Suspects Say Pot Is Part of Faith

[DdC]

Suspects Say Pot Is Part of Faith By Scott Sandlin
CN Source: Albuquerque Journal August 25, 2006 Arizona

An Arizona couple who claim marijuana as deity and sacrament— as well as food, shelter and medicine— staked their religious freedom claim this week in federal court in Albuquerque.

Danuel and Mary Quaintance of Pima, Ariz., were arrested in February in Lordsburg with 172 pounds of marijuana in a car driven by another church member who has subsequently turned state's witness. Mary Quaintance's brother was subsequently arrested in Missouri with 300 pounds of marijuana and was joined as a fourth defendant in the case.

The Quaintances are charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute more than 50 kilos of marijuana, which could mean substantial prison time upon conviction. The U.S. Attorney's Office contends the Quaintances are attempting to use religion as a cover for a drug organization.

The Quaintances say they have a right to cannabis as the central focus of the religion they co-founded, a diffuse, decentralized group of perhaps 130 adherents nationwide called the Church of Cognizance that functions primarily through "individual orthodox member monasteries." In support of their legal position, they point to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in another New Mexico case, O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, or UDV. The 130 or so North American practitioners of that religion, many in Santa Fe, use a hallucinogenic tea called hoasca.

Over three days of hearings in the Quaintances' criminal case, U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera heard testimony from a Berkeley-trained anthropologist, a Zoroastrian priest and the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona, who is the former sheriff in the county where the Quaintances live and is also a Mormon.

A Sincere Practice

The defense filed a motion to dismiss, saying the Quaintances' use of cannabis is a sincere religious practice.

Danuel Quaintance founded the Church of Cognizance in 1991 and registered it as a religious organization in Arizona in 1994.

The religion, he testified, is based on his own research and interpretation of religious texts and is a form of neo-Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion that holds sacred a drink made from a mountain plant called haoma. The plant, the drink and the god are the same in the teachings of Zoroaster. The Quaintances believe that cannabis, hemp or marijuana is haoma.

Deborah Pruitt, a cultural anthropologist and college professor in Oakland, Calif., who conducted doctoral work with Rastafarians in Jamaica, testified as the defense expert. She distinguished "experiential" religions from faith-based religions that rely on institutionalized doctrine passed down through specialists.

Christian pentecostals, Wiccans, practitioners of voodoo and Sufi trance dancing as well as participants in the peyote rituals of the Native American Church or UDV members share characteristics of religions that rely on direct experience to make contact with spirits or deities, she said.

The use of psychoactive substances in religion is not unusual in regions of the world where they occur, she said. In those religions, the plants are typically referred to as teachers and healers.

Pruitt said new religious forms are typically viewed by mainstream groups as cults or charlatans that challenge mainstream religions, but are no less genuine.

'A Priceless Gift'

Prosecutors called as their expert a retired scientist and Zoroastrian priest born in India and living in Canada to testify about the tenets of his religion. Jehan Bagli, whose research area was medicinal chemistry, said he was ordained at age 13 in the Zoroastrian religion.

Bagli said haoma in the ancient Zoroastrian tradition was a deity and plant that scholars believe may have had hallucinogenic properties.

But he said different plants were employed over the centuries and at present, "We have no knowledge what that plant was."
In present-day Zoroastrian ceremonies, he said, "the mind is considered a priceless gift. Any mind-altering substances are abusing that gift of god and would not be accepted."

Herrera said she would accept written arguments and review documents and transcripts before deciding whether to dismiss charges based on the Quaintances' assertion of their right to freely exercise their religion.

Marc Robert, attorney for Danuel Quaintance, will make the case that Quaintance is "a spiritual man who has followed his religious beliefs and practices at great personal risk."

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Luis Martinez and Amanda Gould will argue that the defendants are drawing from "a hodgepodge of unsupported speculations for most of their assertions... in an effort to cloak themselves in a religious mantel."

If Herrera finds that the Quaintances are sincere religious practitioners, prosecutors will be required to show that there is "compelling government interest" in burdening religion by barring use of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.
Meanwhile, the Quaintances are free on bond and conditions that include not using cannabis while the case is pending.

Contact: opinion@abqjournal.com * Website

Church Of Cognizance

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Pot Church Takes a Hit

The Tree of Life...

The Religion of Jesus Church

Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale?



If life was a court of law, following the rules of evidence and the Constitution. It seems this country was actually founded with far more appreciation for Ganja than for the Bible and Christianity. Cannabis helped build this country. Religion has helped divide it against other countries and ourselves. From cannabis Army tents and uniforms to dynamite to gunny sacks to Navy ships sails and rigging. Cannabis was and is still used by most religions for textiles, fine linen, Robes and the past religious artwork was done on cannabis throughout the ages. The first Bible was written on cannabis. The seeds and oil have been used since cultivation began. The first cultivated crop was hemp. History books can be, and are it seems mostly a lie agreed upon by the present rulers. In their words. In reality and in physical evidence in museums and "Green" stores around the world are products made from cannabis.

Even if the government censors the school books they haven't censored the libraries, or confiscated the attic's of old homes with hard fact evidence that can be picked up and held and photographed. Unlike the hobgoblins and deception from the propaganda to perpetuate the prohibition and eliminate competition.

Jesus was not a Christian anymore than the United States. Christians have no patent on his teachings either. Instead of standing on net corners spouting long winded rhymes why not take a minute and see for yourself. Go to a hemp store and try the softer stronger jeans. Unlike the stiff chemically grown cotton. You will find books about actual History, stories banned from the mainstream media by corporate censorship and government half truths and diversions.

When the Education Secretary and the Drug Czar are one in the same person, eyebrows should have been raised a bit. The same Bill Bennett losing 8 million in slot machines no less. This man of virtues thought the word "hemp" sent the wrong message to the kids. Losing 8 million was simply his business. Several other past Drug Czars and NIDA heads are still getting rich from forced piss tasting and high tech snooping appliances. Cannabis or rather hemp eradication helicopter sales rose as sharply as Arm and Hammer baking soda after crack came on the streets. Walters, the present Czar made money giving tax shelters for donations to PDFA and writing fiction about drug crazed predator kids that would be taking over the nation unless he and co-author Bennett sold more books. Its all about power and money. Why would selling wars be any different? Hot or cold they all require paraphernalia and every tax buck spent is a dollar earned by somebody.
Peace, Love and Liberty or the merchants of DEAth
DdC

Overview of the History of Cannabis Hemp

Ganja/hemp lnfolinx

Chris Bennett a collection of writings and video

Neither the trappings of robes, nor temples of stone, nor a fixed liturgy, nor an extensive literature or history is required to meet the test of beliefs cognizable under the Constitution as religious. So far as our law is concerned, one person's religious beliefs held for one day are presumptively entitled to the same protection as the beliefs of millions which have been shared for thousands of years.
-- Judge Jack Weinstein, New York State, 1977

Thomas Jefferson...

I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth.

Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. ...Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus.

The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ

Jefferson's word for the Bible? Dunghill.

John Adams...

Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?

The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity.

Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 states: The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.

Thomas Paine...

I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book (the Bible).

Among the most detestable villains in history, you could not find one worse than Moses. Here is an order, attributed to 'God' to butcher the boys, to massacre the mothers and to debauch and rape the daughters. I would not dare so dishonor my Creator's name by (attaching) it to this filthy book (the Bible).

It is the duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of God against the evils of the Bible.

Accustom a people to believe that priests and clergy can forgive sins...and you will have sins in abundance.

The Christian church has set up a religion of pomp and revenue in pretended imitation of a person (Jesus) who lived a life of poverty.

James Madison...

What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy.

Madison objected to state-supported chaplains in Congress and to the exemption of churches from taxation. He wrote: Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together

America was not founded on Christianity

The United States is in no way founded upon the Christian religion
-- George Washington & John Adams, in a diplomatic message to Malta.

This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.
-- John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.
--Thomas Jefferson

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1814

The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1823

I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.
-- Thomas Jefferson

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.... Do not be frightened from this inquiry from any fear of its consequences. If it ends in the belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise...
-- Thomas Jefferson, in a 1787 letter to his nephew

The Bible is not my book, and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.
-- Abraham Lincoln

It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ... to forget it
-- James Madison.

