Portland, Oregon - A federal judge says members of a Brazilian-based Christian church in Ashland can import, distribute and brew hallucinogenic tea.
U.S. District Judge Owen Panner issued a permanent injunction barring the government from prohibiting or penalizing the sacramental use of "Daime tea."
It is brewed from two Amazonian plants that contain the hallucinogenic drug dimethyltriptamine, or DMT. The tea is also known as ayahuasca (aye-yah-WAS-ka) tea.
Panner's order, issued Thursday, said activities of The Church of the Holy Light of the Queen, an Ashland-based branch of the Santo Daime (pronounced die-may) sect, are legal.
His order prohibits the federal government from interfering or prosecuting church members who follow a list of regulations set out in his order.
