Church of the Holy Light of
the Queen documents
These documents relate to the
landmark case in which the Church of the Holy Light of the Queen (CHLQ; the Santo Daime
Church in Oregon)
filed suit in federal court against the United States government,
represented by Attorney General Robert Mukasey,
United States Attorney for Oregon Karin Immergut, and
the Federal Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson. The CHLQ sought relief from the Controlled
Substances Act, which was being used by the United States government to prevent
the Church from using Daime tea in the practice of
their religion. Daime
tea contains several psychoactive substances, including N,N-dimethyltryptamine
(DMT) and harmala alkaloids. The CHLQ claimed that the United States government's restriction on Daime tea violated the Church's freedom to practice their
religion under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
and under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
The trial started on January 21, 2009. On March 18, 2009, United States District Judge
Owen M. Panner rendered his decision. He found that the Church's rights were indeed
being violated by the government and that the Church must be permitted to use
the Daime tea in their religious services. This marks the first time in United States
history that the government has lost an actual court trial involving the use of
psychoactive substances for religious purposes (note that the União do Vegetal case of 2006 was
not a trial per se but an upholding
of a preliminary injunction).
I participated in the trial
as an expert witness on behalf of the CHLQ.
I wrote and testified about the pharmacology and toxicology of Daime tea. My
statements and Judge Panner's decisions are available
below.
My expert
witness statement.
My rebuttal
to the US Department of Justice experts.
Judge Panner's
Findings
of Facts.
Judge Panner's
judgment.
More extensive court documents are available
at Bia Labate.
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This page last modified on July 24, 2009