A federal district court has just upheld another religious exemption claim for the use of hoasca, this one in Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey. The case naturally relies heavily on the Supreme Court's Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (2006) decision, but has some interesting factual discussion specific to this particular case, and the government's reasons for the challenge.

My UCLA School of Public Affairs colleague Mark Kleiman (Reality-Based Community) — a leading drug policy scholar — was an expert witness for the claimants in the O Centro case. His post on this case provides the quote that I use in the title of my post.