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Marijuana: Arizona Supreme Court to Hear Case Asserting Religious Right to Use, Possess

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #567)
Politics & Advocacy

The Arizona Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether there is a religious right to possess marijuana. The issue is being raised in Arizona v. Hardesty, in which Daniel Hardesty, a member of the Church of Cognizance, an Arizona-based church that practices neo-Zoroastrian tenets and believes marijuana provides spiritual enlightenment and a connection to the divine mind.

Hardesty was arrested for marijuana possession after being stopped for a burned out headlight in 2005 and convicted of marijuana and paraphernalia possession in district court despite arguing that First Amendment protections of the free exercise of religion entitled him to use and possess marijuana as a sacrament in his church. Hardesty appealed, but lost in the appeals court as well.

In rejecting Hardesty's appeal, the appeals court held that while he has the right to believe what he wants, the First Amendment protections do not give him the right to commit criminal offenses for religious reasons. The appeals court also said the legislature has a legitimate interest in banning marijuana and the courts should not second-guess the legislature.

If the state Supreme Court overturns the lower court decisions, it will be the first time an Arizona court has allowed for the religious use of marijuana -- but not the first time an Arizona court has allowed for the religious use of a controlled substance. Arizona courts have ruled repeatedly that the possession of peyote for religious purposes by the Native American Church is allowable.

The appeals court argued that was different. With peyote, there was never any finding that the cactus was addictive or being used in quantities harmful to the health of participants. Also, peyote was used by a "discrete and well-defined group," the court held. Now, one of these months, we'll see if the state Supreme Court agrees.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Tracing back through history, cannabis is the original sacrament of all true religious beliefs.
In the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament God instructs Moses to use 250 shekels off "kaneh bosm" in the oil used to anoint all Priests, Kings,, and Prophets, for all generations to come, including that of Jesus and even today as the title Christ/Messiah means literally; covered in oil, Anointed!
The ancient Egyptians called it- Shemshemet, the Sumerians- A.ZAL.LA, the Chinese- Ma, the Zoroastrians- Haoma, the Hindus- Bhang, etc...................
The fact that the most useful plant on the planet, the Tree of Life, which can be used for food, fuel, shelter, medicine, pleasure, Spirituality, and unity is illegal during these crazy times simply fulfills prophesy!

The leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the Nations!
No longer will there be any curse.

I'm ready for it to end !!!!!!!!

Fri, 01/09/2009 - 6:22pm Permalink
mlang52 (not verified)

"peyote,...not addictive or,... harmful to the health? Sounds just like pot! Maybe there is a chance! And the fact that pot does not have to be smoked, is another argument against them claiming pot is any worse! Sounds like the government types have no argument. That is, unless of course, they want to discriminate against "the type of person" that would use pot! I hope the lawyer has the chance to argue this!

Fri, 01/09/2009 - 6:45pm Permalink

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