{"id":146944,"date":"2026-02-07T05:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T05:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146944\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T05:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T05:12:24","slug":"central-florida-church-using-psychedelic-tea-sues-after-federal-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146944\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Florida church using psychedelic tea sues after federal raid"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Central Florida church is suing after the federal government raided and took thousands of dollars of sacred plants used to make a psychedelic tea for its religious services, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Our Sacred Sanctuary<\/a> accused U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi<\/a> and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA<\/a>) of an unlawful raid and violating its religious beliefs in a lawsuit filed this week<\/a> in U.S. District Court\u2019s Middle District of Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about money or getting plants returned. It\u2019s a much greater, much more significant issue, and that is whether or not we\u2019re going to allow people to practice their religions without government intrusion,\u201d said lawyer William Barzee<\/a>, whose firm is representing the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe injury is the government saying, \u2018You can\u2019t practice your own religion.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The church with 150 members uses ayahuasca<\/a>, a brew made from plants with ancient ties dating to indigenous tribes in the Amazon. As part of a church ritual, the members drew the ayahuasca to bridge a connection with God.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis gift allows for the collective evolution of human consciousness by offering direct experiences with the divine,\u201d said the lawsuit filed by church leaders Norelle Adams, Rob Wilson\u00a0and Lora Wilson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church teaches that the world we reside in is metaphysical in nature. That this world is only partly what we can see and experience and much of the universe is beyond what we can tune into unless one imbibes the sacred ayahuasca during religious ceremonies.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the church ritual was interrupted and its leaders were in fear after an undercover federal agent arrived at the Eustis church for the weekend ceremony Dec. 6, 2024, the lawsuit said. <\/p>\n

The federal government raided the church, although the Department of Justice (DOJ) formally declined to pursue criminal charges in November 2025. None of the church\u2019s property or sacrament has ever been returned, the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n

The church said it canceled future ceremonies after the raid.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSacred Sanctuary, our cherished place of healing, spirituality, and community, has been struck by an unexpected and unjust raid by the DEA,\u201d the organization said on its website in December 2024. \u201cThis violation of our rights has left us reeling, but we are determined to continue our mission and remain a safe and sacred space for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barzee argued the lawsuit comes as ayahuasca churches are growing in popularity but are facing backlash from the federal government. A handful of the churches have been given permission to stay open, but many are operating in a gray area that could lead to more raids, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not at all about tripping for fun or going to a rave or anything like that. These are very, very serious spiritual religious practitioners who use these medicines, these plants, as sacred sacraments in formal ceremonies,\u201d Barzee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s costing them a lot of time, a lot of money, and most importantly, a lot of anguish, where practitioners are afraid of practicing their religion, which is, of course, a complete anathema to what we believe as a country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barzee argued church leaders want to work with the DOJ to develop oversight and a framework for how the churches can stay open across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has to happen is the Department of Justice needs to sit down with church leaders and determine how these churches can operate freely and openly while maintaining security,\u201d Barzee said.<\/p>\n

He added that the authorities are within their rights to make sure \u201cthe sacraments being used are safe and that they\u2019re going to the right people, and they\u2019re not being disseminated and they\u2019re not being diverted onto the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are very powerful substances we\u2019re talking about,\u201d Barzee said.<\/p>\n

The DOJ and the DEA did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Central Florida church is suing after the federal government raided and took thousands of dollars of sacred…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[71117,22921,28,30,29,71118,71119,411,71120],"class_list":{"0":"post-146944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-ayahuasca","9":"tag-federal-lawsuit","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-orlando-lawsuit","14":"tag-our-sacred-sanctuary","15":"tag-pam-bondi","16":"tag-william-barzee"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}