{"id":11249,"date":"2026-10-21T00:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/news\/the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-churchcan-you-start-a-cannabis-religion"},"modified":"2026-10-21T00:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:53:00","slug":"the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-church-can-you-start-a-cannabis-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-church-can-you-start-a-cannabis-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"The DEA Approved an Ayahuasca Church\u2014Can You Start a Cannabis Religion?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-church-can-you-start-a-cannabis-religion\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-church-can-you-start-a-cannabis-religion.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"cannabis church\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-church-can-you-start-a-cannabis-religion-1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Holy Smoke: Can You Start a Religion, and Should You?<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Religious exemptions, courtroom cautionary tales, and a frank audit of a joke I\u2019m no longer sure was a joke<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This month an Iowa church got what every sacramental-plant congregation dreams about: a path to legally import and brew <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-vs.-ayahuasca-cannabis-much-safer-for-depression.589037\">ayahuasca<\/a>. It took eight years, a lost lawsuit, a sealed agreement with the DEA and a probationary state registration [1]. Reading the story, a question I\u2019ve been circling for a while stood up and cleared its throat. Should we start a religion? Not as a gag, though I\u2019ll admit mine began as one.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What Iowa actually won<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Iowaska Church of Healing formed in September 2018. It applied for federal tax-exempt status in January 2019 and was refused because its sacrament is a Schedule I substance. It sued the IRS in 2021 and lost in March 2023, with the court reasoning that its activities violated public policy while the DEA had yet to grant an exemption. The church\u2019s DEA petition then sat unanswered for more than five years, until Justice Department lawyers told the court in June 2026 that the two sides had signed a memorandum of agreement recognizing the church\u2019s right under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to practice, subject to agreed conditions [1].<\/p>\n<p>The memorandum is sealed. On October 5 the Iowa Board of Pharmacy agreed to register the church, on one year of probation, with a requirement to report any adverse event that needs off-site medical care. That is only step two of a two-step process; federal permits follow [1]. Two lessons. It is possible. And \u201cpossible\u201d meant eight years, a lawsuit and a regulator peering over your shoulder. Hold both thoughts.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The legal machinery<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In 1990, Employment Division v. Smith held that the First Amendment didn\u2019t shield a Native American Church member fired for ingesting peyote. Congress answered with RFRA in 1993, which restored a \u201ccompelling interest\u201d test, and then with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994, which protect traditional Indian peyote use [4][5]. The big modern precedent is Gonzales v. O Centro Esp\u00edrita (2006). The Supreme Court ruled 8\u20130 in favor of a Brazilian-rooted church, the UDV, whose U.S. branch had about 130 members, and its ayahuasca tea (hoasca) [2][3]. The government argued that health and safety, diversion to recreational users and a UN drug treaty justified applying the Controlled Substances Act. The Court said RFRA demands that the government justify burdening this particular claimant, that Congress\u2019s Schedule I listing isn\u2019t a categorical answer, and that the long-standing peyote exception undermined the claim that drug law admits no exceptions [2][3].<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The graveyard of cannabis churches<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Now the cautionary tales. David Meyers declared himself Reverend of the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/interview\/what-is-the-international-church-of-cannabis\">Church of Marijuana<\/a>\u201d and claimed his faith commanded him to use, grow and distribute the plant. The Tenth Circuit rejected the defense and built the framework courts still use: is it a belief system rather than a philosophy or way of life, is it sincerely held, and does it show ultimate ideas, metaphysical beliefs, a moral or ethical system and the accoutrements of religion [6][8]. Meyers\u2019s \u201cchurch\u201d had no sacred texts, clergy, rituals or organized worship [7]. The Church of Cognizance, which teaches that marijuana is a deity and sacrament, fared no better in the same court [8].