Soul Quest Church’s Ayahuasca Challenge Ruled Untimely by Court

A petition by a church seeking permission from the US Drug Enforcement Administration to lawfully use and handle the psychedelic ayahuasca was dismissed as untimely by the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday.

The DEA denied Soul Quest Church of Mother Earth’s petition for a religious exemption to the Controlled Substances Act by letter on April 16, 2021. By the time the church filed its petition for review of the agency’s decision on April 4, 2022, it was too late, the US Court of Appeals for Eleventh Circuit said in a per curiam decision.

Once Soul Quest had the agency’s letter—which the three-judge ...