The Legality of Psychedelic Churches
Religion is legally protected from government interference in the United States and Utah. This protection includes religious use of psychedelic substances, as long as the religious use is (1) safe and (2) sincere. Think of religious sacraments this way: government can’t legally raid and arrest Catholics for using wine for the eucharist without a liquor license. But, also, think of it this way: your little entheogenic church is not rich, powerful, and politically connected like the Catholic church. So, be smart.
The “safe and sincere” test comes from a unanimous 2006 United States Supreme Court decision ordering the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) to respect the religious rights of a New Mexico-based ayahuasca church. The standard was again used to protect another ayahuasca church in Oregon. Both cases (linked above) are very readable and provide guidance for anyone forming a psychedelic church. I need to point out an important fact: religious use protects one thing—religion—not spirituality, philosophy, or ideas. Though religion is a bad word to a lot of people in the psychedelic world, religion is the only thing that carries these robust protections.
I also need to point out that, despite the case law, the use of entheogens always presents a very real possibility of arrest and incarceration. To state the obvious, law enforcement agencies don’t like use of controlled substances, they don’t distinguish much between deadly drugs like opioids and much safer substances like psychedelics or between the reasons for use, and agencies are rarely held to account for violating the law and legal rights. Government enforcement agencies might simply ignore the law, forcing you to prove your innocence. Or, the agencies might find any excuse to argue that your use is outside the safe harbor of the ayahuasca cases.
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The Divine Assembly (the church I started) uses psilocybin mushrooms as our sacrament. Though our sacrament is not ayahuasca and our practices are not as regimented and dogmatic as those of the ayahuasca churches, we sincerely believe that (1) an abundance of scientific research establishes the safety of psilocybin, (2) our ceremonies protect people from harm, and (3) our sacrament does allow us to commune directly with the Divine. To protect those beliefs, we actively take steps to show our religiosity, along with the organic practice of living it. We attempt to do this in a way that promotes spiritual growth, rather than just checking boxes to please potential prosecutors.
The spiritual giants at the IRS have published a list of things that make an organization look like a church, such as scriptures and clergy. While the Divine Assembly does have some of the attributes the tax collectors are looking for, we specifically reject the idea of scripture and clergy, since each individual is able to obtain direct guidance straight from the Divine. Believing that true religion is best lived and shown by personal healing and progress, I suggest that members draft personal creeds and scripture to guide their individual lives, based on the communions and insights they each have enjoyed.
My personal religious creed is based on my encounters with the Divine. It applies uniquely to me and my experiences, meaning no one else is expected or encouraged to follow it. True religion is an individual journey. Others should develop their own creed, with the input of the Divine. My creed says that I will respect myself as god, respect others as gods, and the Divine as god. I will treat myself, others, and the Divine fairly and kindly. When I fail to do so, I will make amends. I will connect intimately with myself, others, and the Divine. I will do things that enhance my connection with myself, others, and the Divine. I will avoid things that diminish my connection with self, others, and the Divine.
For each of these broad categories in my creed, I then list specifics. For example, since I have a history of irresponsible alcohol and drug use, I will not use substances to hide. To add some granularity, I will not have more than 5 alcoholic drinks in a week. However, to remind myself to avoid dogma and to connect with others, I will have at least one social drink a week. I set similar “no more than” and “no less than” limits for other substances, such as coffee, which I can use to connect but also to hide and waste time.
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The most important parts of my personal creed and religious practice address how I will treat myself, others, and the Divine. For example, knowing that I am god, I will never abuse myself with thoughts and words. Knowing that you are god, I will similarly treat you with love, kindness, and generosity. Hate and contention have no part in my life.
People who know me best might be having a major WFT moment as they read my creed and match it against my lived experience. Falling short is part of process, as is constantly working to do better. As I look at where I was before I started my psychedelic worship and where I am now, I see progress that gives me hope that I will match my life to my creed that I formed with the Divine. My religious practice is to live intentionally, so that I can better gauge how I am doing and better walk the path that harmonizes my existence with the beauty and wonder that I feel when I am in the mystic. The goal is to become a sacrament for myself, others, and the Divine.
This might be mumbo jumbo bullshit to some people. Most religions are nonsense to people who don’t follow a particular sect. But, it is sincerely religion to me. And, for my legal safety, taking the steps to actually chronicle the beliefs, the process, and the steps would likely help potential jurors see that it is sincere and worthy of religious protection. Yes, it stinks that such steps are necessary to establish and protect entheogenic religions, unlike other established religions. But, for now, peacefully connecting directly with the Divine through psychedelics is a more legally fraught activity that swinging God around as a club to abuse marginalized groups. Government gets that God is hate. It is slower to accept that God is love and connection. When it comes to psychedelic sacraments, religious persecution is real. Move forward with faith … and caution.