The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 prohibited the government from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion, even if that burden is a law that would otherwise be applicable. It applied to all current federal laws, as well as future laws that were not explicitly exempted. The Act was amended in 2003 to only apply to the federal government and its entities, such as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal, which had to do with the seizure of a certain type of tea called hoasca. The tea, which was on its way to a church in New Mexico that drank it as part of its services, contains a chemical that is banned under the Controlled Substances Act. The church claimed that the seizure was a violation of their religious freedom rights and that the use of the tea was protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Court found in favor of the church, pointing out that the government must show a compelling state interest and then prove that that are no less restrictive methods to further that interest. The government argued that it was attempting to prevent health risks and guarding against the potential for abuse, but the Court found that these interests were not enough to justify interfering with religious freedom.
The end result is not so cut and dried as people would like. None of these rules apply at a state level, and every case brought by the federal government is basically a matter of opinion since there are no definitive guidelines for what constitutes compelling interests.
Some drugs have been declared by statute or case law to be legal in very narrow religious circumstances. Peyote, for example, is a cactus that contains mescaline, a hallucinogenic drug. It has long been used by Native Americans as part of their religious ceremonies. In 1996, Congress enacted a statute saying that peyote use, possession, or transportation is legal only when done by a member of an Indian tribe for traditional ceremonial purposes.
In contrast, there have been many attempts to claim marijuana use as a religious right, and they’re almost always a failure. Indiana passed its own Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2015, and shortly thereafter a man named Bill Levin, founder of the First Church of Cannabis, claimed that they were smoking marijuana as part of their religious services. In this case, the compelling interest was vastly in favor of the state, because of the sheer number of people who use marijuana. Where peyote was already fairly limited in use, there would be millions of people suddenly claiming they needed marijuana for religion.
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