Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Indiana's First Church of Cannabis plans to host its inaugural worship service July 1, the same day the state's controversial religious freedom law takes effect. If all goes according to plan, the service will offer a bold test of the law's ban on government burdens on the exercise of religion.
Adherents of the recently established church worship cannabis, which is illegal to grow, use or possess under state law.
The first service, church founder Bill Levin says, will open with "Amazing Grace" played on harmonica by a popular young musician and move to a quick sermon and short member testimonies about positive things that happened in the past week.
And then, as anticipation mounts in what's likely to be a packed house, Levin will issue a call to worship and the sanctuary will fill with smoke.
"I'm an old-school producer. We start off the show soft and we have a build-up and then in the end we explode in glory and we all dance around the hall," he says.
There are a few hurdles Levin must clear before that happens, and it's unclear if local police and prosecutors are prepared to accept church claims the conduct is protected by the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Levin says he's working hard to find a church willing to lease him space and is aggressively pursuing leads. He says the service will happen come hell or high water and that he will consider any suitable alternative, be it a religious campground, private land or a public park.
The church likely has the financial means to rent space, having raised more than $10,000 on the crowdfunding site Go Fund Me. And Levin says the church Facebook page's 31,000 followers include a core group of local cannabis activists certain to attend the event.
The new religion appears to owe its existence to a March 23 blog post from attorney and radio host Abdul-Hakim Shabazz on his news website IndyPolitics.org, in which Shabazz pointed out the religious freedom law may unintentionally allow for lawful cannabis use, pointing to several religious traditions - old and new - that use the drug as part of religious rites.
Opponents of the state law say it blesses religiously motivated discrimination, with most news coverage focused on its possible effects on gay and transgender people. The Republican-led state government approved the law with the apparent motivation of protecting religious business owners from having to supply same-sex weddings with cake, photography or flowers after the court-ordered legalization of such unions. Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., insisted the law was not intended to harm sexual minorities.
Pence's office did not immediately comment on the Church of Cannabis' plans. The office of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard declined to comment.
Levin hopes the church will rehabilitate the state's image among more progressive Americans. He wants to hire off-duty police officers to work the event and says he's confident of its legality, citing an influx of free legal advice.
Spokespeople for the Indianapolis Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. A member of the Marion County Sheriff's Office said it won't be involved in an enforcement action unless the event happens on county or city property.
Peg McLeish, a spokeswoman for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, says police regularly consult prosecutors before pursuing cases, but she's not aware of any consultations that have yet occurred regarding the planned church service.
McLeish notes the law doesn't necessarily protect people who commit crimes from being arrested. "It's that they could assert [their religious beliefs are] a defense if they are prosecuted," she says. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry opposed the new law during legislative debate, warning it was unnecessary and would be invoked by criminal defendants.
First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh says, however, church members would have a difficult time winning if the matter goes to court.
"This isn't a new argument, but it has almost uniformly been rejected," says Volokh, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.
In similar cases courts have found required pot use either is not a sincere religious belief or that it's not part of broader belief system, Volokh says. Even Rastafarians have failed in court on the grounds marijuana prohibition forwards a compelling government interest.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is distinct, Volokh says, in leaving open a path toward using a Religious Freedom Restoration Act to justify marijuana use, finding in a 1996 case involving Rastafarians the government had to prove pot prohibition is a compelling government interest.
"Other decisions from other courts have indeed concluded that the government can show this, and I know of no case, even in the Ninth Circuit, where a religious defense to marijuana possession ultimately prevailed," Volokh says.
Shabazz says he plans to attend the service if it happens, even though he doesn't personally use marijuana. He says he'll make it clear to any law enforcement present that he won't be inhaling, joking he may wear a mask.
The church won't grow marijuana for members, but will connect parishioners who bring their own supply.
Levin, who plans ultimately to construct a "hemp temple" for regular services, confidently predicts there won't be problems with police during his group's first service.
"I don't think anyone is going to come into the church," he says. "After our last media exposure we need as much love as we can get in this state. Even right-wing conservatives have smiled at me and said, 'Do it!'"
