TC MAN WANTS SON TO USE PEYOTE

Gt Band Member Wants Son, 4, to Participate in His Church's Peyote-Laden Rites

WHITE CLOUD (AP) - A Michigan man said Friday the court system is
restricting his religious freedom by prohibiting his 4-year-old son
from being given peyote during American Indian spiritual ceremonies.

"This burdens me," said Jonathan Fowler, 35, a member of the Grand
Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

Fowler, of Traverse City, testified in Newaygo County Family Court
during a legal hearing stemming from a custody dispute with his
ex-wife, Kristin Hanslovsky, 31, of Montague.

Fowler attends an Indian church where peyote use is considered a
sacrament. He credits peyote with helping him to overcome alcoholism
and to "come into contact with God as I know him."

He wants to be able to give peyote to his son during his church's
religious services. Hanslovsky objects, saying it could harm the child.

Hanslovsky was already several months pregnant when she married Fowler
in July 1998. They split up soon afterward.

In October 2000, Judge Graydon Dimkoff granted Fowler physical custody
of his son but prohibited him from giving peyote to the child. Fowler
challenged that portion of the decision in the Michigan Court of
Appeals, which returned the case to Dimkoff's court for further testimony.

Peyote, a small, bitter-tasting cactus that grows in southern Texas
and northern Mexico, has been a part of Indian culture for thousands
of years. Those who ingest the plant believe it provides enlightenment
and other spiritual and physical benefits.

The plant's active chemical ingredient is mescaline, a hallucinogen.
The U.S. criminal code usually classifies peyote as a controlled
substance, and a person caught with more than 4 ounces faces the
possibility of a 20-year prison sentence.

During the last century, its use in religious rites gradually spread
among Indians throughout the United States. The federal government now
protects such use of peyote.

Fowler is a member of the Native American Church of the Morning Star.
The Michigan chapter of this little-known church combines elements of
Christianity with Indian practices that center on the ritual use of
peyote.

Members meet irregularly in overnight gatherings held in their homes
or in a teepee near Shelby in Oceana County. About 20 to 30 people
typically attend.

During each ceremony, a minister, called a roadman, dispenses peyote
to members as a tea or a greenish paste passed around in a bowl.
Participants spend the night in ritual prayer and song.

Fowler earlier said he wants to be allowed to dip his finger in peyote
tea and rub the finger on his son's forehead. Under cross-examination
Friday by Hanslovsky's lawyer, Martin Holmes, Fowler said he wants to
leave it up to his child to decide when to ingest the peyote, and how
much of it to take.

"If he says next week that he feels ready to take it, then OK," Fowler
said.

Testifying on Fowler's behalf was John H. Halpern, a psychiatrist and
researcher at Harvard Medical School who is an expert on hallucinogens
and peyote.

Halpern said he has extensively studied of the use of peyote in Indian
religious ceremonies and found no evidence of any child or adult being
harmed by it.

He also questioned the court's decision to take up the matter, saying
the federal government has affirmed such use of peyote.

"We have to protect these people's traditions and ways," Halpern
said.

Under cross-examination, Holmes grilled the researcher, repeatedly
asking if there is evidence showing peyote users, particularly young
children, face no risks. Halpern's response was that too much of
anything is bad, whether it's peyote or Tylenol.

The next hearing in the matter is to be held Dec. 27, when Hanslovsky
will get a chance to present her case.