Wednesday, June 12, 2024
DEA Nullification of Religious Drug Use and Tax Exemption
We have previously complained that the Iowaska Church of Healing was suing the wrong agency. That's the Church that has an absolute right to tax exemption even though it uses the Ayahuasca -- "huasca" -- plant in its religious sacraments. The Supreme Court confirmed a few years back that the government may not prohibit organized worshippers from using huasca in their sacraments. So the illegality doctrine cannot be used to deny it tax exemption.
The Church filed a 1023. The IRS rejected it but the told the Church it would be tax exempt as soon as DEA issued a license. A license DEA is absolutely required to issue. Well, the Church had previously filed an application for a license but DEA is dragging its feet. The application has sat on someone's desk over at DEA for at least five years now. Its hard to get a "yes" from people trained to say "no," I'm just saying. So Iowaska sued the IRS, inexplicitly omitting DEA as a defendant. And now the case is pending before the 7th Circuit, not over the substantive issue, but whether Iowaska has standing to sue the IRS. It doesn't because whatever relief granted against the IRS will not resolve the case. Iowaska will still need to get a permit from DEA. That's the part I have complained about. Iowaska should have sued DEA years ago instead of chasing the IRS down a rabbit hole.
As it turns out, GAO confirms that DEA is literally dragging its feet. And that Iowaska should have sued DEA in the first place. GAO found that although there have been 24 applications for licenses to use controlled substances in religious sacraments, not a single one has been granted. Ever. These guys are trained to say "no." And if "no" is not interposition and nullification, I don't know what could be. GAO made a number of polite suggestions, all of which amount to "stop dragging your feet."
Iowaska would sooner vindicate its religious freedom -- even after five or six years chasing the IRS -- if it filed an action against DEA today.
darryll k. jones
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/nonprofit/2024/06/gao-confirms-dea-foot-dragging-on-religious-drug-use-and-tax-exemption.html
I have done research and written on this topic. Other communities have already tried the route of suing the DEA mostly to no avail. I think the goal of this litigation was more to continue to draw attention to the issue than anything else. I agree that in this case, there probably isn't standing. But I also argue that there should be a link between c3 status and a DEA exemption. The IRS is already in the position of deciding whether a church qualifies as one under the law and the DEA clearly does not want to be doing this. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4531569
Posted by: Victoria Litman | Jun 12, 2024 12:09:34 PM