<\/p>\n<p>Indiana\u2019s First Church of Cannabis opened the day that state\u2019s RFRA took effect and filed suit a week later. In 2018 the judge ruled that an exemption would make the church a target for thieves, gangs and dealers and hinder law enforcement, and said it could remain a church if it stopped using marijuana as a sacrament [9]. The state had called the suit a \u201cpolitical crusade turned legal stunt\u201d [10]. The appeal was dismissed after the church failed to pay for court transcripts [11]. The pattern is not subtle: courts will protect a sincere, comprehensive, community-based practice, and they are allergic to a shield with a steeple painted on it.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>So what does it take?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There are really three hurdles, and they\u2019re different. <strong>Legal protection for the practice.<\/strong> Under RFRA (a federal law; states have their own versions, as the Indiana case shows) you must show that government action substantially burdens a religious belief, not merely a philosophy, and that you sincerely hold it [8]. Then the government must show a compelling interest, applied to you, pursued by the least restrictive means [2].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tax status as a church.<\/strong> This is separate. The IRS uses 14 criteria announced in 1978, including a distinct legal existence and a membership not associated with another church, plus the familiar markers such as a creed, a form of worship, an organized ministry and regular services. Courts treat them as a guide rather than a checklist, and \u201cchurch\u201d is a narrower category than \u201creligious organization\u201d [12][13].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Operational credibility.<\/strong> Iowa\u2019s agreement reportedly covers who handles the controlled substance, how it\u2019s stored and how it\u2019s imported [1]. Regulators will want a safety protocol whether you volunteer one or not.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A correction on Pastafarianism<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I started out believing Pastafarianism is an official religion. I was mostly wrong. In 2016 a federal court in Nebraska ruled that the Flying Spaghetti Monster gospel is plainly satire and that reading it as religious doctrine is an error of basic reading comprehension [14]. In Europe, the Dutch highest administrative court and then the European Court of Human Rights found the faith lacked the seriousness and cohesion required [15], and an Austrian bid for recognition as a confessional community failed on the argument that members weren\u2019t religiously active enough [19]. Poland is the bright spot: a court overturned a 2013 ruling, clearing the way for an application to register [16]. So: a patchwork of rejections and one opening, not an official status. The moral is bigger than the pasta. Courts read intent.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Alacartism, stress-tested<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Now my own entry. Alacartism: build your belief system \u00e0 la carte from any tradition, on the premise that nobody can prove which religion is the true source and that every human experience is unique. I dreamt it up one day over a joint. I still like the core idea, and it has some pedigree. A recent legal analysis of Singularism, a Utah <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/news\/the-psilocybin-news-report-if-you-are-seeing-psilocybin-in-the-headlines-everywhere-you-are-rig\">psilocybin<\/a> church, notes that belonging to several religious traditions at once is common worldwide, and the court there applied the Meyers factors to those beliefs [17].<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019d be a lousy columnist if I skipped where Alacartism is exposed. <strong>It must be a system, not a menu.<\/strong> Courts have looked to familiar religions as models and distinguished comprehensive systems from isolated teachings [18]. The Seeger-era doctrine is generous, since a sincere belief that fills the place God holds in someone\u2019s life can qualify, but it still excludes a merely personal moral code [18]. A fully individualized menu risks that label. The \u201ctying bond\u201d I mentioned has to be more than a slogan: written core tenets, rites, regular gatherings, trained ministers. <strong>Origin stories get subpoenaed.<\/strong> If the founder says it began as a stoner joke, the state\u2019s lawyer will print it out. Mine is on the internet now. Sorry, future me.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Open source, not cult<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Religion has real problems: dogma that can\u2019t be questioned, power concentrating in one person, schism, and hostility to doubters. Cults tend to share three traits in my reading, which is analysis rather than citation: control over members\u2019 lives, isolation from outsiders and financial extraction. An open-source faith can design against all three.