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Workshop: How Can You Protect Your Psychedelic Plant Medicine Church, Community and Clients?
August 21, 2024 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
$150
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Are you involved with a Church that uses psychedelic sacrament? Do you want to learn how to protect your sacrament? Or are you just generally curious about the laws surrounding the religious use of psychedelic plant medicines? Come join us, get informed, and put to rest some of the myths that circulate around the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)–and learn the realities of this law–that affect plant medicine communities in the US. This workshop will be presented through the lens of Chacruna’s Guide to RFRA and Best Practices for Psychedelic Plant Medicine Churches, which teaches churches using psychedelic plant medicines as sacrament how to understand protections offered under the RFRA. The Guide includes an overview of current RFRA case law, definition of “sincerely religious beliefs”, benefits of single/multiple sacraments, as well as practical considerations such as the value of incorporating as church and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, insurance, liability waivers, sacrament record keeping, storage, and importation issues. This workshop will also go through the history of RFRA claims filed for exemptions from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), including the cases of the Santo Daime and UDV churches, which have been granted exemptions. Attendees will gain clarity and guidance on how psychedelic churches may navigate the risks of and right to religious exercise with psychedelic sacrament, as well as explore implementing best practices in response to shifts in the psychedelic landscape and applicable law, and how such shifts may impact the legal analysis of the right to the religious use of sacrament(s).
