US CO: Avon man claims religious right to pot

The GCW · Cannabis Sacrament Minister Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 430

US CO: Avon man claims religious right to pot

Webpage: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100128/NEWS/100129790/1078&ParentProfile=1055

Pubdate: 28 Jan 2010

Source: Summit Daily News (CO)

Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php

Avon man claims religious right to pot

Charged with misdemeanor possession, Trevor Douglas thinks religion should save him

An Avon man is furious over a misdemeanor charge for possession of marijuana because he says it violates his religious rights.

Trevor Douglas, 25, was recently pulled over in Georgetown by a Colorado State Trooper for having expired license plate tags. When the trooper smelled marijuana in Douglas' car, Douglas showed him the pipe and less than one ounce of marijuana he had in the car.

Douglas said the court is trying him for his religious beliefs and thinks that laws banning marijuana are off base.

Douglas, who lived in Hawaii before moving to Colorado, said he's a member of the THC Ministry, also known as the Hawaii Cannabis Ministry. The Web site for the ministry shows its motto as “we use cannabis religiously and you can, too.”

“If it's part of your religion, you should get security from this prosecution of possession,” Douglas. “That's how it is in Hawaii.”

Douglas is quickly learning that Colorado isn't Hawaii — while medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, marijuana is still illegal. The THC Ministry also lists that the Hawaii County Police Department is the only jurisdiction in the world with rules for its police officers about the religious use of marijuana.

Douglas thought that he could flash his church identification card to the Colorado trooper and that would clarify Douglas' use of the drug and he'd get out of charges against him.

“I'm not a drug abuser by any means,” Douglas said. “Cannabis is the main sacrament in my religion.”

Douglas said his religion is nearly identical to Christianity, but it's the sacrament — cannabis — that is different. Just like Christians who use wine and bread, and Native Americans who use peyote, Douglas said cannabis is equally sacred for him.

“The tree of life, I personally believe it's the hemp plant, which is cannabis,” Douglas said.

Douglas can't afford an attorney, but said he's been doing research before his March 9 court date. He said that marijuana has been grown in the United States for hundreds of years and has only been illegal for the last 70. He said the U.S. government's recognition of marijuana as a preventative drug contradicts Colorado's laws allowing it for medicinal uses for those with doctor permission to use the drug.

If it's preventative, Douglas said, everyone should be allowed to use it without having to go to a doctor first.

Regardless of medical uses, Douglas said pot is literally part of his religious beliefs and he wants to be excused for that.

“The original sacrament of Christianity is cannabis,” Douglas said. “The court is basically trying me for my religious beliefs.”

(Coming soon to MAP http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ )

The GCW · Cannabis Sacrament Minister Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 430

US CO: PUB LTE: Religious freedom & cannabis

Webpage: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100130/LETTER/100129742/1078&ParentProfile=1055

Pubdate: 30 Jan 2010

Source: Summit Daily News (CO)

Author: Trevor Douglas

Religious freedom & cannabis

Freedom of religion is a topic that was once fought for and helped to establish the USA. Today, I am being tried for something that has been a part of my family's religion for generations. Religious cannabis is nothing new, actually it has been around since before written history. The use of the plant in rituals, ceremonies, communion and prayer is mandated by my God, as with many other religions around the world (Rastafarians for example). Who should be able to control the growth and possession of a plant that is so healing (As the US Patent for Medical Marijuana states) and spiritually enlightening, not to mention a plant that George Washington said “ … sow it everywhere.” A doctor is able to prescribe medicinal marijuana to hundreds of patients a day; who is to tell me I cannot use marijuana/ cannabis as a religious sacrament in the privacy of my own home? If anything, why don't we try citing the millions of people addicted to much more dangerous over-the-counter drugs sold every day? This is a plant that's use dates back to 8000 BC in ancient China, where shamans were using it the same way I do today. Please help support my case on March 9 at 2 p.m. in the Georgetown Courthouse.

Trevor Douglas, Vail

The GCW · Cannabis Sacrament Minister Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 430

Religious Views Growing Around Marijuana

By Electa Draper, The Denver Post - Tuesday, February 2 2010

Tags: Headline News,Church,religion,THC Ministry,Tree of Life.

Faithful smokers say cannabis has been used in religions since before written history.

http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2010/02/02/Religious-Views-Growing-Around-Marijuana

Trevor Douglas tried to explain to the Colorado state trooper that it was OK for him to have a little marijuana and a pipe in the car with him because he is a card-carrying member of a church devoted to cannabis-centered spirituality.

"It's Christianity with cannabis as the main sacrament," the 25-year-old Avon man says. "I use it to be completely in touch with the spiritual world and to discover my higher self. Cannabis has been used in religions before written history."

Similar religious views are gaining ground in Colorado. Like-minded faithful opened THC Ministry in Boulder five months ago. (THC is the short name for tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant.)

Can a plant or any substance be the focus of faith? Douglas says Catholics use wine in their worship.

However, Douglas' plea for religious freedom from the trooper ended with a misdemeanor citation. He faces trial March 9 for possession.

Douglas says he is part of the same religious movement as Roger Christie, a Steamboat Springs native who founded the first THC Ministry, in Hilo, Hawaii.

Christie founded the ministry with the stated purpose of liberating "the sacred cannabis," or hemp plant, from those who do not revere it, and to nurture spiritual practice with this plant at the center.

THC Ministries also are in Los Angeles and Bozeman, Mont.

The Rev. James Marks heads the THC Ministry in Boulder, where, he says, "we have ceremonies and sessions and offer fellowship."

Some ceremonies are about consuming cannabis, he says, but there are also baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.

Marks says THC Ministry secured recognition of its legal right under federal law to use cannabis as a religious practice in the mid-1990s.

Marks refers to himself as a "canna- theist." He consumes cannabis in many forms and uses it for anointing.

Marks was ordained a minister by the Universal Life Church, which describes itself as the only denomination in the world to allow anyone who wants to be ordained to be ordained.

Marks says he personally worships Jesus Christ, yet the THC Ministry is for anyone — Buddhist, Shintoist, Jew, Pantheist and so on — who wishes to use the sacred substance of cannabis.

About 100 people enjoy fellowship with him, he says. "We've had a very warm welcome in Boulder."

Douglas says he is not affiliated with THC, but was a member of The Church of Universal Sacraments. It no longer exists, he says, but the church's demise didn't really affect his religious practice.

"It's not a church or a religion like you would picture," Douglas says. "We gather with friends and family. There is no formal ritual. Religion is your life. It's a misconception that you have to go to a church to be spiritual. The best place to do that is in nature."

Church to ponder pot

At least one evangelical Christian church is interested in exploring whether smoking pot is compatible with Christianity. Missio Dei in Fort Collins will discuss the biblical take on the use of medical marijuana and recreational use of the drug — if it becomes legal — at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mulligan's Pub, 2439 S. College Ave.

For more information, call the church, 970-672-9139, or visit MissioFC.com/theologypub.

**viper** · Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:34 pm Post subject:

"At least one evangelical Christian church is interested in exploring whether smoking pot is compatible with Christianity. Missio Dei in Fort Collins will discuss the biblical take on the use of medical marijuana and recreational use of the drug — if it becomes legal — at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mulligan's Pub, 2439 S. College Ave."

Oh dear ! I can hear that bandwagon forming ........
_________________
Never Trust A Hippie !

www.viperslair.co.uk

David · Bard Joined: 28 Sep 2003 Posts: 1261