Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi

The first thing John explains is that unless the government has specifically granted you an exemption, there is no such thing as full legal protection in this world.

Any one of these churches could draw the attention of law enforcement at any time and end up in court for violating the Controlled Substances Act.

So John's job is to help these churches organize themselves in the most legally defensible way possible.

Now, after that 2006 Supreme Court case, the one with the Brazilian Ayahuasca church, the DEA did create a formal process to apply for a religious exemption to the Controlled Substances Act.

But the process is pretty fraught.

For one, the DEA is notoriously slow on this, sometimes taking years to respond to groups that have applied.

We reached out to the DEA, who told us multiple factors can impact the time, including how long it takes a petitioner to submit all their paperwork and scheduling on-site inspections.

The process also requires applicants to stop using illegal substances during the petition period, which, for all intents and purposes, means pausing their religious practices.

And then, John says, there's this sort of catch-22.

If you apply and you are ultimately denied, you've just given the government detailed evidence they could, in theory, use to bring a drug case against your church.

So John's work, he explains, focuses mostly on helping his clients think through a basic litmus test.

What makes something a church in the eyes of the law?

How do they determine whether something is sincere religion?

Now, it's not like the government has provided some definitive list of attributes they use to answer that question, but they have left clues in various places.

One of them was a federal case in Wyoming where the reverend of a marijuana church was charged with possession and trafficking back in the 90s.

People like John refer to the criteria the court used there as the Myers test.

Things like, does this alleged religion have a clearly defined founder or spiritual leader?

Do they hold regular services and ceremonies?

Do they have rituals?

Does this religion have a well-developed theology?