U.S. SUPREME COURT 2006

Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld preliminary relief protecting a church's sacramental use of hoasca, an ayahuasca tea containing DMT. The Court held that RFRA requires the government to satisfy strict scrutiny as applied to the particular sincere religious practice before it, rather than relying only on a generalized prohibition.

WHY IT MATTERS RFRA analysis is individualized. Sincerity, the burden on religious exercise, the government's asserted interests, and less restrictive alternatives all matter.

FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT · OREGON 2009

Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey

Applying O Centro, a federal court concluded that RFRA required protection for the Santo Daime church's importation and ceremonial use of Daime tea containing DMT, subject to reasonable restrictions. A permanent injunction followed.

FEDERAL SETTLEMENT · ARIZONA 2024

Church of the Eagle and the Condor v. Garland

After federal litigation under RFRA, the Church of the Eagle and the Condor reached a written settlement with federal agencies concerning its religious use of ayahuasca. The settlement materially changed how federal controlled-substance laws would be enforced against the church's covered sacramental practices.

FEDERAL RESOLUTION 2025

Church of the Celestial Heart

Following litigation involving its ayahuasca sacrament, the Church of the Celestial Heart states that, as of May 5, 2025, its sacramental use of ayahuasca is authorized and acknowledged by the DEA and Department of Justice, with active DEA registration governing its religious ceremonies.

FEDERAL COURT · UTAH 2025

Jensen / Singularism v. Utah County

In February 2025, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction protecting Singularism while its litigation proceeded and ordered the return of seized psilocybin mushrooms. The ruling is especially relevant because it directly concerns a minority religion's sacramental use of psilocybin under Utah's religious-freedom protections.

Important: this was preliminary relief, not a final merits judgment establishing a nationwide psilocybin exemption.

DEA RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION 2025

Church of Gaia

In May 2025, the Church of Gaia announced that the DEA approved its petition for a religious exemption from the Controlled Substances Act under RFRA for the ceremonial use of ayahuasca. The church describes the approval as a federal authorization governing its specific religious practice and sacrament.

COLORADO STATE LAW

Natural Medicine Health Act

Colorado separately protects certain personal-use activities involving natural medicine under state law, including possession, consumption, sharing, cultivation, and manufacture when statutory conditions are met. Those protections are distinct from RFRA and do not erase federal controlled-substance law.

Religious Freedom.
Sacred Responsibility.

Freedom carries responsibility.

Know Your Jurisdiction

Honor the Sacrament

Take Responsibility for Your Well-Being

A growing body of
religious-freedom precedent.

Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal

Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey