Health Canada allows more religious groups to import ayahuasca

[S.J.B.]

Health Canada allows more religious groups to import ayahuasca
Rachel Browne
Global News
May 8th, 2019

Health Canada has granted three more special exemptions to religious groups to allow them to import ayahuasca, a tea that contains hallucinogens that are banned in Canada and the U.S., Global News has learned.

That brings the total number of ayahuasca exemptions to five, according to Health Canada.

The exemptions allow the religious groups to freely practise their main sacrament without legal infringement. They will also pave the way for researchers to study the effects — and potential benefits — of ayahuasca.

The first two ayahuasca exemptions were granted to groups in Montreal in 2017, as reported by VICE last year.

Since then, three new applicants have received their own exemptions, which last for two years and are renewable. The three new exemptions were granted to the Ceu da Divina Luz do Montreal, the Église Santo Daime Céu do Vale de Vida in Val-David, Que., and the Ceu de Toronto.

Read the full story here.

 

[S.J.B.]

In a country where church and state are separate, the government should not be able to permit an activity for the members of specific organized religions while banning it for all others. It would be interesting to see a court challenge on that basis.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Because people already hallucinating that there is a god in the sky talking to them are the ONLY ones that should be allowed to take hallucinogenic drugs....sane well adjusted, educated, modern people whose ideas are based on science and evidence - no drugs for them!

i just want to scream when i think about drug policy.

 

[ro4eva]

Because people already hallucinating that there is a god in the sky talking to them are the ONLY ones that should be allowed to take hallucinogenic drugs....sane well adjusted, educated, modern people whose ideas are based on science and evidence - no drugs for them!

i just want to scream when i think about drug policy.

I just want to scream right along with you for the same reason.

 

[SunriseChampion]

This is just one of the reasons why I've become open about my use of psychedelics.
Fuck, maybe it's my "religion"....why is mine less valid than anyone else's fictionalised worldview? We're all equal under the law....right?

 

[ro4eva]

This is just one of the reasons why I've become open about my use of psychedelics.
Fuck, maybe it's my "religion"....why is mine less valid than anyone else's fictionalised worldview? We're all equal under the law....right?

As long as you're not violating anyone else's rights in the process, you should be free to worship psychedelics day and night. It shouldn't be anyone's business but yours (and yours alone) what you decide to consume. Countless individuals have been free to smoke like chimneys and/or drink themselves into a stupor. And I'm confident both of those habits cause far more harm to one's long-term well-being than your psychedelics could, therefore, the health-based argument is ultimately a moot point (in this context at the very least).

 

[SunriseChampion]

Never mind the harm to self caused by drinking and smoking....the social harm is also immense.
I personally stopped being discrete a while ago. Fuck it, it's just a fungus or some ergot.