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

A Florida-based religious group, Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church of Mother Earth Inc., incorporated Christian beliefs with the Amazonian plant medicine ayahuasca, a Schedule I controlled substance, as its central sacrament. Members consumed ayahuasca to connect with the divine and treat various conditions. The church operated without DEA-approved religious exemption. The legal conflict between Soul Quest and the DEA illustrates how the church positioned itself legally and under DEA oversight to be recognized as a church entitled to use ayahuasca.

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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.