I'm sure some of you remember the post I put up about ayahuasca churches in the USA. I just seen a video about the church that im a member of. It kind of makes me think that i might be wrong about it being illegal. Will you please watch the video on this page and let me know what you think. thanks!


http://m.wlky.com/news/a...ightenment-drug/39639338

Really all this kind of stuff is firmly rooted in the grey area. Basically, it's legal till a court rules otherwise. Some precedents have been set, there have been high level court rulings allowing the use of ayahuasca, peyote, and mushrooms within a ceremonial and/or personal use context at various times in various locations. Above ground grey-market trade of botanicals still flourishes openly, and of course sites like this one providing open source grow information and teks have placed these tools and experiences in the hands of anyone willing to spend some time googling for the information.

Of course, you can still be locked in a cage based on arbitrary enforcement by local police and judicial systems. They generally have enough real violent and/or big money drug crimes to deal with such that they don't have the time or resources to go after a few hippies drinking some strange plant potions and not bothering anyone. It's that old, don't ask don't tell game. The only time these little groups get into trouble is when they start making enough noise to be seen as a nuisance to the locals. Many of these kind of churches have been operating openly for decades. There have been many individual court cases quietly played out at the local level, some won, some lost. There have been a few that were big enough to catch headlines, again some won, some lost. There is a general trend toward avoiding attracting attention and having to issue actual rulings in these types of cases. It's important to keep in mind that each case is unique and that the media doesn't have the best track record for fair and accurate reporting when it comes to a sensational drug story.

It's wise to be skeptical of these organizations and to thoroughly explore their intentions and motives if you are considering getting involved with them. There are a lot of sheisters out there looking to sell you spirituality. However, if no one ever stands up for our collective birthright to utilize these plant medicines as the sacraments they are, we will all continue to be oppressed, ostricized, and arrested for practicing a religion that pre-dates all notion of religion. While remaning skeptical of any individual group, I see great need for supporting the overall cause of religious freedom for plant medicines.

Yes this is so right. Hopefully these groups plan for this to happen and lawyer up before anything ever happens so they can be prepared to win and set a precedent in their court. In the USA too you two sets to deal with, Local and Federal and they may not agree with each other. Watching prohibition lift at a snails pace on the cannabis front has been gut wrenching. It is happening one battle at a time and has taken massive public support. So on the level of the individual if we are setting good examples of responsibility it helps immensely because most earth folk do not understand. They hear the hype danger story on the TV/interweb and it informs all their decisions.

This church is not legally administering schedule 1 substances, any claims that it is are 100% false and after spending way too much time reading about ONAC, Ihave come to the conclusion that the people in charge of the main ONAC are willfully twisting the misunderstanding of the current drug laws in the USA for personal profit.

In case anyone is curious. They have a 10 episode "Season 1" on youtube under the Vice brand: https://www.youtube.com/...6GFszzsAihmUaMtcd_6Hv_oC

Basically a reality show about the folks that come to their ceremonies. I have not had any personal experiences but I would encourage folks to watch a few of the episodes and see what you think. I think it is worth a peek.

He says that he started a native american church in Kentucky and calls himself a "Modern Shaman". I am not sure what would qualify as acceptable. They certainly have intestinal fortitude.

Looking_Inward

I feel like I should watch it for the informative aspect of the plants and the legalities as well as the psychology lessons I could gain from watching these characters...but the whole thing looks so cringy and wrong (just by the thumbnails) that I just cant

I can certainly see where you are coming from. The click-bait titles in the thumbnails are especially bad. That seems to be par for the course with youtube in general. I do like Hamilton Morris and most all his stuff is done through Vice which is why I gave it the chance I did.

I went in without any preconception and honestly I was kind of impressed at the integrity. I was honestly moved by some of the folks' experiences, tears and all. You can definitely tell that he is an ex-military tough-guy criminal-type but he and his team come across to me as sincere.

It intrigued me enough to check out the website. They are starting some kind of training program call KAU (Kentucky Ayahuasca University). Interested to see how that resonates with the powers that be.

They also will apparently give you Kambo! Poor Kikker.

I can see where Fran's coming from too, looking at the titles. On the other hand, your brief review, looking_inward, leaves me considering to give it a look after all.

I came across Kentucky Ayahuasca ep.1 on youtube a good while back, was surprised and intrigued and continued to watch all 10 episodes.


I second that.

Here's a 1-hour interview with Steve Hupp (skips to 3:32, when the interview begins). It starts with his criminal past, after 17:00 it moves on.