INFUSE Ethical Manifesto 2026 — our 30 refusals

Les plantes-maîtresses, approchées par dévotion — ce qu'elles enseignent quand on les laisse être ce qu'elles sont.

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Les plantes-maîtresses, approchées par dévotion — ce qu'elles enseignent quand on les laisse être ce qu'elles sont.

— Les plantes-maîtresses, approchées par dévotion — ce qu'elles enseignent quand on les laisse être ce qu'elles sont.

Here are our 30 refusals, and here is why — TL;DR

INFUSE is a brand of plants. And so INFUSE is a brand of refusals. Thirty plants — and more broadly thirty categories of practice — that we will never sell, or that we refuse to sell in their present form. This manifesto gathers them, by category, by lineage, by reason. It is our ethical signature for 2026.

Refusal is not a denial of these plants' medicine. It is the opposite: it is the recognition that a master plant is not a product, that a living lineage is not a site of extraction, that an ecological crisis is not a market opportunity, and that an indigenous cosmology does not transpose into a Western shopping cart.

We publish this manifesto for five reasons. First, because our customers have the right to know what we refuse — as much as what we offer. Second, because the source peoples of these plants deserve to be named in our refusals, not only in our sales. Third, because other brands can take up these refusals and build a collective ethical movement. Fourth, because transparency about the reasons for a refusal is an act of public education. And last, because to hold a brand without a manifesto of refusal is to hold a brand without a spine.

Why an ethical manifesto in 2026

Through 2024–2026 the plant wellness market is passing through a major crisis of credibility. Authentic-washing — the repeated marketing use of the words 'authentique', 'ancestral', 'sacred' on products that are none of these — saturates social feeds and online shops. Several recent scandals (Cacao 2003, the Blue Lotus authenticity crisis of 2024, the parallel Iboga trade out of Gabon, the mass extraction of white sage in California) have made visible commercial chains that had prospered for years with no counter-discourse.

Faced with this, several responses are possible. The easiest: carry on as before and trust the media noise to fade. The laziest: publish a generic 'sustainability commitment' that names no plant in particular. The most exacting: name each refusal, explain each reason, cite each lineage concerned, and do it in the open.

INFUSE chooses the exacting path. Not out of heroism — out of coherence. A brand that claims to respect indigenous lineages but does not name its refusals is a brand that respects only its sales.

The manifesto that follows lists 30 refusals across five categories. Each entry points to a full whistleblower article where one exists (the 'whistleblowers' corpus on infuse.earth). The figures and sources cited are verifiable. The indigenous voices cited are named.

Category 1 — Refused psychotropic plants (toxicology + lineage + frame)

Seven psychotropic plants we refuse to sell, on grounds of toxicology, of the absence of any ritual frame that could be transposed, or of a pharmacological profile incompatible with commerce.

1. Datura stramonium (and relatives: D. inoxia, D. metel, D. wrightii)

A major anticholinergic. A narrow therapeutic margin, varying from one plant to the next. Documented prolonged delirium (24 to 72 hours). Cardiovascular and lethal risk at a poorly calibrated dose. The Zuñi/Navajo/Aztec lineage calls for a precise ceremonial frame that commerce cannot hold. Full article: Datura — why we refuse to sell the plant of despair.

2. Belladonna (Atropa belladonna)

An anticholinergic Solanaceae. Acute toxicity documented since antiquity. A European witchcraft tradition (flying ointments) set within a ritual frame that no longer exists today. The rare modern pharmaceutical uses belong solely to regulated homeopathic medicine, not to open commerce. Full article: Belladonna — the beauty that kills.

3. Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum, M. autumnalis)

An anticholinergic Solanaceae. Intense medieval folklore (the anthropomorphic root, the mandrake's scream), a historical pharmacopoeia — but a toxicological profile incompatible with any unframed modern use. INFUSE refuses to sell roots, extracts, tinctures. Full article: Mandrake — between medieval pharmacopoeia and modern folklore.

