Yopo's main active compound, bufotenine, is Schedule I federally, and no separate federal rule on the Anadenanthera tree or its seeds is on our record.
Bufotenine, which ICEERS calls yopo's main active agent when administered nasally, is a Schedule I controlled substance under U.S. federal law, so yopo snuff is best understood as a product containing Schedule I compounds. ICEERS describes yopo as "a visionary preparation made from the seeds of the Anadenanthera peregrina tree."
We reviewed the Schedule I list on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), the ICEERS overview and the Wikipedia entry on Anadenanthera peregrina on October 12, 2026.
Bufotenine, which ICEERS calls yopo's main active agent when administered nasally, is a Schedule I hallucinogenic substance under federal law. Paragraph (d) of 21 CFR 1308.11 is headed "Hallucinogenic substances," and it lists bufotenine under controlled substances code number 7433. The listed names for that entry include 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine and N,N-dimethylserotonin.
The same paragraph lists DMT under code 7435 and 5-MeO-DMT under code 7431.
The bufotenine, DMT and 5-MeO-DMT entries name the chemicals themselves. As read on October 12, 2026, none of them mentions Anadenanthera or its seeds.
The peyote entry in the same schedule shows what a plant-specific listing looks like. It expressly covers "all parts of the plant" and adds "whether growing or not, the seeds thereof." No matching language for the Anadenanthera tree appears in the entries listed above.
State law is outside this page's record, so use our legal status by state tool for state rules. For how places outside the United States treat DMT, read where DMT is legal.
Yopo comes from the seeds of Anadenanthera peregrina, a perennial tree in the family Fabaceae, according to Wikipedia. Both ICEERS and Wikipedia place the tree's native range in South America and the Caribbean.
ICEERS lists other names for yopo that change by region: cohoba, ñuá, paricá, epena and jopo. Wikipedia's list of common names for the tree adds cojoba, parica and calcium tree.
A closely related species, Anadenanthera colubrina, is called vilca or huilca in the Andes, according to ICEERS. Wikipedia also attaches the names cebíl and vilca to A. colubrina.
ICEERS states that "bufotenin is the main active agent when administered nasally," with traces of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.
ICEERS gives approximate averages per gram of seed of 74 milligrams of bufotenine, 1.6 milligrams of DMT and 0.4 milligrams of 5-MeO-DMT. ICEERS adds that these amounts "vary by source."
Wikipedia, citing Ott's 2001 book Pharmanopo-Psychonautics, gives the figures as percentages of the beans. It lists up to 7.4% bufotenin, up to 0.16% DMT and up to 0.04% 5-MeO-DMT.
For background on the two other compounds ICEERS reports in traces, read our guides to DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.
ICEERS says yopo "is generally administered nasally," either blown by another person through long tubes or self-inhaled with Y-shaped instruments. It states that "Its use is not recreational or cathartic," and it says the aim is to restore spiritual, emotional and collective balance.
ICEERS names the Orinoco and Amazon regions and the pre-Columbian Caribbean as places of use. The peoples it names are the Yanomami, Piaroa (Hüottüja), Piapoco, Guahibo, Cubeo and Desana, and it says the Taíno used yopo as cohoba.
Wikipedia says Indigenous peoples of the Orinoco basin in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil prepare yopo snuff for ritual and healing purposes. Among the Piaroa, Wikipedia adds, yopo is reserved mainly for shamanic specialists.
ICEERS also says traditional settings do not use a metric dosing system.
The first report on our record dates from 1496, when Friar Ramon Pane observed the Taíno powder called cohoba on Hispaniola, according to Wikipedia.
ICEERS lists yopo's reported effects as increased body vibration, nausea or vomiting, geometric visions, altered perception of time and body, mental silence and emotional clarity. In traditional use, ICEERS says, nausea and vomiting are considered purifying. It puts the usual duration at 30 minutes to an hour.
ICEERS lists nausea, vomiting and nasal irritation as risks, which it says are stronger at high doses. It also lists anxiety, confusion or disorientation without proper context, and involuntary movements that risk accidents.
ICEERS says use outside traditional settings "can carry physical and psychological risks." It does not recommend yopo for people with mental or cardiovascular vulnerability. On combining yopo with Syrian rue (Peganum harmala), ICEERS writes: "It is not recommended at all." For the full list of risks, read the ICEERS Yopo: Basic Info page.
ICEERS states that practices with yopo are "not controlled by the United Nations international drug conventions," while the use of yopo's active alkaloids is controlled in many countries. These descriptions are the ICEERS summary; ICEERS's characterisation is not verified against primary law.
In Venezuela, ICEERS says, Indigenous ritual use is protected by the Constitution and by the LOPCI. In Spain, ICEERS says the tree and seeds are not controlled, though "the extraction of its active ingredients may be subject to regulation."
Hapé is a nicotine snuff, and our hapé guide treats it as a different product from yopo. According to that guide, hapé does not produce psychedelic effects.
Yopo is made from Anadenanthera seeds, which contain bufotenine and compounds related to DMT. Hapé contains nicotine. Bufotenine is a Schedule I substance.
Bufotenine is a Schedule I controlled substance under 21 CFR 1308.11(d), and DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, the two other compounds ICEERS reports in traces, are Schedule I as well. Yopo snuff is therefore best understood as a product containing Schedule I compounds.
No. Hapé is a nicotine snuff that does not produce psychedelic effects. Yopo is made from Anadenanthera seeds that contain bufotenine, a Schedule I substance, along with compounds related to DMT.
Yes, in trace amounts. ICEERS gives an approximate average of 1.6 milligrams of DMT per gram of seed, against 74 milligrams of bufotenine, and says the figures vary by source. Wikipedia, citing Ott, puts DMT at up to 0.16% of the beans. DMT is listed in Schedule I under code 7435.
Yopo is made from the seeds of the Anadenanthera peregrina tree, which is native to South America and the Caribbean. Wikipedia lists the tree in the family Fabaceae.
The sources describe yopo as a traditional ritual preparation: ICEERS calls it a "visionary preparation," and Wikipedia says Orinoco basin peoples prepare it for ritual and healing purposes. This site makes no claim that yopo treats or heals anything. Bufotenine is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.
ICEERS lists risks including nausea, vomiting and nasal irritation, anxiety or disorientation without proper context, and involuntary movements that risk accidents. It says use outside traditional settings can carry physical and psychological risks and does not recommend yopo for people with mental or cardiovascular vulnerability. ICEERS also advises against combining yopo with Syrian rue.
This site gives no sourcing or buying advice. A federal rule on Anadenanthera seeds is not on our record, and that absence is not a statement that the seeds are legal. Bufotenine is a Schedule I controlled substance under 21 CFR 1308.11(d).
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