Marijuana as Religious Sacrament - Marijuana Churches, Drugs, & Freedom of Religion

Religious drug use has presented a conundrum for the U.S. government as it attempts to fight the "War on Drugs" while upholding the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. Religious marijuana use is one aspect of the continuing debate over the spiritual use of drugs. Marijuana is smoked as a religious sacrament in a few churches in the United States. Churches that use cannabis in religious services point to the First Amendment of the Constitution for protection of religious freedom and their right to use pot for spiritual purposes.

The Church of Reality (ChurchofReality.org) affirms that “members have a Constitutional right to smoke pot...Smoking pot is necessary for the practice of our religion itself.” Many churches also draw attention to indigenous use of drugs in religious ceremonies and court cases guaranteeing native rights to continue to do so as precedent for religious use of marijuana. Some of these court cases involved the legality of the use of peyote by Native Americans and whites. Indeed, drug use in religion is not new. Many native cultures used and continue to use drugs as part of religious ceremonies and as sacraments. For instance, Native Americans consider peyote cactus to be a healing plant, and some indigenous cultures in South America view ayahuasca (yage) as a medicinal plant. The religious use of both plants is considered a means to open the minds and spirits of users to God.

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Some marijuana churches offer legal protection to members if convicted of pot charges. The THC Ministry (THC-Ministry.org) promises to protect sincere members of its church from arrest, prosecution, and conviction on marijuana charges. The THC Ministry even has an online store where believers can purchase “sanctuary kits” and “practitioner kits," which contain sanctuary plaques, ID cards, and sacramental plant tags. The THC Ministry asserts, “The best religious defense to prosecution for any marijuana charge is based in your own sincerity and in the legitimacy of your religious organization.”

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CANNABIS IN THE BIBLE

Moreover the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: "Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet KINEBOISIN two hundred and fifty shekels.

And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil an hin

And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary; it shall be an holy anointing oil

And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony.

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Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you

Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people

KINEBOISIN, according to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is the old name for cannabis - it was also spelt kannabosm. They claim it was mis-translated in the King James' version of the bible, as "calamus"

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JESUS 'HEALED USING CANNABIS'

Jesus was almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month.  The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.

The anointing oil used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract, according to an article by Chris Bennett in the drugs magazine, High Times, entitled Was Jesus a Stoner? The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a cannabis extract, suggests Mr Bennett, who quotes scholars to back his claims.

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"There can be little doubt about a role for cannabis in Judaic religion," Carl Ruck, professor of classical mythology at Boston University said.

Referring to the existence of cannabis in anointing oils used in ceremonies, he added: "Obviously the easy availability and long-established tradition of cannabis in early Judaism...  would inevitably have included it in the [Christian] mixtures."

Mr Bennett suggests those anointed with the oils used by Jesus were "literally drenched in this potent mixture...  Although most modern people choose to smoke or eat pot, when its active ingredients are transferred into an oil-based carrier, it can also be absorbed through the skin".

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Quoting the New Testament, Mr Bennett argues that Jesus anointed his disciples with the oil and encouraged them to do the same with other followers.  This could have been responsible for healing eye and skin diseases referred to in the Gospels.

Congregation of Christians, Jews uses marijuana for religious sacrament

HOLLYWOOD – The Rev. Craig X Rubin read aloud a passage from 1 Kings as the sun set and his congregation prepared for the Sabbath.

Flicking a lighter to the lone candle atop the podium, Rubin burned a bud of marijuana on the flame. He puffed it out, walked to each of the eight members sitting in the pews and waved the smoldering cannabis around them.

This, Rubin proclaims, carries the prayers of Temple 420 to God.

That’s the God of Isaac and of Jesus, because members are Christians and Jews. That makes the congregation Rubin founded last summer unique.

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But what really sets it apart – and the reason Rubin will be in court Friday – is the temple’s use of marijuana as a religious sacrament.

“I am willing to preach the Bible and go to jail if it means getting my message out there,” the 41-year-old Panorama City man said. And he knows how strange that sounds.

“I’m a Jewish kid from Beverly Hills who went to UCLA. I could have been a lawyer making $250 an hour like the rest of my friends, or a TV producer. Instead, I’m teaching the Bible, selling weed on Hollywood Boulevard, facing seven years in jail – of course I’m crazy.”

