Court says church can use hallucinogenic tea

[Guest guest]

Court says church can use hallucinogenic teaBy Associated PressSeptember 5, 2003http://www.thedailycamera.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_2235374,00.htmlDENVER - A New Mexico church was handed a small victory Thursday when afederal appeals court ruled its use of hallucinogenic tea was likely to beprotected under freedom of religion laws.The ruling, issued by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, upheld apreliminary injunction against the U.S. Attorney General, the DrugEnforcement Administration and other government agencies that sought toprohibit the tea's use.The appeals court agreed with the U.S. District Court in New Mexico that theBrazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal church had"demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success" of winning an exemptionfor sacramental use of the tea, which contains a drug barred by theControlled Substances Act.Jeffrey Bronfman, president of the church, sued the Justice Department after30 gallons of hoasca tea were seized by U.S. Customs agents from his officein Santa Fe, N.M. No one was arrested in the 1999 raid.Hoasca tea, used in some religious ceremonies, is brewed from plants foundonly in the Amazon River Basin.The church originated in Brazil, and its U.S. operations are based in SantaFe. About 130 people, many of them Brazilian citizens, are members of theU.S. branch, according to court documents.********If this email is cut short, changingplanet/messagesYou can help us make a difference. Click here for details:http://changingplanet.supremalex.org/help.htmChanging Planet News - Where Ethics, Science and Spirituality BlendCOLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS PROJECT: If this email sparked emotions in you, positive or negative, please pray, meditate, visualize or concentrate on the best possible outcome for Humanity and Earth for AT LEAST 10 seconds. On the web at http://changingplanet.supremalex.orgNews and service since 1995"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860