Psychedelic churches in Florida: what religious-freedom law does and doesn't protect

The short answer

No church, ceremony or membership card makes psilocybin legal in Miami. Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I under Florida law, and possessing any amount is a third-degree felony.¹² Florida's Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects religious exercise in general, but it says in so many words: "Nothing in this act shall be construed to circumvent the provisions of chapter 893," the state's drug law.³

Federal law is different. The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) can shield a sincere religious practice from federal drug law, as the U.S. Supreme Court held for one church's sacramental tea in 2006.⁴⁵ But that protection comes from a DEA exemption or a federal court ruling, not from a church's own say-so, and the DEA's guidance says nothing in its petition process authorizes anything a state's law forbids.⁶

What did the Supreme Court decide in O Centro?

RFRA, passed in 1993, says the government "shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability," unless it shows the burden "(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest."⁴

On February 21, 2006, in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, the Supreme Court applied that test to a Brazil-based church with an American branch of "approximately 130 individuals" whose communion tea, hoasca, contains DMT, a Schedule I drug. The government conceded the practice was "a sincere exercise of religion" but argued the Controlled Substances Act allows no exceptions. The Court, 8-0 with Justice Alito not taking part, disagreed.⁵

Chief Justice Roberts wrote that RFRA requires the government to justify the burden "to the person," meaning "the particular claimant whose sincere exercise of religion is being substantially burdened," and that "mere invocation of the general characteristics of Schedule I substances ... cannot carry the day." The Court noted the long-standing federal exemption for the Native American Church's peyote use and upheld the preliminary injunction the church had won.⁵

Two limits matter in Florida. The ruling came at the preliminary injunction stage, on one church's evidence. And RFRA no longer reaches the states: the Court noted that in 1997 it held RFRA's application to states "beyond Congress' legislative authority."⁵

How does a DEA religious exemption petition work?

The DEA's guidance, Version 2 dated November 20, 2020, says a petitioner must show that its "(1) sincere (2) religious exercise is (3) substantially burdened" by the Controlled Substances Act. Petitions are decided by the DEA's Diversion Control Division and are signed under penalty of perjury.⁶

Three rules in the guidance answer most questions:⁶

• Nothing is allowed while a petition is pending. "No petitioner may engage in any activity prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act or its regulations unless the petition has been granted and the petitioner has applied for and received a DEA Certificate of Registration."
• A decision is final. The written grant or denial "is a final determination under 21 U.S.C. § 877," which sends challenges to a federal court of appeals.
• State law still applies. Nothing in the guidelines authorizes "any action which such party is not authorized or permitted to take under other Federal laws or under the laws of the State."

No petition had been granted when GAO last counted. The Government Accountability Office reported on May 30, 2024 that, according to DEA, from fiscal year 2016 through January 2024 "24 petitioners requested a religious exemption for various controlled substances," and as of January 2024 "none of these petitions had been granted an exemption." Of the 6 psilocybin petitions, three were withdrawn and three were still pending, some for over 3 years. GAO made four recommendations to improve the process; DEA agreed with all four, and GAO still lists them as open.¹⁴

What happened to the Orlando ayahuasca church's case?

It ended in a loss on procedure. Soul Quest Church of Mother Earth, an Orlando church that uses ayahuasca (a DMT tea, not psilocybin), petitioned the DEA for a religious exemption on August 21, 2017. After interviews with members and an on-site inspection, the DEA denied it on April 16, 2021. According to the Eleventh Circuit, the agency "concluded that the church had not met its burden under RFRA to show that its members' beliefs were sincerely held and that its use of ayahuasca was part of a religious exercise," and found compelling interests in public safety and preventing diversion.⁷⁸

The church sued in federal court in Orlando. On March 4, 2022, the district court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, because 21 U.S.C. 877 sends review of DEA final decisions to the courts of appeals.⁸ The Eleventh Circuit, whose rulings bind federal courts in Florida, affirmed on December 18, 2023 over a dissent by Judge Newsom.⁷ On February 27, 2024, it dismissed the church's direct petition for review as untimely: it was due within 30 days of notice and arrived "roughly 10 months" late. The court didn't reach the merits.⁹

How do courts decide whether a belief is sincere?

As a question of fact, case by case. In the Tenth Circuit, a defendant raising RFRA against a drug charge "must show by a preponderance of the evidence that government action (1) substantially burdens (2) a religious belief, not merely a philosophy or way of life, (3) that the defendant sincerely holds." Only then must the government justify the burden.¹⁰

In that 2010 case, involving a group called the Church of Cognizance that treated marijuana as a sacrament, the court upheld a finding that the founders' beliefs were "not sincerely held." The trial judge had noted, among other things, that one founder "began to justify his use in religious terms only after he had been arrested."¹⁰ In a 1996 case about a self-described Church of Marijuana, the same court adopted a trial judge's multi-factor analysis of whether beliefs are religious and held the beliefs were "a philosophy and/or way of life rather than a 'religion.'"¹¹ Courts outside the Tenth Circuit aren't bound by that test, but the DEA asks the same sincerity question.⁶

Does Florida's own RFRA protect psilocybin ceremonies?

Not by its terms. Florida passed its Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1998 (Fla. Stat. 761). Its test mirrors the federal one: government "shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion" unless it shows a compelling interest pursued by "the least restrictive means," and a burdened person "may assert that violation as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding."¹² But Fla. Stat. 761.05(4) adds: "Nothing in this act shall be construed to circumvent the provisions of chapter 893."³ We found no published Florida appellate decision applying Florida's RFRA to psilocybin.

Chapter 893 itself has no religious exception for psilocybin. It also raises the penalty for selling or delivering a controlled substance "within 1,000 feet of a physical place for worship at which a church or religious organization regularly conducts religious services": for psilocybin that's a second-degree felony, and the only carve-out is "as authorized by this chapter." Keeping a building "resorted to by persons using controlled substances" is a separate offense.² Our penalties guide explains those charges.

What did the Tenth Circuit decide about Singularism in 2026?

On October 5, 2026, the Tenth Circuit ruled against Singularism, which the court calls "a religion" in Utah whose ceremonies use psilocybin. Authorities seized the group's psilocybin and charged its founder with drug crimes; a federal judge then blocked the state prosecution. The appeals court said that judge "should have abstained" while the state criminal case was pending and "erred in finding a likely violation of the First Amendment," and it sent the case back with instructions to vacate that injunction.¹³

The group argued Utah's law favors secular use, because qualified health systems may use psilocybin under medical supervision. The court disagreed: "The Utah law doesn't treat secular activity more favorably than comparable religious activity," since the health-system use comes with "statutory and regulatory safeguards." It did not rule that the law is neutral; footnote 8 says the plaintiffs "don't contest the law's neutrality." It left a separate question about individualized exemptions for the trial court. And it expressed "no opinion" on a separate preliminary injunction, based on Utah's own Religious Freedom Restoration Act, that ordered seized items returned and barred interference with the group's religious use of psilocybin, because the state hadn't appealed it.¹³

Tenth Circuit rulings don't bind courts in Florida, which sits in the Eleventh Circuit. The case is still worth knowing: it's a 2026 federal appeals ruling on religious psilocybin use, and on the questions it decided, it went against the group.