Sacred Plants
Chas Clifton has the straight dope (no pun intended) on the Supreme Court trial involving the right for O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal to use Ayahuasca (an entheogen) in their ceremonies.
“It took decades of legal struggle for the Native American Church to receive a highly qualified exemption to federal drug law that permitted its members to use the entheogen peyote during the church’s meetings. Now the Supreme Court is hearing argument in another case involving religion and an entheogenic substance.”
According to the SCOTUSblog their chances look good for a win.
“A small religious band of about 140 adherents, locked in a high-stakes legal battle with federal drug enforcers, appeared on Tuesday to be nearing at least a partial victory in the Supreme Court. The government’s no-exception, zero-tolerance approach to the religious use of a hallucinogen ran into considerable skepticism among the Justices. Only one, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, seemed ready to go most of the way to support the government side.”
More on the case here. Be sure to check out Chas Clifton’s blog for updates on the case.
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