers, but is there never a point where someone figures out that you are not a troll or a flamer and lets you just post?

Just wanted to add (since I can't figure out how to edit a post that is waiting to be moderated) -- the DEA is not going to care about how Trinity treats his employees. Safety will be their main concern. The issue to stick to is why AH is unsafe.

Dear Gayle you that seems to know more about the letters of the law ...should post on this forum ...The main points that should be included in a letter to the DEA
like NO 1
No 2
No 3 and so on ...and we can then take some of those points and
and put them in our own words ...so that we do not waste our time and DEA times
writing stuff that as no utilities for exposing Guzman

for exemple I tought religious belief made a difference but you say No
So is it only a question of safety ?

No 1 -As far as Gayle being a approved to have immediate posting ...
whoever decide that should immediatly make sure she can post DIRECTLY
she is a very important contact for this forum .

No 2...I have contacted the US immigration dept to brief them a little more on who is that TNT GUZMAN ....I was told on the phone that the more people that make report on him ...and what he plan to do in the USA the more difficult for him to ever enter the USA ...Just google US imigration repoting aliens ...or possible drug dealers ....and its all anonymous..i do not mind for Guzman to know that i am taking as many legal steps to ban him from the USA ...as I can .
I might even knock at his door when I know he is home .

Along with reading through what Gayle has written on this thread, including:

Quote

Safety will be a key point in the DEA's decision. If people write to them about the reasons why they believe Ayahuasca Healings is unsafe, that could make the decisive difference in whether AH gets legal permission to operate (and to open 50 more centers around the country) or not.

Communication on these matters appears to be through snailmail only. The address is:

Joseph P. Rannazzisi
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Office of Diversion Control
Drug Enforcement Administration
8701 Morissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

The DEA believes that their mission is to protect public safety, so the question of safety is the paramount question for them. If they have enough reason to believe this is unsafe, they will reject AH's petition to be legalized.

Concerns about safety can also be sent in online to DEA [www.dea.gov] - choose Seattle as the field office.

Quote

The DEA believes that their mission is to protect public safety, so the question of safety is the paramount question for them. If they have enough reason to believe this is unsafe, they will reject AH's petition to be legalized.

I send in tips and also wrote them via snailmail. We can all work together, focus on the theme of safety when contacting the DEA.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tip form [www.ice.gov]

DEA (choose Seattle as field office) [www.dea.gov]

Send safety concerns to:

Joseph P. Rannazzisi
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Office of Diversion Control
Drug Enforcement Administration
8701 Morissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152