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Supreme Court Grants Church Ayahuasca Rights
December 13, 2004

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday reversed a temporary stay issued by Justice Steven Breyer the week before that blocked members of a New Mexico church from using Ayahuasca tea in its religious ceremonies. The Court’s decision to lift Breyer’s stay means that members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal are entitled to drink tea made from Ayahuasca, a mild hallucinogen the church uses as a sacrament. That decision will remain in effect unless the federal government convinces the court otherwise at a future hearing.

Prior to the full Supreme Court decision and Breyer’s earlier stay, a lower court had approved an injunction allowing the congregants to use the tea after the Justice Department had tried to ban them from doing so. The case is Ashcroft v. Uniao Do Vegetal.



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