4. Henbane / Black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger)

An anticholinergic Solanaceae. The plant of Apollo's oracles in Greek antiquity (Delphi, by hypothesis). A Germanic and Slavic tradition of henbane beer (banned from the Reinheitsgebot of 1516). Acute toxicity. No commercial frame is possible today.

5. Aconite (Aconitum napellus, A. ferox, A. carmichaelii)

An extremely toxic Ranunculaceae. One of the most poisonous plants in the European flora. Its Tibetan pharmacological use is held within a frame (prepared in traditional pharmacopoeia according to specific protocols), and does not transpose to Western commerce. INFUSE sells no preparation containing aconite.

6. Brugmansia (angel's trumpet, Brugmansia suaveolens, B. arborea)

An anticholinergic Solanaceae like Datura, with a toxicological profile more potent still. Frequently confused with Datura. Its Andean (Quechua) ritual use sits within an extremely precise frame. No commercial frame exists. INFUSE refuses, definitively.

7. Peganum harmala (Syrian rue, harmal, espand)

A major monoamine-oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). A Zoroastrian, Sufi and Ayurvedic tradition of limited ritual use. Risk of severe cardiovascular and psychiatric interactions with foods, medicines, other plants. Its recent marketing as an 'ayahuasca analogue' is particularly irresponsible. INFUSE refuses.

Category 2 — Refused Amazonian and Mesoamerican master plants (lineage non-negotiable)

Six master plants for which the original ritual frame is constitutive of the medicine and does not transpose outside its lineage.

8. Ayahuasca / the vine (Banisteriopsis caapi + Psychotria viridis)

Amazonian vine and leaf, of the Shipibo, Shuar, Asháninka, Tukano, Kichwa and Mestizo lineages. A constitutive ceremonial frame (icaros, ayahuascero, dieta, a brew cooked over many hours, ritual opening and closing). To trade the vine and the chacruna without the ritual accompaniment is to transpose the object without the medicine. Full article: Ayahuasca — why INFUSE refuses to trade the vine.

9. Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga)

The Gabonese Bwiti lineage. The central plant of an initiatic system still living. The Western iboga trade (TBI clinics or raw powder) has generated an illegal extraction chain in Gabon and a diversion of the lineage. Voacanga africana, used as a substitute, reproduces the same red lines. Full article: Iboga — the debt owed to Gabon (the Bwiti lineage).

10. Peyote (Lophophora williamsii)

A Mexican and Texan cactus. The Wixárika lineage (the Wirikuta pilgrimage), the Native American Church in the USA. A species in documented ecological collapse. A US legal frame restricted to the NAC. INFUSE refuses, definitively — including greenhouse-grown. Full article: Peyote — extinction and the Wixárika lineage that holds the line.

11. San Pedro / Huachuma (Trichocereus pachanoi / Echinopsis pachanoi)

An Andean cactus. The Q'ero lineage, the curanderos of the northern Peruvian Andes. Mescaline present as in peyote, a similar cardiovascular profile. A ritual tradition distinct from Wirikuta, yet one that also calls for a transmitted frame. No open trade at INFUSE.

12. Salvia divinorum (Pastora del Cielo)

The Mazatec lineage of Oaxaca. A constitutive Mazatec ceremonial frame (the curandera, the night, the chant, the sublingual quid). María Sabina had warned: taken out of the lineage, the medicine loses its purity. A singular kappa-opioid pharmacology. INFUSE refuses, definitively. Full article: Salvia divinorum — why the Mazatec frame is non-negotiable.

13. Psilocybe (mushrooms) in open trade

The Mazatec lineage (Niños Santos), and several other lineages worldwide (Lakota, Siberian, and more). The open trade in spores or truffles (legal in some countries, such as the Netherlands) short-circuits every ritual frame and every preparation. INFUSE does not operate in this market, even where it is legal.

Category 3 — Refused mushrooms, resins, stimulants

Six products we refuse to sell, on grounds of toxicology, cultural frame, or addictive profile.

14. Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)

An iconic mushroom with muscimol properties. A Siberian tradition (Tungus, Khanty and Buryat shamans), and Slavic and Nordic traditions. An unpredictable pharmacological profile (varying by season, geography, individual). A real toxic risk (unconverted ibotenic acid) despite recent marketing as 'legal and safe'. INFUSE refuses.

15. Ergot of rye (Claviceps purpurea)

A fungal parasite of rye. The historical source of the Kykeon of Eleusis (the Wasson–Hofmann–Ruck hypothesis), the synthetic source of LSD. An extremely dangerous toxicology (ergotism: St. Anthony's fire, documented in medieval Europe, with high mortality). No commercial frame is possible.

16. Pure coca (Erythroxylum coca, raw leaf)

The Andean lineage (Quechua, Aymara), where chewing the coca leaf is a wholesome, time-honoured daily practice. The Western trade in coca leaf is strictly illegal in France (the 1970 law). Any marketing confusion between 'traditional leaf' and 'cocaine' is unacceptable. INFUSE does not sell it, even where it is legal (Peru, Bolivia).

17. Khat (Catha edulis)

Leaves with stimulant properties (cathinone). A Yemeni, Somali and Ethiopian tradition of daily social use. Classified as a narcotic in France since 1957. A documented addictive profile under heavy chronic use. INFUSE refuses.

18. Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa)

Leaves of a Malaysian/Indonesian tree. A mixed mu-opioid and adrenergic profile. A Southeast Asian tradition of moderate use, but the contemporary Western trade drifts toward addictive patterns and massive doses. Several American deaths documented in polydrug use. The INFUSE position: refused for now, the position open to revision if an ethical commercial frame emerges.

19. High-THC cannabis (Cannabis sativa, indica)

The INFUSE position: no THC trade, neither recreational nor 'private therapeutic'. The legal and grey cannabis market raises ethical questions (aggressive advertising, normalisation among the young, variable quality). INFUSE may consider traceably sourced organic CBD in the future, but does not touch THC.

Category 4 — Overexploited commercial plants (sourcing impossible)

Five plants we refuse in their current commercial form, on grounds of overexploitation and the absence of a traceable ethical chain.

20. Commercial white sage (Salvia apiana)

Californian chaparral. Listed At-Risk by United Plant Savers since 2018. Documented overharvesting, and a Cherokee/Navajo/Chumash call to end the non-Native trade. Full article: Commercial white sage — anatomy of an ecological crisis.

21. Untraced Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)

The dry forest of Ecuador and Peru. CITES Appendix II since 2016. Naturally fallen deadwood + 4–10 years of curing = the medicine. Massive illegal felling of living trees. INFUSE refuses anything untraced. Full article: Untraced Palo Santo — the Peru crisis.

22. Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) and other Amazonian aromatic woods

Species listed on CITES due to overexploitation. A historically destructive perfume industry. INFUSE does not touch these unrenewed tropical aromatic woods.

23. Untraced frankincense and myrrh (Boswellia spp., Commiphora spp.)

The Semitic lineage of the South (Oman, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia). An acute crisis of overexploitation since 2010. INFUSE may consider it in the future, given a verified traceable chain and support for the rural producer communities. Not before.

24. Abusive generic wild-crafting

More broadly: any 'wild-crafted' plant without certified origin, without quotas, without ecosystem monitoring. The 'wild crafted' label has been abused. INFUSE requires: the named community or harvester, the precise geographic zone, annual quotas, the possibility of an audit.

Category 5 — Ambiguous plants under discussion (refused for now, position evolving)

Four categories where the INFUSE position is a present refusal, open to revision should conditions change.

25. Pure wormwood (Artemisia absinthium in significant quantity)

The plant of absinthe (Verlaine, the green fairy). Neurotoxic thujone at high chronic doses. INFUSE may include Artemisia absinthium in blends at very limited dosage (the European digestive tradition), but not as a pure-plant trade for absinthe-style preparation. An evolving position, following the research.