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Public, versioned doctrine.<\/strong> Anyone can propose a change; anyone can fork. <strong>No living prophet.<\/strong> Rotating stewards, and no one holds the keys to salvation or the bank account. <strong>Free exit.<\/strong> No shunning, no penalty for leaving. <strong>Open books.<\/strong> Published finances and no required tithes. <strong>A sacrament safety code.<\/strong> Screening for medical contraindications, trained facilitators, emergency plans and incident reporting; Iowa\u2019s adverse-event requirement is a ready-made template [1]. <strong>A conduct code for gatherings.<\/strong> Consent, boundaries and a way to report abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Notice the contrast with the Iowa deal: the memorandum is sealed, justified by privacy and public-interest concerns [1]. An open-source religion can keep members\u2019 identities private while publishing its safety protocols for anyone to audit.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>So, should we?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>My honest answer: only if the sincerity is real and you\u2019re willing to do the slow, boring work of building a community, a practice, a paper trail and a relationship with regulators. If the goal is a loophole to light up, don\u2019t. Courts have shown they can smell it [9][10], and every failed stunt hands judges more language about why exemptions threaten enforcement, which hurts sincere claimants too. The skeptic\u2019s argument deserves its due as well: governments say drug-law exemptions are hard to police and invite abuse, which is exactly the compelling-interest question courts weigh case by case [2].<\/p>\n<p>If sacred plant medicine is the heart of it, say so plainly and build the theology around it, with safety protocols you\u2019d be proud to publish. And since I\u2019m not a lawyer, talk to a religious-liberty attorney before you file anything, print a pamphlet or buy a single robe.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>[1]\u00a0<\/strong> Clark Kauffman, \u201cPsychedelic Church\u2019s Secret Agreement With DEA And Approval From Iowa Officials Allows Import And Manufacturing Of Ayahuasca,\u201d Marijuana Moment \/ Iowa Capital Dispatch, Oct. 17, 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/psychedelic-churchs-secret-agreement-with-dea-and-approval-from-iowa-officials-allows-import-and-manufacturing-of-ayahuasca\/\">https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/psychedelic-churchs-secret-agreement-with-dea-and-approval-from-iowa-officials-allows-import-and-manufacturing-of-ayahuasca\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[2]\u00a0<\/strong> Gonzales v. O Centro Esp\u00edrita Beneficente Uni\u00e3o do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006), opinion text, Cornell LII <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supct\/html\/04-1084.ZO.html\">https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supct\/html\/04-1084.ZO.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[3]\u00a0<\/strong> Gonzales v. O Centro Esp\u00edrita (2006) case summary, SAGE Edge <a href=\"https:\/\/edge.sagepub.com\/node\/184572\">https:\/\/edge.sagepub.com\/node\/184572<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[4]\u00a0<\/strong> American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994, Pub. L. 103-344 <a href=\"https:\/\/usc-cdn.house.gov\/statutes\/pl\/103\/344.pdf\">https:\/\/usc-cdn.house.gov\/statutes\/pl\/103\/344.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[5]\u00a0<\/strong> Great Plains Studies Center on Employment Division v. Smith, RFRA and the 1994 AIRFA amendments <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcommons.unl.edu\/greatplainsquarterly\/2023\">https:\/\/digitalcommons.unl.edu\/greatplainsquarterly\/2023<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[6]\u00a0<\/strong> United States v. Meyers, 95 F.3d 1475 (10th Cir. 1996) <a href=\"https:\/\/law.resource.org\/pub\/us\/case\/reporter\/F3\/095\/95.F3d.1475.95-8079.html\">https:\/\/law.resource.org\/pub\/us\/case\/reporter\/F3\/095\/95.F3d.1475.95-8079.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[7]\u00a0<\/strong> Casemine commentary, \u201cDefining \u2018Religion\u2019 under RFRA: United States v. David Meyers\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casemine.com\/commentary\/us\/defining-'religion'-under-rfra:-united-states-v.-david-meyers\/view\">https:\/\/www.casemine.com\/commentary\/us\/defining-&#8216;religion&#8217;-under-rfra:-united-states-v.-david-meyers\/view<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[8]\u00a0<\/strong> United States v. Quaintance (Church of Cognizance), Tenth Circuit opinion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ca10.uscourts.gov\/sites\/ca10\/files\/opinions\/01018448739.pdf\">https:\/\/www.ca10.uscourts.gov\/sites\/ca10\/files\/opinions\/01018448739.