It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?
-- James Madison, Federalist Papers 62

I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which grant[s] a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.
-- James Madison, 1794

Never could an increase of comfort or security be a sufficient good to be bought at the price of liberty.
-- Hillaire Belloc

The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense founded on the Christian religion.
nobeliefs.com

The Distinctly Non-Christian Origins of the U.S.A.

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity."
[John Adams]

"The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?"
[John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson]

"As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?"
[John Adams, letter to F.A. Van der Kamp, Dec. 27, 1816]

"I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved--the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!"
John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson

Sacramental Cannabis

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
Extracted Textually from the Gospels
Compiled by Thomas Jefferson



High Plains Drifters (excerpts)

The Scythians (as the Greeks referred to them) or Sakas (as the Persians knew them) are believed to have been of Iranian origin. They shared a common language, and maintained well-used trade routes that connected their many distant settlements. A barbaric group of pre-Common Era nomadic tribes who are a fascinating example of an ancient cannabis using group.

After the death and burial of their king, the Scythians would purify themselves by setting up small tepee-like structures which they would enter to inhale the fumes of hemp seeds (and the resinous flower calyxes surrounding the seeds) thrown onto red-hot stones.

In a famous passage written in about 450 B.C., Herodotus describes these funeral rites as follows:

...when, therefore, the Scythians have taken some seed of this hemp, they creep under the cloths and put the seeds on the red hot stones; but this being put on smokes, and produces such a steam, that no Grecian vapour-bath would surpass it. The Scythians, transported by the vapour, shout aloud.

Cannabis Culture Archives: Sacrament

The Anti-Pat Robertson/Christian Coalition Site



Medical Marijuana: Then and Now

And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. -- Ezekiel 34:29

Jack Herer - Chapter 8
Hempseed: Humanity's Best Single Food Source

Spectre of Worldwide Famine

By itself, widespread use of hempseed food protein could save many of the world's children now dying of protein starvation! An estimated 60% of all children born in Third World countries (about 12-20 million a year) will die this way before reaching five years of age. Many times that number have their lives dramatically shortened and/or their brains decimated. Remember, hemp is a hearty plant that grows almost anywhere, even in adverse conditions. Australians survived two prolonged famines in the 19th Century using almost nothing except hempseeds for protein and hemp leaves for roughage.



Marijuana May Live Up To Be The Elixir of Life By Ravi Chopra
CN Source: Earthtimes.org October 15, 2005 
A study by University of Saskatchewan researchers suggests beneficial aspects of smoking marijuana at least among rats, who appear to have sprouted new brain cells and besides benefiting from reduced depression and anxiety. The study's results appearing in the 'Journal of Clinical Investigation' have actually given a fillip to the traditional and mythological view that associates the addictive weed in some ways with immortality.

Marijuana May Spur New Brain Cells

Study Turns Pot Wisdom on Head By Dawn Walton
CN Source: Globe and Mail October 14, 2005 Calgary 
Most "drugs of abuse" such as alcohol, heroin, cocaine and nicotine suppress growth of new brain cells. However, researchers found that cannabinoids promoted generation of new neurons in rats' hippocampuses.

The Lord… hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)

Marijuana Compound Spurs Brain Cell Growth

(Jesus:) "The King shall answer and say unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethern, ye have done it unto me." (Matt. 25:40)

Ganja Acts as an Antidepressant

We "shall not bear false witness" about people who use cannabis, nor judge them because that judgement is reserved to the Lord. The Lord hates those who speak lies and sow discord among brethern. For those people harrassed and imprisoned for using cannabis rightfuly, Jesus offers these words of comfort, "Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness's sake: For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Ganja & the Bible
Despite common knowledge and widespread scientific support, the federal government has for nearly 30 years kept cannabis in schedule 1 as a deliberate way to deny patients access to medical marijuana. This includes people suffering from asthma, cancer, migraine headache, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, and provides relief for many other conditions. As a result, people at various locations across the USA have had to risk and suffer years in prison for providing medical marijuana to patients as an act of compassion and personal conscience. What would Jesus do? He chose to break the law in order to heal the sick.



