tea in church

[timouse]

COURT SAYS CHURCH CAN USE HALLUCINOGENIC TEA

DENVER - A New Mexico church was handed a small victory Thursday when a federal appeals court ruled its use of hallucinogenic tea was likely to be protected under freedom of religion laws.

The ruling, issued by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Attorney General, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other government agencies that sought to prohibit the tea's use.

The appeals court agreed with the U.S. District Court in New Mexico that the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal church had "demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success" of winning an exemption for sacramental use of the tea, which contains a drug barred by the Controlled Substances Act.

Jeffrey Bronfman, president of the church, sued the Justice Department after 30 gallons of hoasca tea were seized by U.S. Customs agents from his office in Santa Fe, N.M. No one was arrested in the 1999 raid.

Hoasca tea, used in some religious ceremonies, is brewed from plants found only in the Amazon River Basin.

The church originated in Brazil, and its U.S. operations are based in Santa Fe. About 130 people, many of them Brazilian citizens, are members of the U.S. branch, according to court documents.

anybody wanna go to church with me ??

[mattm]

Sure do. I'd like to start a church up here called "The Church of the Green" which uses a ceremonial pipe filled with a special herb called Marijuana.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

That's good news, for sure. I remember the Native American Church having run into grief over their use of psychedelics when the DEA learned about their sacrament of choice.

I'm glad for one to see psychedelics treated as sacraments, as I think they should be (however disorganised your mode of worship might be).

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I heard they're opening up a branch in Durham on June 1st