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[9]\u00a0<\/strong> WPTV, \u201cJudge rules First Church of Cannabis can\u2019t use marijuana as \u2018holy sacrament\u2019\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wptv.com\/news\/national\/judge-rules-first-church-of-cannabis-can-t-use-marijuana-as-holy-sacrament-\">https:\/\/www.wptv.com\/news\/national\/judge-rules-first-church-of-cannabis-can-t-use-marijuana-as-holy-sacrament-<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[10]\u00a0<\/strong> WXYZ, \u201cFirst Church of Cannabis files religious freedom lawsuit; State of Indiana claims suit is a stunt\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wxyz.com\/news\/national\/first-church-of-cannabis-files-religious-freedom-lawsuit-state-of-indiana-claims-suit-is-a-stunt\">https:\/\/www.wxyz.com\/news\/national\/first-church-of-cannabis-files-religious-freedom-lawsuit-state-of-indiana-claims-suit-is-a-stunt<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[11]\u00a0<\/strong> WFYI, \u201cIndiana Court Of Appeals Dismisses First Church Of Cannabis Lawsuit,\u201d Jan. 4, 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/wfyi.org\/news\/articles\/indiana-court-of-appeals-dismisses-first-church-of-cannabis-lawsuit\">https:\/\/wfyi.org\/news\/articles\/indiana-court-of-appeals-dismisses-first-church-of-cannabis-lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[12]\u00a0<\/strong> Congressional Research Service, What Is a \u201cChurch\u201d for Federal Tax Purposes? (IF12520) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.everycrsreport.com\/reports\/IF12520.html\">https:\/\/www.everycrsreport.com\/reports\/IF12520.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[13]\u00a0<\/strong> Church Law &amp; Tax, \u201cDefinition of \u2018Church\u2019\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churchlawandtax.com\/legal-developments\/definition-of-church\/\">https:\/\/www.churchlawandtax.com\/legal-developments\/definition-of-church\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[14]\u00a0<\/strong> Religion News Service, federal court rules Pastafarianism is satire, not religion <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/?p=184538\">https:\/\/religionnews.com\/?p=184538<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[15]\u00a0<\/strong> The Freethinker, on Dutch and ECHR rulings regarding Pastafarianism <a href=\"https:\/\/freethinker.co.uk\/?p=5469\">https:\/\/freethinker.co.uk\/?p=5469<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[16]\u00a0<\/strong> UCA News, \u201cSpoof religion edges closer to official recognition\u201d (Poland) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucanews.com\/news\/spoof-religion-edges-closer-to-official-recognition\/70705\">https:\/\/www.ucanews.com\/news\/spoof-religion-edges-closer-to-official-recognition\/70705<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[17]\u00a0<\/strong> Petrie-Flom Center, Harvard Law, \u201cWhat a Psychedelic Church Reveals about Religion and the Law,\u201d Nov. 28, 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/petrieflom.law.harvard.edu\/2025\/11\/28\/what-a-psychedelic-church-reveals-about-religion-and-the-law\/\">https:\/\/petrieflom.law.harvard.edu\/2025\/11\/28\/what-a-psychedelic-church-reveals-about-religion-and-the-law\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[18]\u00a0<\/strong> Hoots, \u201cThe Legal Definition of Religion in the Context of Modern Religious Movements,\u201d Harvard CSWR <a href=\"https:\/\/cswr.hds.harvard.edu\/sites\/g\/files\/omnuum4346\/files\/2025-02\/Hoots%2C%20Legal%20Definition%20of%20Religion.pdf\">https:\/\/cswr.hds.harvard.edu\/sites\/g\/files\/omnuum4346\/files\/2025-02\/Hoots%2C%20Legal%20Definition%20of%20Religion.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>[19]\u00a0<\/strong> The Freethinker, on the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Austria <a href=\"https:\/\/freethinker.co.uk\/?p=7741\">https:\/\/freethinker.co.uk\/?p=7741<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>CANNABIS OR AYAHUASCA, READ ON&#8230;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-vs.-ayahuasca-cannabis-much-safer-for-depression.589037\"><img alt=\"CANNABIS OR AYAHUASCA FOR DEPRESSION\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/the-dea-approved-an-ayahuasca-church-can-you-start-a-cannabis-religion-2.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.net\/blog\/medical\/cannabis-vs.-ayahuasca-cannabis-much-safer-for-depression.589037\"><strong>WHICH IS BETTER FOR DEPRESSION, AYAHUASCA OR CANNABIS?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holy Smoke: Can You Start a Religion, and Should You? Religious exemptions, courtroom cautionary tales, and a frank audit of a joke I\u2019m no longer sure was a joke This month an Iowa church got what every sacramental-plant congregation dreams about: a path to legally import and brew ayahuasca. It took eight years, a lost [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}