União do Vegetal and the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ayahuasca case aftermath

Record summary

The União do Vegetal is a Brazilian ayahuasca religion whose ritual tea, hoasca, is understood as a sacrament and vehicle for disciplined spiritual knowledge. Although the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita predates the requested period, its continuing effects after 2010 provide a verifiable trail through UDV expansion, legal compliance, and comparative religious-freedom debates. The organization is especially useful for studying formal hierarchy, conversion, sacramental language, and state regulation. Its theology and members’ experiences should not be collapsed into pharmacological or paranormal conclusions.