A Washington State church says the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has approved its application for an exception under federal drug laws to use the psychedelic ayahuasca in religious ceremonies—and, for the first time, the agency granted the unique exemption without legal challenges.

The Church of Gaia on Friday said DEA approved a petition for congregants to use ayahuasca under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was enacted in 2009 to create a pathway for religious organizations to request a carve-out under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

There have been relatively few examples of DEA approving such petitions in the years since—and churches that have sought the exemption have had to engage in litigation against the federal government over their requests. Uniquely, approval for this latest petition was granted without the need for lawsuits, as Mason Marks of Psychedelic Week first reported.

“As the sacrament for the Church of Gaia, Ayahuasca serves as a profound ceremonial tool for accessing spiritual connection and abundance,” Connor Mize, founder of the church, said in a press release. “In pursuing the religious exemption, we aimed to ensure the safety of the church’s members, Indigenous elders, and leaders while protecting the right to practice our sacred ceremonies without persecution. This exemption means the church can fully embrace its religious offerings, including the Ayahuasca ceremonies we’ve long prayed for.”

While it’s not clear why this specific church’s petition moved along without litigation that’s come to be expected, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) did encourage DEA in a report last year to reform the petition process for psychedelics-related religious exemptions under the RFRA.

“Over an eight-year period—from fiscal year 2016 through January 2024—DEA reported that 24 petitioners requested a religious exemption for various controlled substances,” GAO said. “As of January 2024, DEA reported that none of these petitions had been granted an exemption, and of the six for psilocybin, three were withdrawn and three were pending a DEA determination.”

“DEA’s information also showed instances where finalized actions regarding exemption petitions related to other controlled substances have been pending a determination for an extensive period—one almost five years and one almost eight years,” it said.

Maestro Tito Amasifuen Valera, ceremonial leader at the Church of Gaia Ceremonial, said that “with the emerging use of Ayahuasca in the United States, it poses both unique opportunities and challenges.”

“Ayahuasca has a deep spiritual significance in Indigenous Amazonian cultures. It is important that those who wish to use it respect the sacred cultural context of its traditional uses,” Valera said. “Ayahuasca is not just a plant, but a portal to understanding oneself, nature, and the interconnectedness of all.”

Meanwhile, in a lawsuit over the legal status of an Iowa-based church that wants to incorporate ayahuasca into its own ceremonies, the Justice Department last year downplayed the significance a deal hammered out between the federal government and a separate, Arizona-based church that also uses the psychedelic brew as part of its practice.

The Iowaska Church of Healing first sent its petition to DEA asking for an exemption around ayahuasca use in 2019. The church found an unusual ally in anti-drug Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who court filings described as instrumental in expediting the regulatory appeals process back in 2021. A Grassley spokesperson told Marijuana Moment at the time that the senator’s help shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as an endorsement of the church’s point of view on psychedelics, however.

Separately in February, a federal appellate court rejected the latest effort by a Washington State doctor who is seeking to legally use psilocybin to treat cancer patients in end-of-life care, ruling that DEA provided a reasonable explanation in denying the doctor’s request.

In the background of DEA’s approval of the Church of Gaia’s petition for a CSA exemption, advocates are closely following to see how the agency under the Trump administration navigates a pending proposal to federally reschedule marijuana that stalled out at the end of the Biden administration last year amid legal challenges by witnesses in an administrative hearing.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead DEA, Terrance Cole, has declined to commit to rescheduling cannabis, or to say how he’d approach federal enforcement in states that have legalized cannabis.

GOP Congressman Details ‘Life-Saving’ Psychedelic Therapy Experience Where He Saw Cosmic Colors And Time Travel

[PRESS RELEASE] – CHICAGO, May 21, 2025 – Verano Holdings Corp., a leading multistate cannabis company, announced the opening of Zen Leaf Enfield on May 23, elevating the company’s Connecticut retail footprint to seven locations and 157 dispensaries nationwide. Zen Leaf Enfield, located at 98 Elm St., will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The dispensary will also feature a drive-thru for additional customer and patient convenience.

Zen Leaf joins the Enfield business community adjacent to the Enfield Square Mall as the township prepares for the transformative $250 million Enfield Marketplace project that aims to deliver economic and job growth with new onsite retail, hotel and residential development. With the opening of Zen Leaf Enfield, Verano is firmly planting roots in the community and will remain actively engaged as a supporter and stakeholder in the Enfield Marketplace project, and looks forward to contributing to Enfield’s long-term success by investing and providing exciting career opportunities in the community.

As part of the company’s legacy supporting a variety of charitable and community causes, in opening Zen Leaf Enfield, Verano provided critical funds for the Thompsonville Fire Department to purchase a year’s supply of Narcan, enabling firefighters to continue offering lifesaving care for victims of the opioid crisis. The company also continues to provide support for local charitable organizations, including Enfield Loaves and Fishes and Enfield Food Shelf, and is hosting a food donation drive benefiting both organizations at the dispensary throughout opening weekend.

Opening Weekend Celebration Activities, Deals and Details

Zen Leaf Enfield will host a grand opening celebration Memorial Day weekend, beginning on May 23, featuring the following:

• A ceremonial ribbon cutting with community leaders and partners, including Mayor Ken Nelson, Jr., Thompsonville Fire Chief Dave Deskis, the North Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Loaves and Fishes, Enfield Food Shelf and more.
• DJ Big IC spinning tunes for guests throughout the weekend.
• Zen Leaf marketplace convening other local businesses, including an onsite glassblower and various vendor pop-ups.
• Complimentary food from Pangea’s Tacos, Burgers and Wraps on May 23, and coffee from Travelin’ Toms Coffee Truck on May 24.
• A suite of exciting promotions and special grand opening deals will be available for guests to purchase their favorite cannabis products, including 30% off CTPharma and Savvy products and buy two, get one free on Encore Edibles and On the Rocks gummies. Zen Leaf offers daily specials, including the state’s leading 22% off discount for veterans, 20% off “Medical Monday” deals for medical patients, and up to 20% off the first three orders. Senior citizens and college students are eligible for a 10% discount.
• Several open positions remain available on careers.verano.com for those interested in applying.

“We’re thrilled to welcome guests at Zen Leaf Enfield and share in the local community’s enthusiasm as Enfield prepares to turn the page on an exciting new chapter with the transformational $250 million redevelopment of Enfield Square Mall into Enfield Marketplace,” Verano founder and CEO George Archos said. “We are grateful to the entire community, including the village leadership and many organizations we have had the pleasure partnering with as we plant roots for a bright future together in Enfield for years to come.”

“As Connecticut’s legal marijuana industry continues to grow, Zen Leaf has positioned itself as a leader, and I believe they will be a great community partner that will operate their business ethically and responsibly within the parameters of state law,” Enfield Mayor Ken Nelson Jr. said. “Zen Leaf brought a high caliber of professionalism throughout the planning process, and the team has been very open and transparent with the Enfield community. I would like to thank Zen Leaf for investing in our community and wish them all the best in opening their Enfield location.” 

Zen Leaf Enfield adds another convenient outlet for Connecticut cannabis consumers that complements existing Zen Leaf locations in Ashford, Meriden, Naugatuck, Newington, Norwich and Waterbury. Verano’s operations in Connecticut also include the 217,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art CTPharma cultivation and processing facility in Rocky Hill, where the company produces a variety of CTPharma-branded products, including flower, vapes, concentrates and topicals; Savvy flower and vapes; On the Rocks Live Rosin edibles; and Encore Edibles gummies and chocolates.

For additional convenience and accessibility, patients can choose to order ahead at ZenLeafDispensaries.com for express in-store pickup.

“I would expect intelligent people with good hearts, which I believe this body is, can find a way to provide relief with some medical marijuana.”

By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner

A legislative proposal seeking to help implement Nebraska’s voter-approved medical cannabis laws failed Tuesday, facing a tougher floor fight than four years ago despite widespread support in November.

The latest measure, Legislative Bill 677, failed to garner the 33 votes needed to shut off a filibuster, with the bipartisan effort to stop debate falling 23-22. The regulatory push secured the support of eight Republicans, 14 Democrats and one nonpartisan progressive in the officially nonpartisan 49-member body (State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, the only other Democrat, was absent from the final vote but had supported the bill).

Republican State Sens. John Arch of La Vista, Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln and Merv Riepe of Ralston declined to take a position and were “present, not voting.”

State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, a Republican with a Libertarian bent who sponsored LB 677, sought to appeal to his conservative colleagues that “on a limb,” everyone could agree that medical cannabis could at least help someone.