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Indiana Church Plans Pot-Smoking Worship Service in Test of Religious Freedom - US News
Author: Steven Nelson
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Dave Fulton, Michael Conroy/ AP
Website: U.S. News & World Report: News, Rankings and Analysis on Politics, Education, Healthcare and More
Adherents of the recently established church worship cannabis, which is illegal to grow, use or possess under state law.
The first service, church founder Bill Levin says, will open with "Amazing Grace" played on harmonica by a popular young musician and move to a quick sermon and short member testimonies about positive things that happened in the past week.
And then, as anticipation mounts in what's likely to be a packed house, Levin will issue a call to worship and the sanctuary will fill with smoke.
"I'm an old-school producer. We start off the show soft and we have a build-up and then in the end we explode in glory and we all dance around the hall," he says.
There are a few hurdles Levin must clear before that happens, and it's unclear if local police and prosecutors are prepared to accept church claims the conduct is protected by the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Levin says he's working hard to find a church willing to lease him space and is aggressively pursuing leads. He says the service will happen come hell or high water and that he will consider any suitable alternative, be it a religious campground, private land or a public park.
The church likely has the financial means to rent space, having raised more than $10,000 on the crowdfunding site Go Fund Me. And Levin says the church Facebook page's 31,000 followers include a core group of local cannabis activists certain to attend the event.
The new religion appears to owe its existence to a March 23 blog post from attorney and radio host Abdul-Hakim Shabazz on his news website IndyPolitics.org, in which Shabazz pointed out the religious freedom law may unintentionally allow for lawful cannabis use, pointing to several religious traditions - old and new - that use the drug as part of religious rites.
Opponents of the state law say it blesses religiously motivated discrimination, with most news coverage focused on its possible effects on gay and transgender people. The Republican-led state government approved the law with the apparent motivation of protecting religious business owners from having to supply same-sex weddings with cake, photography or flowers after the court-ordered legalization of such unions. Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., insisted the law was not intended to harm sexual minorities.
Pence's office did not immediately comment on the Church of Cannabis' plans. The office of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard declined to comment.
Levin hopes the church will rehabilitate the state's image among more progressive Americans. He wants to hire off-duty police officers to work the event and says he's confident of its legality, citing an influx of free legal advice.
Spokespeople for the Indianapolis Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. A member of the Marion County Sheriff's Office said it won't be involved in an enforcement action unless the event happens on county or city property.
Peg McLeish, a spokeswoman for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, says police regularly consult prosecutors before pursuing cases, but she's not aware of any consultations that have yet occurred regarding the planned church service.
McLeish notes the law doesn't necessarily protect people who commit crimes from being arrested. "It's that they could assert [their religious beliefs are] a defense if they are prosecuted," she says. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry opposed the new law during legislative debate, warning it was unnecessary and would be invoked by criminal defendants.
First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh says, however, church members would have a difficult time winning if the matter goes to court.
"This isn't a new argument, but it has almost uniformly been rejected," says Volokh, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.
In similar cases courts have found required pot use either is not a sincere religious belief or that it's not part of broader belief system, Volokh says. Even Rastafarians have failed in court on the grounds marijuana prohibition forwards a compelling government interest.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is distinct, Volokh says, in leaving open a path toward using a Religious Freedom Restoration Act to justify marijuana use, finding in a 1996 case involving Rastafarians the government had to prove pot prohibition is a compelling government interest.
"Other decisions from other courts have indeed concluded that the government can show this, and I know of no case, even in the Ninth Circuit, where a religious defense to marijuana possession ultimately prevailed," Volokh says.
Shabazz says he plans to attend the service if it happens, even though he doesn't personally use marijuana. He says he'll make it clear to any law enforcement present that he won't be inhaling, joking he may wear a mask.
The church won't grow marijuana for members, but will connect parishioners who bring their own supply.
Levin, who plans ultimately to construct a "hemp temple" for regular services, confidently predicts there won't be problems with police during his group's first service.
"I don't think anyone is going to come into the church," he says. "After our last media exposure we need as much love as we can get in this state. Even right-wing conservatives have smiled at me and said, 'Do it!'"
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Indiana Church Plans Pot-Smoking Worship Service in Test of Religious Freedom - US News
Author: Steven Nelson
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Dave Fulton, Michael Conroy/ AP
Website: U.S. News & World Report: News, Rankings and Analysis on Politics, Education, Healthcare and More
