Abstract

This Note examines the use of peyote among the native people of the United States, focusing primarily on the constitutional issues that arise when a mood-altering drug such as peyote is used as part of a religious sacrament. As it shows, the courts experience great disquietude in addressing chemical sacrament cases in general, and those involving peyote specifically. Consequently, this area of law is fraught with inconsistencies and Indian and non-Indian groups are often treated inequitably regarding the use of drugs in religious practices. Further, this area of law reveals a reluctance on the part of the judiciary to deal uniformly with religions other than those with familiar Judeo-Christian origins. As a result, the often tenuously held first amendment right to the free exercise of religion is dramatically threatened.

This Note attempts to reconcile the morass of incongruent legislation and caselaw. It analyzes the judiciary's constitutional framework for addressing chemical sacrament cases, a framework that is the culmination of years of struggle with the issue of drug use in religious settings. As this Note reveals, there are no simple answers to this complex problem. Moreover, unless or until the Supreme Court determines the constitutionality of using drugs for religious purposes, an unworkable series of inconsistent and misapplied laws will prevail.

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