The temple’s problems actually began as a poisoning

investigation performed by homicide detectives. One day last fall, a delivery driver and a security guard were given baked goods from Temple 420, said police spokesman Kevin Maiberger. Both became violently ill and almost died.

No charges came of that, but a few weeks later, on Nov. 3, an undercover officer joined Temple 420. Five days later, at 4:20 p.m., police raided it.

The temple’s assets were seized, as were Rubin’s. He, his 18-year-old son and another man were charged with one count each of selling or transporting marijuana and one count of possessing marijuana for sale.

“They were trying to set it up under the guise of a religious right and then be able to sidestep marijuana laws,” Maiberger said. “The deal was for a $100 initiation fee and $100 annual fee, you could buy all the pot you wanted for quote-unquote `religious purpose.’ That’s bull—-.”

Rubin, however, continues to distribute marijuana six days a week to the temple’s members – there are more than 400 who have paid the initiation and annual dues – for a “requested donation” of $60 for an eighth of an ounce.

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He continues to burn marijuana as a sacrament at Friday night services and preaches on the weekends – Old Testament on Saturdays, New Testament on Sundays, always at 4:20.

His defense relies on his insistence that God wants people to enjoy cannabis – for recreation, religion and industry – and his belief that federal and state laws protect his religious practices.

“It’s not a laughable argument,” said Eugene Volokh, a UCLA School of Law professor and religious freedom expert. “It’s just an uphill argument.”

Temple 420 would need to demonstrate that its beliefs are sincere and that marijuana use is not the foundation of the religion but part of a broader ethical system, Volokh said.

Also, the organization would need to prove that its practices don’t come at the expense of a compelling government interest.

“But it’s not open and shut,” Volokh said.

In 1996, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Rastafarians, who believe marijuana is a sacrament, could use federal law to defend their use of the drug, but not to defend distribution or possession with the intent to distribute.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a small religious group in New Mexico could use a hallucinogenic drug in its services.

Groups often opposed to each other – from the American Civil Liberties Union to the National Association of Evangelicals – had supported O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal in its defense against the government.

But the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, cited in the Rasta and O Centro cases, doesn’t apply at the state level, and that’s where the charges against Rubin will be heard.

California has not passed a law similar to the federal one, and the state Supreme Court has not clearly defined whether the state constitution provides greater religious protection than the First Amendment.

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And, of course, there are plenty of Temple 420 skeptics.

“I would inherently be suspect … of someone attempting to use the Bible as a justification of their desire to smoke marijuana,” said Brad Dacus, founder and president of the Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defender of Christian values. “It’s not unusual for people to try to use religion as a pretext for purposes of carrying out their pleasures.”

Temple 420’s tenets stem from Rubin’s Jewish childhood, conversion to Christianity and experience taking peyote in American-Indian sweat lodges.

A pro-pot Republican partial to dark suits and red ties, Rubin hangs the American flag behind his podium and gushes about Ronald Reagan. He has been a marijuana activist since his days at UCLA in the early ’90s.

A “roper” – who believes hemp is a medicinal marvel and a panacea for fiber, food and fuel shortages – and a “doper,” Rubin was dubbed “Hollywood’s Wizard of Weed” by High Times magazine and was a consultant on Showtime’s hit “Weeds” for two seasons.

While undergoing a family crisis three years ago, Rubin began studying the Bible and, he claims, God revealed to him cannabis’ status as the tree of life.

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Last year, after the Supreme Court ruled on O Centro, Rubin reasoned he could openly practice his new beliefs, which he describes as “Judeo-Christian” and “Bible based.”

In August, Scott Linden, a Pasadena attorney who has helped open several medical-marijuana dispensaries in the San Fernando Valley, filed paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office that registered Temple 420 as a religious corporation.

The organization, however, did not file for tax-exempt status, said Franchise Tax Board spokesman Patrick Hill.

Religious services began Aug. 26, and Craig Roberts, who added the X to his name after studying Malcolm X and changed his last name back to that of his Jewish grandfather, started going by “reverend.”

Rubin did not attend a seminary but was ordained in 1990 by the Universal Life Church, an interfaith organization that offers “Free Instant Online Ordination.”