26. Kava (Piper methysticum)

Polynesia — the lineages of Vanuatu, Fiji, Hawai'i, Tonga. The kava ceremony still living. A commercial crisis from 2002–2010 (suspected hepatotoxicity, since partly lifted). INFUSE may consider it given traceable sourcing from Vanuatu/Fiji + noble varieties (not tudei / non-noble varieties) + a clear educational frame. Not before the chain is fully validated.

27. Lobelia inflata

A plant of the North American herbalist tradition (Samuel Thomson, 19th century). A narrow therapeutic margin, a powerful emetic profile. Internal use strictly held by trained herbalists. INFUSE may consider it in very small doses within specific preparations, not as a freely sold pure plant.

28. Calamus / Sweet flag (Acorus calamus)

Several varieties with widely differing β-asarone content (potentially carcinogenic). An Ayurvedic tradition of framed use. The INFUSE position: a present refusal of open trade, with possible revision given varietal analysis (Acorus calamus var. americanus, low in β-asarone) + traceable sourcing.

Cross-cutting categories — practices INFUSE also refuses

Beyond plants, INFUSE also refuses certain marketing practices and certain ways of operating.

29. Authentic-washing

The repetitive use of the words 'authentic', 'ancestral', 'sacred', 'natural', 'pure' on any product, with no precise contextualisation of lineage, sourcing, dates. INFUSE applies its disenchantment filter (LANGAGE-FILTRE-MASTER v2.1), which bans these terms in the body of its texts — they are permitted only in invisible SEO tags, where appropriate.

30. Shamanic-washing

The marketing of events, retreats, ceremonies and products as 'shamanic' or 'ceremonial' without a transmitted lineage, without the accompaniment of a practitioner who has inherited a living tradition, without a ritual frame honoured. INFUSE refuses to take part in this industry, refuses to sell products stamped 'ceremonial' if they do not come with their true context.

Our ethical frame — 5 operating principles

The 30 refusals above derive from five operating principles that guide INFUSE.

Principle 1 — Named lineage

A plant is not a product you can isolate. Every plant INFUSE sells names its lineage of origin explicitly (source people, region, tradition) — not in the small print, but on the visible identity card. If a lineage cannot be named precisely, it probably means it has not been honoured.

Principle 2 — Traced sourcing

For every INFUSE plant: the name of the producer or cooperative, the geographic region, the method of harvest or cultivation, certification (organic + ethical where relevant), the possibility of an audit. If any step in the chain is opaque, INFUSE does not sell.

Principle 3 — Transposable frame, or not

Certain indigenous traditional practices are constitutively non-transposable outside their cosmological and linguistic frame (e.g. the Mazatec ceremonial frame for Salvia, the Bwiti frame for Iboga, the Wixárika frame for Peyote). For these plants, INFUSE refuses trade definitively, whatever the shifts in demand.

Principle 4 — Ecological crisis = stop

If a plant is passing through a documented ecological crisis (an At-Risk species, CITES, habitat collapse), INFUSE does not take part in the market of the plant in crisis. The market always feeds the crisis, whatever the 'but my chain is ethical' arguments.

Principle 5 — Refusal argued, never silent

Every INFUSE refusal is argued in public, with named sources and context. Silent ethics teaches no one. Argued ethics builds a shareable public infrastructure.

What changes in 2026 — why this manifesto now

Several deeper shifts make the case for publishing this manifesto in 2026 rather than in 2023 or 2024.

• The mass diffusion of master plants across Western markets since 2018 (the psychedelic 'wellness' boom), accelerating on social media after 2020.
• Several sector scandals that have become public: Cacao Wilson 2003, the Blue Lotus authenticity crisis of 2024, the parallel Iboga trade out of Gabon, the mass extraction of white sage in California, the felling of living Palo Santo in Peru and Ecuador.
• The strengthening of indigenous voices worldwide (the Wixárika Council, the Federación Cañari, the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Mazatec communities, and others) — their public positions are accessible, citable, verifiable.
• The evolution of international legal frameworks (CITES, FAO, UNESCO) that make traceability partly mandatory for certain plants (Appendix II).
• The emergence of other botanical brands with articulated ethical positions (a post-2022 movement) — an opening to build a shared ethical front across the sector.

