Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

Image: Cover of Guide to RFRA and Best Practices for Plant Medicine Churches

This Guide gives churches using psychedelic plant medicines as sacrament in religious exercise in the United States the knowledge to understand the framework through which protection is offered under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). RFRA rights may be a claim or defense when burdened by the government and may become an affirmative legal right with an exemption from the Controlled Substances Act. The Guide also explains incorporation, tax-exempt status, pre-screening procedures, limiting liability, and other aspects of operation in this context. While RFRA automatically provides protection for sincere religious exercise, not every church using psychedelic plant medicines will be exempt from criminal prosecution solely on the basis of religious use. There is a balancing test under RFRA that will be applied where the whole of a church’s religious beliefs and spiritual practices will be scrutinized – but scrutiny will be applied to the government’s interests in prohibiting this use, as well. By understanding this RFRA test, the law, government criteria, and the history of previous court and government agency decisions and analysis, as detailed by this Guide, a church may make informed decisions in how it articulates its sincere beliefs and operates.

https://chacruna.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Chacruna-RFRA-and-Best-Practices-Guide.pdf