AYA Proactive Legal Advocacy & Defense Fund –
Working in partnership with NAAVC
AYA has sued the Drug Enforcement Agency and you can too . . . or at least you can help us in our ongoing legal action as Plaintiffs against the DEA. In Spring of 2020, in partnership with the North American Association of Visionary Churches (NAAVC), AYA sued the DEA in order to bring the DEA into compliance with Federal court mandate, Federal statute, Federal administrative law, and constitutional law. Quite seriously, the DEA had gone rogue, and someone needed to call them on it. So we did.
Here’s some background. On February 21, 2006, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision affirming the right of O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, to continue their religious practice with the sacramental use of ayahuasca. That decision by the court, including a remand to a lower court, also established a legal frame requiring the DEA to establish an exemption process for visionary churches to practice with ayahuasca.
Since 2006, as part of that court mandate, the DEA has issued exactly zero exemptions without a pitched legal battle. Exemption applications themselves have been sparse — not that surprising, since by applying, churches are required by the regulatory agency to agree under penalty of perjury to the stipulation that they not engage in their religious practice until the DEA has determined that they are, in fact, a sincere and Federally approved religious entity. The court never granted the DEA this authority. No one has. For those of you who follow things like the US Constitution, the First Amendment grants the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . ” For this and a raft of other reasons the DEA lacks the authority to openly defy the Federal court for going on 15 years now. That needs to end.
To complicate matters for themselves, following our written petitions to the DEA, and the filing of our lawsuit in Federal District Court in the Spring of 2020, the DEA initiated a raid on the home of Clay Villanueva, one of the NAAVC’s board of directors. AYA made a clear case in earlier filings that the raid was in retaliation for the temerity by the NAAVC and its board to demand that the DEA adhere to the law.
More pointedly, we made the case that the DEA was engaged in intimidation of a religious community, in addition to witness tampering in an ongoing Federal court case. Perhaps the DEA didn’t like our petition campaign, drawing public attention to their rogue shenanigans. That petition, sent to the DEA well in advance of our initial lawsuit currently has over 1700 signatures, as of this writing. Perhaps it looked to the DEA like visionary churches had become emboldened, and the agency wanted to send a message, namely that if you want to engage in your so-called spiritual practice, we’re going to make it very expensive for you, because we make the rules and we enforce the rules we make. Perhaps they reasoned that successfully ignoring one church at a time with their counterfeit exemption process was one thing, but transacting with an authentic religious movement was quite another.
Perhaps the DEA didn’t reason at all. Both DEA action and inaction may simply be evidence of an agency culture enmeshed in conscious indifference, all too willing to engage in stonewalling and intimidation, while refusing to respond to all written avenues of communication . . . until directed to respond under Federal court action. That’s where we are today, Federal court. Our case was green-lighted for trial in US District Court for the District of Arizona in Phoenix under rulings by Judge Roslyn O. Silver and now finds itself on the docket for ruling for a very important segment of the case by the US Supreme Court.
Our case is earning its day in Federal court, and whether you realize it or not, it’s gotten here with your help. Simply by being a part of our congregation in ceremony, you’ve helped to support this important legal drive. We’re at a pivotal juncture. The Department of Justice is asking for our membership list under discovery. We refuse to ever give up our member list to Federal authorities. We would sooner shut our church down than to release those names. But with your help, the truth is that we’ll neither shut down our church or release our member list. Our objective is to free visionary churches across the US from these agency tactics. They’re objective is to win. They’re well funded and backed with some of the best lawyers in the country at the Department of Justice. Our objective is to win as well, but far beyond the scope of this case through adherence to clear principles and ethics.
Now it’s time for Federal rulings affirming our First Amendment rights. Fighting for these rights with top legal minds on our side, has real-world implications. But avoiding the battle invites attack. We all share these rights. We all share in our mutual support. It’s essential that we display our common cause with all churches – common cause with all loving, ethically minded, and spiritual practitioners seeking both Divine union and to live freely, peaceably, and responsibly in this life. We’ve made great strides. We have further to go. We will not rest in our case until the simple faith in our community is free from unwarranted government intrusion. We’re demanding to stand on equal footing with every church in this country. There’s strength in numbers. Stand with us.