On June 23, 2004, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that a federal exemption for peyote-using members of the Native American Church must be interpreted as applying to non-Indians and Indians alike. Utah’s Controlled Substances Act incorporates the federal exemption, ruled the court, and because the plain language of the federal exemption is not limited to Indians, it must be read as applicable to Linda and James Mooney, both of whom are non-Indian members of the Native American Church.
Please write to your Congressional representative to encourage Utah to change their law to read as the Arizona Revised Statute.