Warning To States on Funding Faith-Based Charities

Bush's Born-Again Drug War

Bush Faith-Based Drug Treatment
Initiative Faces Elimination by Congress Aug 15, 2006

Bush Faith-Based Plan Undermines Safety & Science

Bush. Religious drug treatment in Texas

Putting Faith In a Social Service Role; Church-Based Providers Freed From Many Rules
CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. - Over the door of one church-based drug treatment center in Houston, a sign printed in foot-high letters announces: "Drug Addiction Is NOT a Disease. It's a Sin." At another, clients pass by a poster of an addict in a hospital bed, ripping IV tubes out of his arms and throwing his pills in the garbage. An angel hovers nearby, offering her protection from this plague of prescriptions.

And at a Christian young adult home in Corpus Christi, police recently took the unusual step of arresting a supervisor after teenagers complained that they were beaten and roped to a bed, all in the name of Christian discipline. More arrests are anticipated, authorities say.

These are some of the results--expected and unexpected--of Gov. George W. Bush's "bold new experiment in welfare reform." With his conviction that religious groups can transform lives in ways government can't, Bush sponsored laws in 1997 that allow churches to provide social services their own way, outside the intrusive glare of the state.

Deaths in the United States in a typical year are as follows

* Tobacco kills about 400,000
* Alcohol kills about 80,000
* Workplace accidents kill 60,000
* Automobiles kill 40,000
* Cocaine kills about 2,500
* Heroin kills about 2,000
* Aspirin kills about 2,000
* Marijuana kills 0

DEA Success Update: Let's see. After 20 years of relentless federal Drug War activity, while the price of world-class marijuana has gone from $60 an ounce to $450, the price of quality cocaine has plummeted from $125 a gram to $30, and 30%-pure heroin has dropped from $700 a gram to about $100. Way to go, boys!
High Times, April 1995

Challenges and Issues in Addiction
Until its prohibition in 1937, extract of cannabis (marijuana) was one of the top three most prescribed medicines in the US.

Some drugs are used as part of cultural or religious practices. Marijuana, for example, has a rich history of religious use in India, Africa and Jamaica.

Ritalin is now the most abused prescription drug in the U.S., and the majority of users are middle-school aged youth.

Ganja Could Help Cocaine Addicts Kick Habit

Marijuana is Not Just Non-Addictive!
Sometimes it can be Anti-Addictive!

IBOGAINE:A SPIRITUAL AND MEDICINAL JOURNEY
It is noteworthy to also mention that Iboga is oftentimes mixed with Alan from Alchornea floribunda or followed by the smoking of Cannabis (Schultes and Hofmann 1979

ibogaine's/Addiction Treatment Strives for Legitimacy

The Staten Island Project: The Ibogaine Story

Scientists Test Hallucinogens for Mental Ills

For Heroin Addicts, A Bizarre Remedy

The Ibogaine Dossier

Erowid Ibogaine Vault

Demonising druggies wins votes. That's all that counts

PREJUDICE: CANNABIS AND JIM CROW LAWS

JC/DC

[Brother Adam]

Wow, this sounds like really good news in the case of Dan and Mary. It seems their defense is at least being heard......whether or not these persecutors will come to a logical decision to drop the charges is beyond me. It also sounds like their witness has done a lot of good. What I don't get is why the ULC supreme court decision doesn't put them on their heels to begin with. I mean it pretty clearly states the court shall not judge the merits of any religion, and yet, that is what the prosecution is attempting to do here??????? Hello?
_________________
-Brother Adam (we are all one family)

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

-James Madison

Police officers acquitted for beating a 64 yr old man recently in New Orleans. In the words of their defense attorney "all he had to do was comply"....and they wouldn't have fractured his face.

[Brother Adam]

Wow, this sounds like really good news in the case of Dan and Mary. It seems their defense is at least being heard......whether or not these persecutors will come to a logical decision to drop the charges is beyond me. It also sounds like their witness has done a lot of good. What I don't get is why the ULC supreme court decision doesn't put them on their heels to begin with. I mean it pretty clearly states the court shall not judge the merits of any religion, and yet, that is what the prosecution is attempting to do here??????? Hello?
_________________
-Brother Adam (we are all one family)

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

-James Madison

Police officers acquitted for beating a 64 yr old man recently in New Orleans. In the words of their defense attorney "all he had to do was comply"....and they wouldn't have fractured his face.