AnArizona-based nonprofit has reached the first federal settlement that will exempt ayahuasca from the United States Controlled Substances Act (CSA), allowing it to import the psychedelic substance and use it for religious purposes. The Church of the Eagle and the Condor (CEC) announced the news on April 22.

Ayahuasca contains dimethyltryptamine, commonly known as DMT, which is banned under the CSA Schedule I. CEC’s settlement—which involves the Department of Justice, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration—will now permit the organization to import ayahuasca in either paste or liquid form.

Alaska’s House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly approved amended legislation that would create a state task force to study how to license and regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy in the event of federal approval of substances such as MDMA and psilocybin.

After adopting a handful of changes to the bill a day earlier, the body passed the measure on a 36–4 vote following sometimes charged testimony from lawmakers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.
The proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.