The Chronicle posted an article, Mineral 'Church' Seeks Exception from DEA, County Approval. Seems like now Marc Shackman and the bunch want fix their mess ups and make people believe they are on the up and up.

jenann Wrote:
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> The Chronicle posted an article, Mineral 'Church'
> Seeks Exception from DEA, County Approval. Seems
> like now Marc Shackman and the bunch want fix
> their mess ups and make people believe they are on
> the up and up.

[m.chronline.com]

I'm glad this journalist continues to cover the story.

Lewis county will require them to come into compliance before they open as a business again.

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“There’s some hoops they’d have to jump through if they want to reopen,” said Teitzel.

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One issue that was previously brought to the attention of the county by a concerned citizen was the improper handling and serving of food to church visitors. However, the church contends that they are not out of compliance due to the fact that their food items are all obtained via donations and are then donated back to church visitors free of charge.

Other roadblocks alluded to by Shackman after the conference included general water and sanitation issues as well as wheelchair access.

This bit doesn't make sense to me:

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However, the church contends that they are not out of compliance due to the fact that their food items are all obtained via donations and are then donated back to church visitors free of charge.

This is in reference to food safety, to their group not having necessary food worker permits or handling food properly, to our state and county laws. Shackman's convoluted "donation" claims don't make sense and don't even address the actual issue.

First Ayahuasca Healings needs a federal DEA exemption. Personally, I hope they don't get one. AH is a badly run, commercial operation.

[entheonation.com]

Trinity states that a woman on their Washington state team is a nurse and psychiatrist. He is referring to Franziska Hoffmann, who is not licensed in Washington state as either a nurse or psychiatrist. Check licensing here:[fortress.wa.gov]

So even if she had the training and degrees, she is not supposed to practice in Washington state unless licensed.

Trinity de Guzman and Marc Shackman define words in their own unique ways, they use loaded language.

They both widely and badly misrepresent United States law, history, and the nation to nation status of tribal nations and USA. They make up disrespectful b.s. about tribal cultures.

New article: [passionfruitcowgirl.wordpress.com]

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from the article:
getting a heart transplant does not make you an expert on doing a heart transplant. But that’s not what the new wave of ‘shaman’ seem to think. They propose that taking the plant medicines or hanging out with the powerful healers who use them actually entitles them to step up and market their own new powers, cashing in on the massive depression, addiction, illness and brag value of ‘ceremony’.

People – sensible people, hopeful people, and many vain and lost people – in their hundreds and thousands go to ayahuasca ceremonies all over the world – looking for cures for physical, emotional, spiritual and social pain. It is also why thousands of people ‘dressed’ as healers prey on their hopes and dollars, and why things are going extremely bad in the plant medicine scene.-

This is exactly why I don't want to see a legal precedent set that anyone who calls themselves a "church" can start running ceremonies and serving ayahuasca to others. That would open the door to the same free-for-all you see in the ayahuasca tourist scene in Iquitos and increasingly elsewhere.

The case number for the DEA application is 16-00544-F. The application itself is 19 pages. Pro bono counsel Blaine Bailey McGivern, Esq. Some blocks of information were withheld from public release, some of that can be guessed at.

First page states that the petitioners wish to admit that were mistaken about legality.

Page four they state that county authorities gave them approval to proceed and a business number. This is an outright lie.

Petition was signed by Christopher de Guzman and two others in late March 2016.

I will post more on this when able.

Scans of the petition by Ayahuasca Healings to the DEA: [heartenergymedicine.blogspot.com] Please free to download copies.

Ayahuasca Healings state that they plan to change their name to Heart Energy Medicine Native American Church. The petition is dated April 4, 2016 - I don't see any sign of name change yet.

On page one of the petition:

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"At the outset, Petitioners wish to admit that they were previously mistaken about the current state of the law regarding Ayahuasca."

On page four it is stated:

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"Prior to hosting their first Ayahuasca retreat on January 22,2016, Petitioners sent letters to (1) the Lewis County office and (2) the Lewis County District Attorney's office, informing the local government of their intent to host religious ceremonies involving scheduled substances. The County replied with approval to proceed and a business number."

But this simply is not true. First, it is not clear what is meant by "the Lewis County office". As for the "Lewis County District Attorney", I assume they mean Lewis County Prosecutor's Office, which did not give them approval to proceed or a business number.

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The church recently sent a letter to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office prior to its first open ceremony in an attempt to establish a working, or at least understanding, relationship between the two parties.
“I wanted to make sure they received our letter before we started,” said Shackman.
The letter arrived only two days prior to the first retreat; but still, Shackman says, “We have nothing to hide.”
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said recently that he believes the church’s position would be upheld in 99 of 100 court verdicts.

[www.chronline.com]

The above quote says that the notification letter did not arrive in time for any response from the Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutor did not give the group his legal approval, he only stated an opinion to the media. He may very well have changed his opinion since that time.

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In March, the church, located between Mineral and Elbe near the Lewis-Pierce county line, appeared to shut down when scheduled retreats were postponed indefinitely.
At the same time, the church’s regularly maintained website went dark and numerous phone calls and emails bounced back with messages indicating that they were no longer in service.
On Thursday, though, Marc Shackman, the CEO and shaman of the fledgling and controversial church, met with a group of Lewis County department heads as part of a pre-submission conference.
Typically, pre-submission conferences are held prior to an organization beginning operations in order to preemptively address any compliance issues. However, the Ayahuasca Healings Church began its operations on short notice in January, holding six different retreats in the interim, without completing the pre-submission process.
The county has been eager to meet with church representatives ever since.

[www.chronline.com]

This excerpt makes it even more clear that AH did not have proper approval before holding sessions in Lewis County. They don't have DEA exemption, they don't have county prosecutor's approval, they are not even anywhere near being legally up to county and state health codes.

I read it, and they touch on the safety issue almost not at all.

Someone got this through the Freedom of Information Act -- was that you, liminal?

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Heart Energy Medicine Native American Church

Do genuine Native American custodians of ritual advertise themselves
in this manner?

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corboy
Do genuine Native American custodians of ritual advertise themselves
in this manner?

Not in that manner or any other.