Is ayahuasca legal?

 

The short answer is both yes and no. Because it contains DMT, ayahuasca remains an illegal Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Recreational use is strictly forbidden (there really isn’t a recreational market for ayahuasca, but that’s a different story). In 2006, however, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that because of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, members of União do Vegetal (a religious community in New Mexico) have a religious right to import and consume ayahuasca, which they call hoasca. Based on this decision, in 2009 a lower court in Oregon ruled that two branches of the Santo Daime religion (another community that consumes ayahuasca, or Daime, as they call it) can also import and consume ayahuasca. In the wake of these rulings, dozens of religious communities like ours have emerged centered on the ritual and ceremonial consumption of ayahuasca.

 

To ensure that our religion meets the standards articulated in the relevant court cases and legislation, our founders hired two attorneys who specialize in the formation of ayahuasca churches. Together, these attorneys have helped create over fifty of these churches. Based on their guidance, our founders created Luz Sagrada, which is a legally incorporated 501(c)(3) faith-based organization in the state of Maryland.

 

Ayahuasca is an essential component of our religion. We consume ayahuasca to interact directly with spirits, entities, beings, and ancestors. As an ancillary benefit, these direct and unmediated encounters engender profound healing. Without ayahuasca, we simply cannot practice our religion. Based on the aforementioned court decisions, the government appears to understand that if they deny us access to ayahuasca, it will substantially burden the exercise of our religion, a burden that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act explicitly forbids.