Ayahuasca churches gain ground in religious freedom fight

When President Donald Trump spoke about religious liberty on the campaign trail, most people probably did not picture the use of the psychedelic drug ayahuasca. But two west coast churches have been granted the right to use ayahuasca in recent days.

On May 19, the parties in a two-year-old case over ayahuasca informed the court they had reached a settlement earlier that month. The Tulare-based Church of the Celestial Heart sued the federal government under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act following the arrest of a pastor. The Church of the Celestial Heart v. Garland, 1:23-cv-00545-SAB (E.D. Cal., filed April 6, 2023).

"If you're engaged in the sincere practice of a sincere religious practice, the government shouldn't interfere with you unless it has a compelling interest in doing so," said Denver-based Sean T. McAllister when reached on Tuesday.

McAllister said the thawing of the federal attitude towards churches that use ayahuasca appeared to begin during President Joe Biden's administration. He also represented the Phoenix-based Church of the Eagle and the Condor, which settled with the Drug Enforcement Agency and other government entities one year ago. Church of the Eagle and the Condor v. Garland, 2:22-cv-01004-SRB (D. Ariz., filed June 9, 2022).

That case broke a 16-year logjam in the dispute over the substance. But McAllister said the change in the federal government's attitude appears to have accelerated under President Trump and new Attorney General Pam Bondi. Last week, the Church of Gaia Spokane in Spokane, Wash., became the first to reach a settlement with the DEA to allow the use of ayahuasca. One argument raised by the plaintiffs in the other cases was that the agency was not approving applications by qualified churches.

"The Trump administration is very interested in protecting religious freedom," McAllister said. "They obviously publicly talk about Christianity and Christian rights, but in order to have Christian freedoms then you have to acknowledge other people's religious freedom too. I think there's a hope and maybe a suspicion that maybe there's an opening for some of these churches under the Trump Administration that could gain recognition."

"I think that trend is going to be more deference to religious practice and not challenging things that previous administrations would have just not even considered as religious," said Omar Figueroa, founder and managing partner of the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa in Sebastopol.

Figueroa does not represent either of the churches who have recently gained permission to use ayahuasca, but he represents other clients seeking to use psychoactive substances in religious rituals, as well as cannabis companies.

But McAllister warned that the two clients he represented were perfect plaintiffs. Each had a long history of religious practice, including the highly supervised and ritualized use of ayahuasca. He added that "there is no such thing as recreation use of ayahuasca." The plant is known to cause vomiting and diarrhea. He said it should be distinguished from similar recreational drugs like DMT.

Others say any changes in the attitudes of authorities are unevenly distributed.

"I've followed the Church of the Celestial Heart v. Garland case closely and welcome the progress it represents for entheogenic religious communities," said Harmel D. Codi, the lead shaman of the Atlanta-based Temple of Umi, in an email. "However, my experience paints a sharply different picture--one that suggests selective enforcement and inconsistency in how these rights are applied."

Codi said he was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., last year after U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted a package meant for him.

"My case is ongoing in the Northern District of Alabama, and notably, the government never engaged in the RFRA exemption process or offered meaningful dialogue," Codi said. "Instead, I've faced threats of a 20-year sentence, excessive bail, and public framing as a criminal trafficker."

But Figueroa said attorneys and their clients remain cautiously optimistic that the new administration is serious about protecting religious communities that might appear to some as being on the fringe.

"The U.S. is the land of new religions," Figueroa said. "We have the Latter-Day Saints' Mormonism as a new global religion and we also have the Church of Scientology, which is a recognized world religion. Both homegrown."