A Washington State church says the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has approved its application for an exception under federal drug laws to use the psychedelic ayahuasca in religious ceremonies\u2014and, for the first time, the agency granted the unique exemption without legal challenges.<\/p>\n
The Church of Gaia on Friday said DEA approved a petition for congregants to use ayahuasca under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was enacted in 2009 to create a pathway for religious organizations to request a carve-out under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).<\/p>\n
There have been relatively few examples of DEA approving such petitions in the years since\u2014and churches that have sought the exemption have had to engage in litigation against the federal government over their requests. Uniquely, approval for this latest petition was granted without the need for lawsuits, as Mason Marks of Psychedelic Week first reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the sacrament for the Church of Gaia, Ayahuasca serves as a profound ceremonial tool for accessing spiritual connection and abundance,\u201d Connor Mize, founder of the church, said in a press release. \u201cIn pursuing the religious exemption, we aimed to ensure the safety of the church\u2019s members, Indigenous elders, and leaders while protecting the right to practice our sacred ceremonies without persecution. This exemption means the church can fully embrace its religious offerings, including the Ayahuasca ceremonies we\u2019ve long prayed for.\u201d<\/p>\n While it\u2019s not clear why this specific church\u2019s petition moved along without litigation that\u2019s come to be expected, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) did encourage DEA in a report last year to reform the petition process for psychedelics-related religious exemptions<\/a> under the RFRA.<\/p>\n \u201cOver an eight-year period\u2014from fiscal year 2016 through January 2024\u2014DEA reported that 24 petitioners requested a religious exemption for various controlled substances,\u201d GAO said. \u201cAs of January 2024, DEA reported that none of these petitions had been granted an exemption, and of the six for psilocybin, three were withdrawn and three were pending a DEA determination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDEA\u2019s information also showed instances where finalized actions regarding exemption petitions related to other controlled substances have been pending a determination for an extensive period\u2014one almost five years and one almost eight years,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Maestro Tito Amasifuen Valera, ceremonial leader at the Church of Gaia Ceremonial, said that \u201cwith the emerging use of Ayahuasca in the United States, it poses both unique opportunities and challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAyahuasca has a deep spiritual significance in Indigenous Amazonian cultures. It is important that those who wish to use it respect the sacred cultural context of its traditional uses,\u201d Valera said. \u201cAyahuasca is not just a plant, but a portal to understanding oneself, nature, and the interconnectedness of all.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in a lawsuit over the legal status of an Iowa-based church that wants to incorporate ayahuasca<\/a> into its own ceremonies, the Justice Department last year downplayed the significance a deal hammered out between the federal government and a separate, Arizona-based church that also uses the psychedelic brew<\/a> as part of its practice.<\/p>\n The Iowaska Church of Healing first sent its petition to DEA asking for an exemption around ayahuasca use in 2019. The church found\u00a0an unusual ally in anti-drug Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)<\/a>, who court filings described as instrumental in expediting the regulatory appeals process back in 2021. A Grassley spokesperson told Marijuana Moment at the time that the senator\u2019s help shouldn\u2019t necessarily be viewed as an endorsement of the church\u2019s point of view on psychedelics, however.<\/p>\n Separately in February, a federal appellate court rejected the latest effort by a Washington State doctor who is seeking to legally use psilocybin to treat cancer patients in end-of-life care, ruling that DEA provided a reasonable explanation in denying the doctor\u2019s request<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the background of DEA\u2019s approval of the Church of Gaia\u2019s petition for a CSA exemption, advocates are closely following to see how the agency under the Trump administration navigates a pending proposal to federally reschedule marijuana that stalled out at the end of the Biden administration last year amid legal challenges by witnesses in an administrative hearing.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead DEA, Terrance Cole, has declined to commit to rescheduling cannabis, or to say how he\u2019d approach federal enforcement<\/a> in states that have legalized cannabis.<\/p>\n GOP Congressman Details \u2018Life-Saving\u2019 Psychedelic Therapy Experience Where He Saw Cosmic Colors And Time Travel<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post DEA Approves Church\u2019s Petition To Use Psychedelics In Religious Ceremonies Without The Need For A Lawsuit<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Washington State church says the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has approved its application for an exception under federal drug laws to use the psychedelic ayahuasca in religious ceremonies\u2014and, for the first time, the agency granted the unique exemption without legal challenges. The Church of Gaia on Friday said DEAContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81300,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81299\/revisions\/81300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: DEA Approves Church\u2019s Petition To Use Psychedelics In Religious Ceremonies Without The Need For A Lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"