cannabisnews.com: Spiritual High Spiritual High Posted by CN Staff on June 08, 2002 at 11:01:00 PT By Jacob Sullum Source: Reason Magazine “Court OKs Use of Religious Pot on Federal Lands,” announced the headline in the San Francisco Chronicle. The article clarified that it’s the religion of the pot smoker, not the pot itself, that matters. “If you’re a Rastafarian who considers marijuana holy,” the Chronicle reported, “it’s legal to light up in Guam--and maybe in any national park on the West Coast.”Before they rush to reserve campsites at Yosemite, Rastafarians should take a closer look at the decision the Chronicle was talking about. In People of Guam v. Benny Toves Guerrero, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit actually rejected a Rastafarian’s claim that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protected him from prosecution for bringing marijuana into Guam.Guerrero (who goes by the Rastafarian name Iyah Ben Makahna) was arrested at the Guam International Airport with five ounces of pot and 10 grams of marijuana seeds. At his trial, he successfully argued that his prosecution violated RFRA, which says a law that substantially burdens the free exercise of religion is invalid unless the government shows that it is the least restrictive means of serving a compelling state interest.Until 1990, that was the standard the U.S. Supreme Court applied to laws that impinge on religious freedom. That year, in a case involving peyote use by members of the Native American Church, the Court held that such laws do not violate the First Amendment as long as they impose “neutral rules of general applicability.” RFRA, which Congress passed in 1993, was intended to restore the stricter “compelling interest” test.Although the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that Congress did not have the authority to impose this standard on the states, it did not address the law’s operation in federal territories such as Guam or on federal lands such as national parks. In Guerrero, the 9th Circuit ruled that RFRA does apply in the “federal realm.”But the court concluded that Guam’s law against importing marijuana does not “substantially burden” the religious practices of Rastafarians, since they can smoke their sacramental herb without bringing it into the territory (presumably by growing their own or buying it locally). Hence the court never addressed the issue of whether the law meets the “compelling interest” test. In finding that it did not, the Supreme Court of Guam had noted simply that “no evidence on this score was presented.”Jacob Sullum is a Reason senior editor and the author of a forthcoming book on the morality of drug use, to be published next year by Tarcher/Putnam.Source: Reason Magazine (US)Author: Jacob Sullum, Senior EditorPublished: June 5, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Reason FoundationContact: letters reason.comWebsite: http://www.reason.com/ DL: http://reason.com/links/links060502.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site:Religious Freedom Restoration Acthttp://www.religious-freedom.org/theact.html Court OKs Use of Religious Pot on Federal Landshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13061.shtmlRastafarians Hit It Big in Pot Fighthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13006.shtmlU.S. Hears Guam Marijuana Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11290.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on June 11, 2002 at 13:17:31 PT: Valid Religious Defense is upheld! Thanks Roger. If you were not doing your thing so well, it would be awful lonely out here on the front lines! Mahalos. We are in posseion of the closing arguments now of the state and they did not even mention the constitional right to reliousa free exercise. Judge Greg Nakamura has had 4 years to think about my religious defense and now he must decide. If he follows the spirit, intent and letter of the law; we win. If he makes a bad personal decision, we go to appeal with an unreal transcript, which shows clearly, the Prosecution missed the point and still does. Good Luck to Us All! Peace to Roger and safety to our ministries and yours. Aloha, Rev. Jonathan Adler Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Roger Christie on June 08, 2002 at 13:21:32 PT: * More smoke-rings of aloha * Aloha from a rainforest on this big, smoking volcano. The religious enjoyment of cannabis as 'sacrament' is just starting to be exposed to the light of news media, etc. It's real and it rocks! It also INCLUDES medicinal use under its protection as a 'bonus'.1. In my opinion, enjoyers of the holy herb are safest under the law if they are ordained as ministers and can prove it. Go to www.ulc.org. and ordain yourself on-line for free. You will be amazed. 2.) Legitimacy is much further developed and provable with membership in a 'cannabis sacrament' church with Court and/or State paperwork. Please correct me if I am wrong: The only ones I know of with a winning track record in the USA are: Rastafari, Religion of Jesus (East Hawai'i) and my THC Ministry. Rastafari have the longest history and the deepest culture with cannabis sacrament. However, how does one 'prove' to law enforcement that they are a 'member'? It's NOT just dreadlocks...Religion of Jesus (East Hawai'i) is the work of Jonathan Adler who has a history of religious use of herb and has a terrific court stipulation signed by the local prosecutor. It includes the recognition of his sincerity, legitimacy and the mandatory necessity of cannabis as his sacrament... a great development. He is awaiting the judge's decision on his significant case due around June 27th.Thanks to Michael Glenn of Honolulu (Low Cost Legal Clinic) for his spirited and brilliant and vigorous defense of Jon's religious right to cannabis. He blew the prosecution and their witnesses away! The Hawai'i Cannabis Ministry (THC) is my baby. I have a license to marry people from the Hawaii State Department of Health when I specifically applied as a 'cannabis sacrament' minister in June of 2000. License no. 00-313. Solid foundation? Reasonable doubt to any jury? I think so.With thousands of people in possession of THC Ministry i.d. cards and SANCTUARY signs we have zero in jail for herb that I know of. Dozens of cannabis practitioners have called or emailed me to report success under arrest conditions with the paperwork.God blesses Ras Ben Guerrero for continuously walking his sincere, powerful and articulate path for I and I. Congratulations Ben! All the best to you all,Roger Christie"We use cannabis religiously and you can, too." * The Hawai'i Cannabis Ministry * [ Post Comment ] Post Comment