Harry Blackmun

“ Yoder, 406 U.S., at 219, 92 S.Ct., at 1535 (since "education is inseparable from and a part of the basic tenets of their religion . . . [, just as] baptism, the confessional, or a sabbath may be for others," enforcement of State's compulsory education law would "gravely endanger if not destroy the free exercise of respondents' religious beliefs") .
Respondents believe, and their sincerity has never been at issue, that the peyote plant embodies their deity, and eating it is an act of worship and communion. Without peyote, they could not enact the essential ritual of their religion. ”

“ The fact that peyote is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance does not, by itself, show that any and all uses of peyote, in any circumstance, are inherently harmful and dangerous. The Federal Government, which created the classifications of unlawful drugs from which Oregon's drug laws are derived, apparently does not find peyote so dangerous as to preclude an exemption for religious use. ”

“ One hopes that the Court is aware of the consequences, and that its result is not a product of overreaction to the serious problems the country's drug crisis has generated.
This distorted view of our precedents leads the majority to conclude that strict scrutiny of a state law burdening the free exercise of religion is a "luxury" that a well-ordered society cannot afford, ante, at 888, and that the repression of minority religions is an "unavoidable consequence of democratic government." ”

“ Yoder, 406 U.S., at 220-221, 92 S.Ct., at 1536 ("Court must not ignore the danger that an exception from a general [law] . . . may run afoul of the Establishment Clause, but that danger cannot be allowed to prevent any exception no matter how vital it may be to the protection of values promoted by the right of free exercise") ”

“ Oregon has never sought to prosecute respondents, and does not claim that it has made significant enforcement efforts against other religious users of peyote. [3] The State's asserted interest thus amounts only to the symbolic preservation of an unenforced prohibition. ”

“ To the members, peyote is consecrated with powers to heal body, mind and spirit. It is a teacher; it teaches the way to spiritual life through living in harmony and balance with the forces of the Creation. ”

“ Absent such justification, the State's regulatory interest in denying benefits for religiously motivated "misconduct," see ante, at 874, is indistinguishable from the state interests this Court has rejected in Frazee, Hobbie, Thomas, and Sherbert. The State of Oregon cannot, consistently with the Free Exercise Clause, deny respondents unemployment benefits. ”

“ Bergman suggests "that the religious use of peyote seemed to be directed in an ego-strengthening direction with an emphasis on interpersonal relationships where each individual is assured of his own significance as well as the support of the group"; many people have " 'come through difficult crises with the help of this religion. ”

“ It provides real help in seeing themselves not as people whose place and way in the world is gone, but as people whose way can be strong enough to change and meet new challenges' " (quoting Bergman 698) ) ”

“ See Thomas, 450 U.S., at 719, 101 S.Ct., at 1432 (rejecting State's reasons for refusing religious exemption, for lack of "evidence in the record") ; Yoder, 406 U.S., at 224-229, 92 S.Ct., at 1537-38 (rejecting State's argument concerning the dangers of a religious exemption as speculative, and unsupported by the record) ; Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 407, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 1795, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1963) (" [T] here is no proof whatever to warrant such fears . . . as those which the [State] now advance [s] ") . ”

“ Pascarosa & Futterman, Ethnopsychedelic Therapy for Alcoholics: Observations in the Peyote Ritual of the Native American Church, 8 J. of Psychedelic Drugs, No. 3, p. 215 (1976) (religious peyote use has been helpful in overcoming alcoholism) ; Albaugh & Anderson, Peyote in the Treatment of Alcoholism among American Indians, 131 Am.J. Psychiatry 1247, 1249 (1974) (" [T] he philosophy, teachings, and format of the [Native American Church] can be of great benefit to the Indian alcoholic") ; see generally O. Stewart, Peyote Religion 75 et seq. ”