Federal appeals panel puts religious-tea ruling on hold
By The Associated Press
12.25.02
DENVER — The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a lower court’s ruling that would have returned a barrel of hallucinogenic tea to a New Mexico group that uses the tea for religious purposes.
The appeals court’s decision, announced Dec. 23, granted the federal government’s request to put on hold a Nov. 13 order prohibiting enforcement of drug laws in the case.
An American branch of a Brazilian religious group argued that enforcement of the law violated its rights under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Santa Fe, N.M.-based group called O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal uses tea containing dimethyltryptamine, a strong hallucinogen and a controlled substance.
Members say the tea is used only during religious ceremonies and banning it violates their constitutional right to practice their religion.
The tea is brewed from plants found only in the Amazon River Basin.
U.S. District Judge James Parker in New Mexico agreed the group’s rights under RFRA were violated and said members should get back a shipment of tea seized in 1999 by U.S. Customs agents. Parker said the government failed to prove the tea was dangerous.
Parker’s Nov. 13 ruling granting the group’s request for a preliminary injunction formalized an opinion he issued in August.
The appeals court sided with the Justice Department, which argued its right to enforce drug laws for the public good should prevail. A stay of the district court’s ruling will merely maintain the status quo, a two-judge panel of the court wrote.
The court said it also heeded the federal government’s warning that the lower court’s ruling would interfere with international treaties on drugs.