Céu do Montréal
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The Legal Process

The Legalization Process

A sixteen-year journey — from a single intercepted shipment at Canadian Customs to a federal Section 56 exemption granting Céu do Montréal the right to import and serve its sacrament for religious use.

Madrinha Jessica Rochester (Founder)

Photo by Sidney MenkesPhoto by Sidney Menkes

2000 — The intercepted shipment

Until September 2000, Céu do Montréal imported the Santo Daime sacrament through Canadian Customs with the appropriate agricultural documents. That month, a shipment was intercepted and handed to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for investigation. On learning that the tea is a religious sacrament, we were informed that an exemption would be required to continue importing it, because the tea contains the controlled substances dimethyltryptamine and harmala alkaloids. Throughout the investigation the RCMP was extremely respectful.

2001–2006 — First application to Health Canada

In April 2001, having retained a lawyer and completed the necessary research, we applied to Health Canada — Office of Controlled Substances for a Section 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to import, transport, and serve the sacrament.

Five years of research and investigation followed. In July 2006 we were informed that our request had been granted in principle, pending Brazilian export permission. Throughout, the government officials working on our file remained entirely respectful of the Santo Daime and of our request.

2006–2013 — Catch-22 and delays

The request for Brazilian export permission revealed the complexity of the situation: Brazil had no policy on exporting the Santo Daime sacrament, and many factors had to be examined, including Brazilian national regulations and international laws governing controlled substances. Our request fell into a catch-22 — Brazil needed import permission to allow export, and Canada needed export permission before granting import.

Céu do Montréal also faced other challenges:

  • A Canadian court case involving a shaman, the death of a First Nations Elder, and an Ayahuasca admixture — unrelated to us — cost us nearly two years. Health Canada waited for the verdict to determine whether Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis were implicated in the death (they were not).
  • Ethical and administrative issues emerged with our then-Brazilian affiliate, CEFLURIS (now ICEFLU), along with disagreements with other Canadian Santo Daime groups over single-sacrament use.
  • The 2006 federal election brought in a Conservative government — in power until 2015 — with policies antagonistic to our request.
  • Meetings with the Brazilian ministries who were stakeholders in the export question were repeatedly postponed or cancelled.

In 2009, based on new court cases and Brazil's practice of permitting export to countries with religious-use import permission (the União do Vegetal branch in the United States and Santo Daime churches in the Netherlands and Spain), Céu do Montréal asked Health Canada to reconsider Canadian import permission without Brazilian export permission.

In 2010, Céu do Montréal closed its affiliation and became an independent Santo Daime church. For background, read Céu do Montréal — From Orthodoxy to Universalism (PDF).

In 2012 we had to use legal pressure to compel the then Health Minister to respond. We received a letter informing us that our Section 56 request had been denied, despite the 2006 exemption-in-principle and the continued support of the Office of Controlled Substances.

2013–2017 — Collaboration and success

In late 2013, aware that the UDV intended to expand into Canada, Madrinha Jessica Rochester asked Mestre Jeffrey Bronfman of UDV USA — a personal friend of many years — whether the UDV and Céu do Montréal could combine their efforts. His success in 2006 before the United States Supreme Court, alongside our own efforts and the sustained support of the Office of Controlled Substances since 2001, seemed the right formula.

Our strategy was not to go to court, but to educate the various stakeholder departments of the Canadian government. In the federal election of autumn 2015, a Liberal majority swept out the Conservative party — and with the new government we had every hope that Health Canada's original, evidence-based decision would be upheld.

At their request, we submitted a new application to the Office of Controlled Substances. In June 2017 our request for a Section 56 Exemption to import and serve our sacrament in our rituals was granted. At the same time, the UDV also received their exemption. The permit was granted for two years and is renewable.

Health Canada's requirements

The main concerns of Health Canada are the health and safety of members and visitors, and the non-diversion of the sacrament — authorized ritual use only.

Health Canada required proof that:

  • the Santo Daime is a legitimate religion;
  • the sacrament is safe when served within ritual norms and with appropriate screening;
  • Céu do Montréal is a non-profit Part II corporation in good standing;
  • Céu do Montréal is a single-sacrament church — members do not consume Cannabis sativa (known in some Santo Daime branches as Santa Maria);
  • the church leader is qualified;
  • only designated members of Céu do Montréal, registered with the Office of Controlled Substances, may import, transport, possess, and serve the sacrament;
  • the sacrament is supplied by a legitimate registered Brazilian Santo Daime church — in our case, Céu Sagrado of Sorocaba — under a legal contract;
  • international transportation and shipping adhere to the guidelines of the Office of Controlled Substances;
  • the sacrament is stored, transported, and served under those same guidelines;
  • members and visitors are screened for medical and medication contraindications, and follow the necessary dietary guidelines before and after the rituals.

Through our efforts we have made it possible, in principle, for others to obtain an exemption — but the exemption granted to Céu do Montréal does not mean that Ayahuasca or the Santo Daime sacrament is legal in Canada. Each organization must apply to Health Canada for its own exemption. Any importation or use without a Section 56 exemption remains illegal in Canada.

Gratitude

Many people have contributed different forms of support over the years. We offer gratitude to all who have provided Céu do Montréal with practical, moral, spiritual and financial assistance, and we acknowledge Jeffrey Bronfman of UDV USA for his collaboration and support.

For more information see the Chacruna article, the CONAD recommendations, and this PDF: Ayahuasca, Entheogenic Education & Public Policy, Kenneth Tupper.