Objective

To analyze the knowledge and practices of indigenous students at a university in Medellin regarding sacred plants and psychoactive substances.

Methods

A historical and hermeneutical approach was used in conjunction with grounded theory, which is rooted in symbolic interactionism; coding and categorization techniques were used to analyze the data. Finally, six semi-structured interviews and two focus groups were conducted.

Results

Students have separate meanings for the concepts of sacred plants and psychoactive substances, which are aligned with the indigenous and western contexts, respectively. This study made it possible to identify the role played by context, interaction with peers, and cultural identity in the construction of these meanings and in practice validation.

Conclusion

The westernization of Colombia's indigenous tribes through military action, mass media, and indigenous university students who have been influenced by urban life weakens the cultural identity of these communities. Thus, the traditional ideologies are fractured and the ancestral knowledge on sacred plants that has been passed from generation to generation is damaged.