Category: Uniao do Vegetal

A Santa Fe congregation that uses a hallucinogenic brew of South American plants as a sacrament thought its battle with the government was over in early 2006.

It had won a unanimous ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that year that said federal drug regulators hadn’t met their burden under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in trying to restrict importation and use of the tea.

But it wasn’t until last week that the case actually ended.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — A unanimous Supreme Court decision on Tuesday gave a small religious sect the right to keep importing a hallucinogenic tea, central to its ritual observance, that the government wants to ban as a controlled substance under federal narcotics law. With an opinion by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the decision was one of the most significant applications of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 13-year-old federal statute that requires the government to meet a demanding test before it can enforce a law in a way that creates a substantial obstacle to religious observance. The government

The Supreme Court takes up a case involving a New Mexico sect that could be important for other minority religions. WASHINGTON – In a case with potential important significance for minority religious groups in America, the US Supreme Court this week takes up a clash between the nation’s drug laws and a statute protecting religious liberty. At issue in the case set for oral argument Tuesday is the scope of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The law requires the federal government to justify any measure that substantially burdens a person’s ability to practice his or her religion. But

The question is, when is a “compelling governmental interest” really, truly, a compelling governmental interest? At some point in its October term, the Supreme Court will take one more look at that abiding question. This time around, the question goes to the First Amendment rights of a handful of New Mexico citizens who count themselves members of a religious sect known as Uniao Do Vegetal -UDV for short. As part of their semimonthly ritual, they sip a small quantity of hoasca, a liquid derivative of two Brazilian vines. The Department of Justice says the bitter drink is a controlled substance,

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether a church in New Mexico can continue using hallucinogenic tea in its religious services. At issue is whether use of the tea, which contains a drug banned under the federal Controlled Substances Act, is protected under freedom of religion laws. The Bush administration contends the tea is illegal and use of it potentially dangerous for church members. News in Context A Federal Appeals Court Says A Religious Group Can Import Illegal Drugs (Nov. 18, 2004) Federal Court Rules in Favor of Ayahuasca-using Church (Aug. 13, 2002) Sect leader sues

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

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act Shows Its True Colors The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently sat en banc – that is, in a larger-than-usual panel representing the Circuit as a whole – to address the claim that the federal drug laws do not apply to a particular church. The party adverse to the government was the O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal (UDV). It was secretly importing a tea-like substance called hoasca — which it refers to as the “vine of the soul,” the “vine of the dead,” and the “vision vine – from Brazil