This manifesto is neither final nor one-sided. It is open to critique, to completion, to evolution. But its publication can no longer be postponed.

Going further — the full whistleblower articles

Every refusal in the manifesto is laid out in an argued whistleblower article, with named sources, indigenous voices, historical context, alternatives. Here are the main ones available in May 2026.

• Datura — why we refuse to sell the plant of despair
• Belladonna — the beauty that kills
• Mandrake — between medieval pharmacopoeia and modern folklore
• Ayahuasca — why INFUSE refuses to trade the vine
• Iboga — the debt owed to Gabon (the Bwiti lineage)
• Peyote — extinction and the Wixárika lineage that holds the line
• Salvia divinorum — why the Mazatec frame is non-negotiable
• Commercial white sage — anatomy of an ecological crisis
• Untraced Palo Santo — the Peru crisis
• Imphepho is not smudge
• Blue Lotus authenticity crisis 2024
• Cacao 2003 — anatomy of an invention
• Mucuna L-DOPA — the 100× variation

Articles to come in 2026 (in preparation): Brugmansia, Henbane, Peganum harmala, Pure coca, Noble kava vs tudei, Calamus var., and other argued refusals.

Primary sources (≥ 15)

• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), 2007 — international legal framework.
• CITES — Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, listings Appendices I-II-III (cites.org).
• United Plant Savers — At-Risk Species List (unitedplantsavers.org), updates 2018-2024.
• Kimmerer, R. W. — Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.
• Davis, W. — One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest. Simon & Schuster, 1996.
• Schultes, R. E. & Hofmann, A. — Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers. Healing Arts Press, revised edition 2001.
• Beyer, S. V. — Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon. University of New Mexico Press, 2009.
• Pendell, D. — Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft. Mercury House, 1995.
• Furst, P. T. — Hallucinogens and Culture. Chandler & Sharp, 1976.
• Estrada, Á. — María Sabina: vida y cantos. Siglo XXI Editores, 1977.
• Wixárika Regional Council — Official statements 2010-2024 (defensawirikuta.org).
• Federación de Comunidades Cañari de Saraguro — Statements 2019-2023.
• Labate, B. C. & Cavnar, C. (eds.) — Plant Medicines, Healing, and Psychedelic Science. Springer, 2018.
• Chacruna Institute — Publications on the ethics of master plants, 2017-2024 (chacruna.net).
• Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (CEDA) — Informe sobre el comercio de Palo Santo, 2021.
• Indigenous Environmental Network — Statements on the appropriation of sacred plants, 2019-2024.
• Council of Europe — Faro Convention 2005 on the value of cultural heritage (a European perspective on ritual practices).
• Aguirre, Z. — Bosques secos del Ecuador. Universidad Nacional de Loja, 2012.
• Terry, M. & Ermakova, A. — Conservation Biology articles on Lophophora williamsii, 2017-2019.
• Native American Church — Legal and institutional documents (USA, founded 1918).

Secondary sources (≥ 8)

• Wasson, R. G. — The wondrous mushroom: mycolatry in Mesoamerica. McGraw-Hill, 1980.
• Anderson, M. K. — Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources. UC Press, 2005.
• Bean, L. J. & Saubel, K. S. — Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Malki Museum Press, 1972.
• Sobiecki, J.-F. — Research on African ritual fumigations (Imphepho), publications 2010-2024.
• Independent reporting in Le Monde, El País, BBC Mundo, The Guardian on the sacred-plant crises 2018-2024.
• Mountain Rose Herbs — 'Ethical' sourcing standards (reference and limits).
• Forest Stewardship Council — Criteria applicable to tropical aromatic woods.
• IUCN Red List — Conservation status of the plants mentioned.
• ANSM (France) — Narcotic classifications 1950-2024.
• Cactus Conservation Institute — Scientific publications 2005-2024.
• Center for World Indigenous Studies — Documents on tribal demands 2018-2024.