“If that’s the case, you believe in medical cannabis, and that’s OK,” Hansen said. “I know sometimes that scares some of us.”

Freshman State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender was one Republican who heeded Hansen’s call.

“I would hope, and hope’s not a plan, but I do have faith in this body, I would expect intelligent people with good hearts, which I believe this body is, can find a way to provide relief with some medical marijuana,” Meyer said.

The other six Republicans joining Hansen and Meyer were State Sens. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, Stan Clouse of Kearney, Myron Dorn of Adams, Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, Jana Hughes of Seward and Dave Wordekemper of Fremont.

But at the end of the day, Gov. Jim Pillen (R), Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) and Nebraska’s junior U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Pillen’s predecessor, prevailed in their public calls against passing LB 677, peeling off enough Republican senators to stop the bill.

Voters legalized medical cannabis with 71 percent approval in November, for up to 5 ounces of cannabis with a physician’s recommendation. A separate regulatory law secured 67 percent approval.

‘We can always come back’

Leading the charge against LB 677 was freshman State Sen. Jared Storm of David City, who echoed the calls of Hilgers and Ricketts that legislation wasn’t needed to help implement the state’s new medical cannabis laws.

Storm and multiple Republicans said the new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, which voters created and charged with “exclusive” regulatory authority, should be left to act on its own first, without legislative changes.

“If we have any issues, we can always come back as a body and tweak those issues, not jump off the cliff,” Storm said of Hansen’s LB 677 and an accompanying amendment.

He added: “I don’t want anybody to think that I’m some cold-hearted monster here that does not have sympathy for children and adults that are suffering through pain. But we have to get this right.”

The hesitation also came as Hilgers’ office continues challenging whether the ballot measures were properly placed on the 2024 ballot and an expected future state-led challenge arguing the voter-approved laws violate federal law. The AG’s Office was in court earlier Tuesday asking for a citizen-led lawsuit alleging the same legal challenge to be tossed so Hilgers’ staff can sue.

Hilgers also organized opposition to LB 677 from 53 sheriffs, including the Nebraska Sheriffs Association, and the Police Chiefs Association of Nebraska.

‘Let’s help shape it’

State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha, a mental health practitioner, said cannabis would not “leap off the shelves” and corrupt Nebraska youth, as some opponents contended. He said senators sometimes needed to go outside and “touch some grass and just think about what the world is like outside of this room.”

“Let’s not get too concerned about ‘fighting against the will of the people,’” Fredrickson said. “Let’s help shape it. Let’s help put in the right guardrails in place, and let’s help build a system that we can be proud of and puts our patients first.”

Hansen said a strong regulatory system could also save lives from over-reliance on opioids, which State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island echoed.

Quick said he thought medical cannabis might one day be able to help his son who has struggled with opioid, drug and alcohol addiction for about 25 years. In that time, Quick said he and his wife have administered life-saving meds to reverse overdoses.

“I think this is an important bill that could help a lot of people, and we need to take that into consideration in what we’re doing,” Quick said.

State Sens. Megan Hunt and Dunixi Guereca, both of Omaha, said opponents also needed to grow up and embrace the modern acceptance of medical cannabis.

“The 1990s have called, and they want their ‘Reefer Madness’ back,” Guereca said. “It is the year of our Lord 2025. Medical marijuana is not controversial.”

‘The will of the people’

Multiple opponents targeted Democrats for their support of LB 677 but opposition to other measures this year to water down voter-approved laws related to paid sick leave and minimum wage. In those cases, 32 of 33 Republicans support changing what voters approved, including Hansen. State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln is the lone Democrat in favor of the sick leave and minimum wage changes, and she proposed the minimum wage tweaks.

“This bill’s unnecessary, inappropriate, undermines the will of the people and implements recreational marijuana,” State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County said.

Hansen and State Sens. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and George Dungan of Lincoln repeatedly pushed back and noted that backers of the medical cannabis ballot measure asked for LB 677, unlike supporters of the sick leave and minimum wage changes.

Public support for medical cannabis was widespread in November, with majority approval in all 49 legislative districts for legalization and 46 of 49 districts favoring a regulatory system.

Cavanaugh and Dungan said LB 677 was stricter than they would have liked but helped voters whose will Dungan said would “once again be stifled” if LB 677 failed.

