A sealed DEA memorandum of agreement and an Iowa Board of Pharmacy registration for one church's ayahuasca sacrament: what is public, what is sealed, and what it does not change.
The Iowaska Church of Healing signed a confidential memorandum of agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), disclosed in June 2026, recognizing its right under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to practice its Sacrament of Ayahuasca subject to agreed conditions, followed by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy agreeing to issue a registration on October 5, 2026.
Reporting by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, republished by Marijuana Moment, details how state pharmacy regulators agreed to grant a probationary certificate of registration. The parties described the board registration as step two of the DEA's process, after which the DEA would expeditiously process the necessary exemption, registrations, and permits.
The Iowaska Church of Healing signed its agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration after going to federal court earlier in 2026 arguing the DEA had failed to act on its request for more than five years. The parties said the agreement resolved only the first stage of the DEA's two-step process for a religious exemption to the Controlled Substances Act. The June 2026 disclosure came when Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys representing the Drug Enforcement Administration notified the United States District Court that the federal agency and the church had signed a confidential memorandum of agreement recognizing the church's right under RFRA to practice its sacrament.
The second stage required state-level authorization from the Iowa Board of Pharmacy before the Drug Enforcement Administration would finish handling the necessary federal credentials. On October 5, 2026, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy agreed to issue an Iowa Certificate of Registration to the Iowaska Church of Healing. The parties stated that following this second step, the DEA would expeditiously process the necessary exemption, registrations, and permits.
The substantive operational terms governing this arrangement remain confidential because the parties asked to give the court the memorandum of agreement only under seal. While the regulatory pathway required completing distinct federal and state milestones, the specific protocols governing logistics, storage, and handling remain non-public.
State records indicate that the Iowaska Church of Healing was formed in Iowa in September 2018. State records indicate that the church is run by Admir Dado Kantarevic and by a person identified as Shaman BaBa DaDo. For a period of time, the entity listed Kantarevic's former residential address in Des Moines as its official headquarters. The church centers its religious practices on ayahuasca, a sacramental tea prepared from shrubs and vines native to the Amazon basin.
In January 2019, the Iowaska Church of Healing filed an application with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking recognition as a tax-exempt religious organization. The Internal Revenue Service denied that request on the grounds that the church's ceremonial use of ayahuasca was illegal under federal law. The church challenged that administrative denial by filing a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in United States District Court in 2021, asserting that the denial violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Alongside that legal action, the church submitted a petition to the Drug Enforcement Administration for a formal religious exemption, later arguing in court that the federal agency failed to respond.
In March 2023, a federal district court ruled in favor of the Internal Revenue Service and dismissed the lawsuit. The court held that non-profit organizations may be denied tax-exempt recognition when their core activities run contrary to established public policy. The ruling observed that ayahuasca remained an illegal controlled substance because the Drug Enforcement Administration had not granted an exemption, while also noting that the Iowaska Church of Healing had as many as 20 members living across different states and foreign nations. Earlier in 2026, the church went to federal court arguing the DEA and federal government had failed to act for more than five years, which the church called a "clearly unjustified prior restraint on religion." Department of Justice attorneys responded that the agency was acting diligently to review the request, though they acknowledged no final agency determination had been reached.
The memorandum of agreement signed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Iowaska Church of Healing is not public. The parties jointly moved to give the court the agreement only under seal. The parties told the court that maintaining the agreement under seal was necessary to protect important public and privacy interests. The parties told the court that the document incorporates sensitive operational information, including the personal identifying details of church members, the names of individuals responsible for handling the controlled substances, security measures for storing them, and the manner in which they are to be imported to the United States.
The parties told the court that the memorandum recognizes the church's right under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to practice its Sacrament of Ayahuasca subject to agreed conditions. Because the complete text is not publicly accessible, outside parties cannot verify its terms.
Although the underlying text is sealed, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy's order states that the confidential agreement effectively grants the Iowaska Church of Healing a federal certificate to import concentrated paste of ayahuasca. The board's order further states that the agreement effectively grants a federal certificate allowing the bulk manufacturing of the sacramental tea utilized during church ceremonies.
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy provided the formal state regulatory approval required under the two-step framework on October 5, 2026. The board agreed to issue an official Iowa Certificate of Registration to the Iowaska Church of Healing. The parties stated that this state registration was the second step of the process, after which the DEA would expeditiously process the necessary exemption, registrations, and permits.
The state certification issued by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy is held on probationary status for a duration of one year. According to Board of Pharmacy records, the Iowaska Church of Healing must report any adverse events that occur during religious ceremonies involving ayahuasca. This mandatory reporting condition applies specifically whenever an adverse event requires off-site medical intervention.
The board's order states that the confidential agreement effectively grants the church a federal certificate to import concentrated paste of ayahuasca and a federal certificate to manufacture, in bulk, the ayahuasca tea used in ceremonies.
The church argued its case under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. It has acknowledged that under the federal Controlled Substances Act an ingredient of ayahuasca, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is a Schedule I drug and that there is no statutory exemption allowing its use in religious ceremonies.
We cover an earlier ayahuasca religious-exemption case on our O Centro case page.
The memorandum of agreement between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Iowaska Church of Healing is between the DEA and that church; the sources do not say it alters the general legal status of ayahuasca or dimethyltryptamine. Dimethyltryptamine remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. State-level legal frameworks can be tracked in our overview of legal status by state.
This agreement does not make ayahuasca legal for anyone else. The sources describe no process or terms open to other groups. Because the memorandum of agreement remains sealed, its terms are not public.
The Drug Enforcement Administration signed a confidential memorandum of agreement in June 2026 recognizing the church's right under RFRA to practice its sacrament subject to agreed conditions. The parties said the agreement resolved only the first stage of a two-step administrative exemption process. Following state registration, the DEA would expeditiously process the necessary exemption, registrations, and permits.
The sources do not describe ayahuasca as legal in Iowa generally. Dimethyltryptamine remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy agreed on October 5, 2026, to provide the church an Iowa Certificate of Registration on a one-year probationary basis.
The church and the Department of Justice jointly moved to give the court the memorandum of agreement only under seal. The parties stated that sealing was necessary to protect public and privacy interests, including church members' personal identifying information, the names of individuals handling the controlled substances, storage security measures, and the manner of importation.
The registration places the church on probationary status for one full year. The church must report to the board any adverse events occurring during religious ceremonies involving ayahuasca that require off-site medical intervention. The parties described it as step two of the DEA's process.
The sources describe no way for another group to adopt these terms. Because the memorandum of agreement is sealed, its precise compliance terms are not public. The sources describe no terms available to other churches.
This settlement does not amend federal statutory law. Dimethyltryptamine remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act. The agreement is between the DEA and one church and does not change the Controlled Substances Act or create a statutory exemption for DMT.
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