Rebuffing the Justice Department and the Bush administration, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a New Mexico church could continue to use a hallucinogenic tea as part of its religious ceremonies, MSNBC reported Feb. 21.

Federal agents erred in seizing the hosca tea from the O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal church; members use the tea, which contains a hallucinogen called DMT, in twice-monthly sacred ceremonies that they say help them better understand God.

New Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that the federal government failed to justify banning "the sect's sincere religious practice." The Bush administration contended that the tea violated narcotics laws and international anti-drug treaties. "The government did not even submit evidence addressing the international consequences of granting an exemption for the (church)," Roberts wrote.