Psychedelics-Using Church Can Sue for Tax Exemption, Groups Say

An Iowa church that offered ceremonial ayahuasca, which contains a federally illegal drug, to its members has standing to sue the IRS for tax-exempt status, psychedelic plant advocacy groups told the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The Iowaska Church of Healing has standing under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act “because the Church suffered concrete religious, reputational, and economic injuries” traceable to the IRS and redressable by the court, according to an amicus brief filed by the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and the Sacred Plant Alliance.

The IRS injured the church by refusing to recognize it ...