An East Oakland church that gives out cannabis and psychedelic plants as sacrament filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department over a 2020 police raid.
The Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants, an assembly of the Church of Ambrosia, filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that the city, police department and a police officer violated its 1st and 14th amendment rights, and that the city's land use code prohibits the group from conducting religious ceremonies and sacraments involving psychedelics and cannabis inside its church.
The lawsuit originates from an incident in which Oakland police raided Zide Door Church, at 1216 10th Ave., on Aug. 13, 2020, over allegations that the church was operating as a dispensary.
