Free Republic

COURT SAYS CHURCH CAN USE HALLUCINOGENIC TEA DENVER - A New Mexico church was handed a small victory Thursday when a federal appeals court ruled its use of hallucinogenic tea was likely to be protected under freedom of religion laws. The ruling, issued by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Attorney General, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other government agencies that sought to prohibit the tea's use. The appeals court agreed with the U.S. District Court in New Mexico that the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal church had...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A redesigned survey of who uses and abuses drugs in the United States has found millions of "missed" users and addicts, with an estimated 22 million Americans suffering from alcohol or drug abuse. The study, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Friday, finds that 19.5 million Americans used illicit drugs in 2002. This works out to 8.3 percent of the population age 12 or older. Last year's survey found that 15.9 million Americans used an illegal drug in 2001 -- but SAMHSA stressed that the latest survey used new methods and turned...

Internet 'cookbook' fuels drug wars By Steve Barrett and Natalie O'Brien 30jul03 AS a special murder task force investigates the bloody amphetamines drug war erupting in Victoria, police around the country have uncovered dozens of clandestine laboratories and copies of an illegal "cookbook" on how to make the illicit drugs. It is believed the recent murders in Melbourne are linked to drug wars that are being fuelled by the availability of internet recipes and a manual called Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture, written by an underground chemist known as "Uncle Fester". The 183-page book, available on the internet, tells how...