|
Religious
Freedom:
Supreme
Court
to
Decide
Sacramental
Ayahuasca
Use
Case
4/22/05
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/383/ayahuasca.shtml
In a case that pits the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act against the Controlled Substances Act, the Supreme
Court announced Monday it would hear the Justice Department's appeal of
a series of federal court rulings that it cannot bar the US branch of a
Brazilian religion from using the psychedelic Amazonian tea, ayahuasca,
as a religious sacrament. The court agreed to review a November ruling
by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals that held the US government cannot
interfere with the Union of the Vegetable's (UDV) religious use of the
tea despite its containing DMT, a controlled substance.
The Bush administration urged
the high court to review the case, with Acting Solicitor General Paul Clement
arguing in case filings that the earlier rulings effectively undermine
the government's ability to wage the drug war. The drug laws must
be enforced regardless of religious requests for accommodations, Clement
wrote.
The UDV has picked up some
unusual allies in its quest to use ayahuasca. In a friend of the
court brief filed by the Christian Legal Society, Gregory Baylor wrote
that trying to ban religious ayahuasca use was "tantamount to banning the
wine served at a Roman Catholic mass." In passing the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act, wrote Baylor and others, Congress intended to make religious
freedom the top priority.
-- END --
|
Issue #383
-- 4/22/05
Editorial:
Now
How
Do
You
Feel?
|
Feature:
House
Conservatives
Pushing
Bill
to
"Fix"
Sentencing,
Increase
Mandatory
Minimums,
Create
New
Drug
Crimes
|
Feature:
Canada
Approves
Sativex
--
Natural
Marijuana-Based
Pharmaceutical
to
Be
on
Pharmacy
Shelves
by
Summer
|
Britain
Passes
"Tough"
New
Drug
Bill:
Tougher
Sentences,
New
Crimes,
More
Police
Power
|
Announcement:
DRCNet/Perry
Fund
Event
to
Feature
US
Rep.
Jim
McDermott,
June
1
in
Seattle
|
Weekly:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Sentencing:
South
Carolina
Bill
to
Equalize
Crack,
Powder
Cocaine
Penalties
Moving
|
Religious
Freedom:
Supreme
Court
to
Decide
Sacramental
Ayahuasca
Use
Case
|
On
Campus:
University
of
Colorado
Students
Pass
Referendum
Calling
for
Equality
in
Marijuana
and
Alcohol
Penalties
|
Europe:
ENCOD
Offers
Peace
Pipe
to
European
Union
--
Literally
|
Asia:
Malaysia
Considering
Drug
Maintenance
Programs?
|
Media
Scan:
Debra
Saunders
on
Student
Drug
Testing,
Brown
University
SSDP
Opens
Drug
Resource
Center
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
SSDP
T-Shirt
and
Flyer
Design
Contest
|
Online:
Audio
Web
Chat
with
Dr.
Andrew
Weil
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
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