A 52-year-old Nova Scotia man charged with drug offences linked to spiritual ceremonies he led at his rural home using a hallucinogenic brew from the Amazon will avoid a criminal record in the case so long as he follows a three-year probation order.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Josh Arnold ordered the conditional discharge Thursday for Michael Adzich, whose lawyer had argued a record would hamper his future attempts to travel to Peru to take part in ceremonies involving the tea called ayahuasca.

Arnold said given the deterring effect of the probation conditions and the “constellation of factors” in the case, “public confidence in the effective enforcement of criminal law would not be tarnished by the imposition of a conditional discharge.”

Outside the courtroom in Dartmouth, N.S.,

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