Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church of Mother Earth v. The DEA: Religious Sincerity and Situational Adjustments in the Process of Defining a Church and a Plant
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church of Mother Earth Inc. (Soul Quest) is a domestic non-profit corporation based in Orlando, Florida. Its members practiced a Christian syncretic religion whose central sacrament was an Amazonian plant medicine called ayahuasca, an illegal Schedule I substance in the United States. Church members consumed ayahuasca to commune with the divine and heal a variety of conditions and illnesses. Soul Quest operated without approved religious exemption status by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The court battle between Soul Quest and the DEA highlights the ways Soul Quest situated itself within the law and under the direction of the DEA to be classed as a church that could use ayahuasca legally.
DOI: 10.70423/0001.08
Author: Tarryl Janik
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4406320676