- A small US congregation can use hallucinogenic
tea as part of its rituals to connect with God, the Supreme Court has ruled.
-
- The unanimous decision is court's first
religious freedom case since Chief Justice John Roberts was appointed.
-
- The hoasca tea is considered sacred to
members of the group, O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal.
-
- In its ruling, the court said the government
must allow the use of the tea under religious freedom laws.
-
- Mr Roberts wrote that federal drug agents
should have been barred from confiscating the tea.
-
- However, the justices sent the case back
to a federal appeals court, which could consider more evidence.
-
- Controlled substance
-
- The administration of President George
W Bush had argued that the tea was illegal and potentially dangerous.
-
- Members of the group believe they can
understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month
at four-hour ceremonies.
-
- The brewed tea, made from two plants
that grow in the Amazon, contains dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a controlled
substance banned under federal drug laws.
-
- About 130 members of a Brazil-based church
were involved in long-running dispute with federal agents, who seized their
tea in 1999.
-
- Mr Roberts, a conservative, was appointed
to the court last year.
-
- Since he replaced another conservative,
William Rehnquist, that change was not thought likely to affect the court's
balance.
-
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4737994.stm
-
- © BBC MMVI
-
|
