SCOTUS allows ritual use of Ayahuasca!

EllisDTripp · Dec 11, 2004

Amazingly, a victory for religious freedom and common sense in the age of Bush!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm.../20041210/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_religious_tea

High Court Allows N.M. Church to Use Tea

Fri Dec 10, 6:59 PM ET

By MARY PEREA, Associated Press Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that a New Mexico church has the right to use a hallucinogenic tea in its services, rejecting a government argument that the tea is illegal and potentially dangerous.

The ruling brings to a close a long-running legal fight between federal officials and the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal over the church's use of hoasca tea, brewed from plants found in the Amazon River Basin.

The legal battle began after federal agents seized 30 gallons of the tea in a 1999 raid on the Santa Fe home of the church's U.S. president, Jeffrey Bronfman. Bronfman sued the government for the right to use the tea and the church won a preliminary injunction, which was upheld by 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The government took the case to the Supreme Court, where Justice Stephen Breyer last week granted a temporary stay to give both sides time to file more arguments. The full court lifted the stay Friday and ruled in favor of the church.

"They're delighted," attorney Nancy Hollander said of the church members she represented. "They're so thrilled that they can celebrate Christmas for the first time since 1998."

Bronfman and attorneys for the government did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The church, which has about 140 members in the United States and 8,000 worldwide, said the herbal brew is a central sacrament in its religious practice, which is a blend of Christian beliefs and traditions rooted in the Amazon basin.

Hollander said the tea is drunk in a ritual similar to the Catholic Communion. Church members then sit in a circle and meditate; they believe the tea brings them closer to God.

The tea contains DMT, which federal officials maintain is a controlled substance under an international treaty. However, Bronfman's complaint contends the tea is "non-addictive, is not harmful to human health and poses none of the risks commonly found with the use of certain controlled substances."

The church had drawn parallels to federal protection for members of the Native American Church using peyote, which also has hallucinogenic properties.
Click to expand...

DarkLunacy · Dec 12, 2004

Ayhusca contains DMT?! Since when? lol Learn something new every day. Ritght on though. Honestlly... Is it THAT dangerous? The goverment just doesnt want people having fun. This article made me smile though. Thanks Tripp. You are the man

yemforbin · Dec 12, 2004

DarkLunacy said:

The goverment just doesnt want people having fun.
Click to expand...

While that may be true, I think it's important to realize they're not taking ayahuasca "for fun". Before someone gets on my case to relax I just want to say that it's an attitude like that that's going to make it even harder than it already is to find these plants. For example, if it weren't for a bunch of people scouring the desert for peyote the past 40 years there might be some left for the people it's really important to.

gnrm23 · Dec 13, 2004

what give you the impression that these plants are hard to find?

even the "tradtional herbs" used by UDV & sante daime churches of brazil are fairly easy to obtain; and "substitute plants" (either used by brazilian folks, or found to be viable substitutes by norte americano researchers (investigating "ayahuasca analog" methods)) are even easier...

now, how to use the potent "medicines" properly is another story...
(of course, since most research on psychedelics in general have been squelched pretty good by DEA & their fellow "jack-booted thugs" since the mid-60s, there is not a lot of reliable information out there, & almost none that is ummmmm "government approved" info... dr strassman had to jump though a whole lotta hoops to get gummint permission to study humans & DMT (i.v.); more studies have been done elsewhere by authors such as ott, luna, mckenna, calloway, etc...)

anyways, i hope the bushites just drop it & let the court ruling stand

oh, & HOORAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(i bet there's a party going on over at www.ayahuasca.com )

Log in or Sign up

SCOTUS allows ritual use of Ayahuasca!

EllisDTripp Green Secessionist

DarkLunacy Senior Member

yemforbin Member

gnrm23 Senior Member

Log in or Sign up

SCOTUS allows ritual use of Ayahuasca!

EllisDTripp Green Secessionist

DarkLunacy Senior Member

yemforbin Member

gnrm23 Senior Member

Useful Searches