Cavanaugh, who offered amendments to make the bill less restrictive, said its negotiated constraints were “in the interest of accessibility, safety, reliability.”

‘Let’s cool our jets’

State Sen. Tanya Storer of Whitman called out “political theater” and said part of the urgency for passing LB 677 was an effort by supporters of medical cannabis to get around legal challenges.

“Don’t be fooled about the why, about the panic, about why the marijuana proponents are playing on your fear and emotion that we’re going to have mayhem and chaos if we don’t pass 677. If we pass it, we put it in state statute,” Storer said.

Some senators, as well as Hilgers, have said LB 677 could weaken his office’s pending appeal before the Nebraska Supreme Court alleging improper notarizations during the ballot measure process, which a Lancaster County District Court judge widely rejected in November, after the election. Ballot sponsors have also consistently denied wrongdoing.

Some opponents flaunted that decision and said they hope the Nebraska Supreme Court “gets it right,” including State Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte, who asked whether LB 677 would incentivize people to “dummy up a bunch of signatures.”

Jacobson and State Sen. Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse, a lawyer, repeatedly pointed to the fraud-focused case and said Hilgers was protecting the ballot measure process.

“Let’s cool our jets. Let’s slow down the pace,” Jacobson said.

‘This issue isn’t going away’

Conrad and the ballot sponsors have said it is Hilgers and Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s alleged fraud case who are threatening the petition process and seek to “ruin the lives of grassroots activists who peacefully petitioned their government for change.”

Despite opponents’ best efforts, Conrad said, the Legislature had already affirmed the ballot measures with an earlier cleanup bill passed February 21 in a 48-0 vote: LB 1.

Conrad also blasted some opponents for drumming up the very evidence that Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong, a Ricketts appointee, had rejected, including texts among campaign volunteers. Conrad, citing Strong, said she found them “completely out of context, legally irrelevant and cherry-picked.”

“To regurgitate them here on the floor of the Legislature, again, out of context, again, to sling mud, again, to drag moms of sick kids who are petitioning their government to try and find a cure, that says a lot about you,” Conrad said.

Meyer said that even if signatures are ultimately tossed, and the state Supreme Court sides with Hilgers’s appeal, voters’ strong approval would still carry weight.

Many of the same campaign volunteers, including all but one of the main notaries being targeted by the AG’s Office, showed up for the debate. In the early hours of debate, one of the long-time advocates had seven seizures. Her mom helped start the legislative push more than a decade ago.

Some volunteers said that while the defeat of LB 677 was a loss, they wouldn’t stop fighting and would keep showing up.

“This issue isn’t going away. I don’t believe the people will let it go away,” said Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, who described the defeat as an “absolute failure.”

Hansen predicted that LB 677’s defeat could accelerate the push for recreational marijuana, as early as the 2026 election. That would come at the same time Pillen, Hilgers, Evnen, Ricketts and half of the seats in the Legislature are up for reelection.

‘Choke it to death’

Another major theme of the debate was whether the Legislature should step in before the Medical Cannabis Commission has a chance to, as the Legislature has not yet considered or confirmed two final gubernatorial appointees.

Both of those Pillen picks—Dr. Monica Oldenburg of Lincoln and Lorelle Mueting of Gretna—have a confirmation hearing Thursday. Each has consistently opposed the same measures that Eggers and other long-time supporters have fought for. Mueting opposed LB 677 but was “neutral” on a much stricter bill from Storm.

“Why would we as a Legislature start messing with the commission that hasn’t even started doing its work yet?” State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk asked during debate.

But Hansen said the commission’s broad authority and the apparent lean of the appointees could signal where the regulations ultimately end up, which he said does nothing but hurt patients.

“If they take the reins, they can choke it to death,” Hansen said of the commission.

Four years ago, an earlier medical marijuana bill failed 31-18 in face of Republican opposition. Hilgers, a former state senator, opposed the 2021 bill, too.

But unlike that narrow defeat, LB 677 faced one of the toughest fights for advocates in a decade, even as the 2025 debate came at a different political moment than in 2021. That includes Ricketts no longer being governor. He had said legalized marijuana would “kill your kids.” It also includes overwhelming approval of the ballot measures.

“I think you know in your hearts that people deserve this, and you know in your hearts what’s going to happen if we don’t,” Hansen told his colleagues. “The people voted for you to make a decision, not to push it off to somebody else.”