Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
there are certainly lots of people in this country
who believe that in their value system marijuana is a religious sacrament, that is that
their use of it is entitled to be protected under their religious
protection that
they always have the right to freedom of religion under the first amendment
i agree with that, it seems to me that if you believe that marijuana is a
sacrament and whatever religion you are in, whether it's Rastafarian or whether
you're one of these new-age religions If you believe it's a sacrament I don't think
it's any of the government's business to second-guess you.
However, it is terribly important to understand
that the federal courts, and not just federal, the state and federal
courts in this country have simply never accepted that decision. They have rejected it
in every case in which it has been raised. there've been a couple of cases in which
the Rastafarians, several years ago
raised the religious defense, and with the Rastafarians, they had hundreds
of years old of using marijuana as part of their religion, so it was a more
legitimate argument for example than someone who just decided in the last six
months that they believe marijuana is a sacrament.
from my standpoint, they've got a right to do that, but you can understand why the
courts are not necessarily as respectful of that decision as they might be if it
were an established church that has been around for a long time. But in those two
cases that i'm aware of where the Rastafarians, they have held it is a recognized
sacrament in their religion
the defense was rejected because both cases that involve large quantities of
marijuana, far larger than anyone would need for personal use as a religious
sacrament.
So what i would say yes,
i think it should be legal
for adults to use marijuana responsibly. it doesn't matter why you use it.
It is none of the government's business, but it's important that we make sure people
understand what is and is not currently legal in this country and religious use
of marijuana is not currently recognized in this country and it will not protect
you from being arrested or prosecuted.