Court sides with church on hallucinogenic tea Options

[dauss]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/21/scotus.r...n.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a small congregation in New Mexico may use hallucinogenic tea as part of a four-hour ritual intended to connect with God.

Justices, in their first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts, moved decisively to keep the government out of a church's religious practice.

Federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the hoasca tea of the Brazil-based church, Roberts wrote in the decision.

The tea, which contains an illegal drug known as DMT, is considered sacred to members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, which has a blend of Christian beliefs and South American traditions. Members believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.

New Justice Samuel Alito did not take part in the case, which was argued last fall before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor prior to her retirement. Alito was on the bench for the first time on Tuesday.
Roberts skeptical

Roberts said that the Bush administration had not met its burden under a federal religious freedom law to show that it could ban "the sect's sincere religious practice."

The chief justice had also been skeptical of the government's position in the case last fall, suggesting that the administration was demanding too much, a "zero tolerance approach."

The Bush administration had argued that the drug in the tea not only violates a federal narcotics law, but a treaty in which the United States promised to block the importation of drugs including dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT.

"The government did not even submit evidence addressing the international consequences of granting an exemption for the (church)," Roberts wrote.

The justices sent the case back to a federal appeals court, which could consider more evidence.

Roberts, writing his second opinion since joining the court, said that religious freedom cases can be difficult "but Congress has determined that courts should strike sensible balances."

Seems like some pretty good decisions from Roberts. I wonder if he's just doing it to please the public, and next year when there are more important issues, he'll judge hardcore conservative.

[TeK]

Datura was responsible for an entire division of the Revolutionary army going insane and killing each other (they cooked a bunch of it in some stew and ate it, all killed each other. That shit i'm told is probably the worst trip you can have. They're pretty much never good). Crazy shit.

Over the summer, A friend of mine found a place here in lubbock where Jimson Weed (Datura) pods were growing, and we decided to brew up a pitcher of tea.

Well, we used 2 pods, maybe, 100 seeds were in the 2 pods we cut open and boiled for 25 mins.

We took one shot each.

I have never, and I repeat, NEVER tripped so hard in my life. The place I was at, the white paint seemed to sprout golden spiderwebs that seemed to breath everywhere i looked, and when i tried to look at the detail, it just got more and more intricate (was really freaky) I then passed out and had to have my stupid antics re-told to me by my friends, apparantly I was pissed off at my friend because he sat on MegaMan and was killing him, then I was talking to a wall which I thought was my cousin, who was actually behind me sitting on the couch, then when i was being driven home, I supposedly started freaking out thinking a car pulled out in front of us and we were going to hit it and I slammed the car into park.

Yes, that is indeed some crazy shit.