“Using sacrament as a way to elevate my spirituality blew me out,” said temple member Evan Goding, 29, of Orange, who drives to Hollywood each week with his Jewish girlfriend. “I was like, no way. It just clicked. It made so much sense.

“I’ve always believed that the world as a whole would be better if most people would just try marijuana. It brings out the better in people. And I’m sorry it’s not legal; I’m sorry I can’t use it for my religious beliefs without being persecuted.”

Temple 420 is located in a strip mall at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, next door to an H&R Block and across the street from a Christian Science Church. Fifteen to 30 people stop by most days to pick up pot, said the cashier, who wouldn’t give his name.

Rubin gets his stash from the same guys who sell it to medical-marijuana dispensaries, but he charges about 20 percent less per eighth of an ounce. Income goes to pay salaries and support the temple, he said.

He insists he turns away about half the people who try to join; new members must sign an agreement professing, among other things, that “the God of the Bible created cannabis … for the healing of all nations.”

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“There are six medical-marijuana clubs within walking distance of here,” Rubin said. “If you’re a liar, you don’t need to come here. Pretend you are sick.”

But it is clear some of Temple 420’s members aren’t interested in the religious services. The sanctuary seats about 40. Some members have never attended.

“For me, it was worth it,” David Donahue, 37, of West Hollywood said of joining the temple. “If I didn’t get it through him, I would get it through one of my friends’ dealers – and I don’t know anyone here.

“Two hundred bucks, to some people, it’s a lot. It’s a lot to me, don’t get me wrong. But we pay for convenience.”

Is Smoking Weed a Bona Fide Religious Practice?

Many people continue to question whether smoking marijuana can be a justified spiritual practice. Pot churches like the Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu (FreeCannabisChurch.org), which encourages members to “look beyond [their] ordinary concept of God by chemically opening the door in [their] mind to experience the inestimable value of higher consciousness and come to know the God within [their] own mind,” maintain that cannabis use is justifiable on religious grounds.

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Members of pro-marijuana churches also declare spiritual pot use to be defensible under the Constitution of the United States. In addition, they point to drug use as part native religious practices as precedent for religious pot use. On the other side of the religious marijuana use debate, however, are people who view pot churches and spiritual pot smoking as devoid of spirituality, a cover up for recreational drug use, and a refuge for pot heads.

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American courts have generally rejected religious use as a defense to prosecution for marijuana possession

In December 2006, a federal judge in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ruled against the founders of an Arizona church who claimed that their marijuana was for religious use. Judge Judith C. Herrera's opinion stated that the defendants did not have a legitimate religious belief in marijuana, but instead had "adopted their 'religious' belief in cannabis as a sacrament and deity in order to justify their lifestyle choice to use marijuana." This ruling sends a signal that courts are not likely to extend the Supreme Court's ruling on hoasca to protect religious use of marijuana.
In February 2006, in the case of Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a religious group seeking protection against prosecution for their religious use of hoasca. Hoasca is a tea made of plants that contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Like marijuana, DMT is listed under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, §812(c). Some people, such as the founders of Temple 420, believe that the Supreme Court's decision in the hoasca case means that marijuana users will also be protected from prosecution. But readers should note that the Supreme Court decision was limited to the particular facts surrounding the hoasca issue, and does not specifically support a religious defense in marijuana cases.
In 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (in Guam v. Guerrero, 290 F.3d 1210) rejected the religious use defense by a defendant charged with importing marijuana. However, the court's opinion suggested that a religious use claim would be stronger if the defendant was charged with simple possession of marijuana, rather than importation or distribution.
The US Supreme Court ruling in Oregon v. Smith (1990) essentially said that states can legally prohibit drug use and can punish people who violate anti-drug laws, even if they claim religious use as a defense.
Following the Oregon v. Smith decision, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which President Clinton signed into law in 1993. The new law was supposed to strenthen religious freedom, but the U.S. Supreme Court declared it invalid in 1997 in City Of Boerne v. Flores, ruling that the RFRA was unconstitutionally broad. Since then, several states have passed different versions of the RFRA, but religious use is generally not accepted in the United States as a defense in criminal cases involving marijuana.