A Maine church that uses a hallucinogen during its services is suing the federal government.
Pachamama Sanctuary moved its center from New Hampshire to Casco in 2023 after facing zoning problems with its old building.
Pachamama Sanctuary is on 40 acres and serves as a retreat center and church. It uses ayahuasca tea during ceremonies. Ayahuasca is a hallucinogen.
Members refer to the tea as medicine. It reportedly allows folks to dive into their past, traumas, and grief or shame.
Pachamama Sanctuary and its spiritual leader, Derek Januszewski, filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine against several federal officials and agencies, including the U.S. attorney general, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency, and Customs and Border Protection.
The church claims the government unlawfully interfered with its religious use of ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is a South American ceremonial brew containing DMT, a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
The church claims its use is strictly religious and protected under the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
The complaint alleges federal agencies seized imported plant materials used to make the sacrament and threatened enforcement actions that substantially burden the group’s religious practices, violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First Amendment, and Fifth Amendment’s due process and equal protection rights.
The church argues its ceremonies are highly regulated religious observances similar to other ayahuasca-based churches that have received legal protection.
The lawsuit asks the court to allow Pachamama Sanctuary to legally import, prepare and distribute ayahuasca for religious ceremonies without fear of prosecution.
Pachamama Sanctuary also seeks to declare the government’s actions unconstitutional and unlawful.