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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA]
#7600855 - 11/05/07 10:58 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Marijuana as First Amendment right November 6, 2007 - c-ville.com
The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville-based organization that defends civil liberties, is currently representing Carl Eric Olsen in his 30-year struggle for religious freedom. That in itself is not noteworthy, as The Rutherford Institute specializes in religious cases. But what is unusual is the particular religious freedom for which Olsen is fighting. Since the early '70s, Olsen has been a member of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church (EZCC), a religious group that holds that marijuana is a sacrament, and whose members smoke it all day, every day.
The EZCC has existed in Jamaica since at least the 1940s, and was first incorporated in the United States in Miami in 1975. In the late '70s and early '80s, the Church was involved in several major drug busts, netting as much as 38,000 pounds of marijuana in one raid in 1978.
"I [have been] arrested over and over again," Olsen says from his home in Iowa, and over and over again he has challenged those arrests, losing every time.
But things may be different now. Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), Olsen, 55, is claiming that the government is keeping him from practicing his religion. According to the RFRA, the courts must use "strict scrutiny" in cases involving religion to make sure that an individual's First Amendment rights have not been violated.
Enter The Rutherford Institute. Despite a seemingly straight-laced image, defending the right to smoke pot is not necessarily at odds with the Institute's mission. John Whitehead, Rutherford's founder, says that the issue is not drugs, but religious freedom. "The question," Whitehead says, "always comes down to, 'What kind of power does the government have?'" In the case of marijuana legislation, the answer for Whitehead is too much. Whole Foods, he says, used to sell a hemp cereal that he was particularly fond of, but "when Bush got into office…[the government] went crazy for a while" and pulled the cereal off the shelf. "I love my hemp cereal," says Whitehead.
In a 1979 case, the Florida Supreme Court wrote, "(1) the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church represents a religion within the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; (2) the 'use of cannabis is an essential portion of the religious practice.'" Nevertheless, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a ruling in 1990 denying Olsen a religious exemption to smoke marijuana. That ruling meant that he could no longer be a practicing member of the EZCC.
"Without being able to gather with other people and smoke marijuana," says Olsen, "my religion does not exist."
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DebuteMachine

Registered: 09/29/06
Posts: 6,457
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: veggie]
#7601500 - 11/06/07 07:29 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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This one is a bit fishy. I feel like this guy is just trying to throw a wrench into this whole ordeal.
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moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era



Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: DebuteMachine]
#7601504 - 11/06/07 07:34 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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my aithist beliefs demand i must smoke pot. don't aithiests get freedom to practice their beliefs as well?
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Visionary Tools



Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 7,953
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: moon_glue]
#7601520 - 11/06/07 07:51 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Fuck no! Don't you listen to Bush? http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/aa011.htm
Quote:
Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?
Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in god is important to me.
Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?
Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?
Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.
--------------------
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RoosterCogburn
Fearless,one-eyed U.S.Marshall



Registered: 08/25/06
Posts: 8,508
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: moon_glue]
#7601530 - 11/06/07 07:56 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
moon_glue said: my [atheist] beliefs demand i must smoke pot.

Edited by RoosterCogburn (11/06/07 07:57 AM)
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wps
Well-PaidScientist


Registered: 09/22/07
Posts: 579
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: veggie]
#7601550 - 11/06/07 08:04 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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the more cases we have like this the harder it will be for the supreme court to publicly ignore the fact that prohibition is in direct violation of the first amendment and is therefore unconstitutional.
-------------------- "America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve." - Tom Morello
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pokermush
Waterboardingmyself toprotect America!


Registered: 09/17/06
Posts: 475
Loc: Utah
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: Visionary Tools]
#7601860 - 11/06/07 09:57 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Just to clarify, this statement was from Bush Sr. in 1987.
Frankly, I'm surprised that the "privacy" angle hasn't been used to legalize marijuana. The supreme court has held that "right to privacy" even extends so far as allowing a woman to pay a doctor to kill her perfectly healthy unborn child before it is delivered, yet simple possession of a portion of a harmless plant can land you in prison.
Whatever your position on late term abortion, I think we can agree that the government has far less of a legitimate interest in preventing people from using marijuana.
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EntheogenicPeace
Scholar



Registered: 10/04/05
Posts: 3,926
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: pokermush]
#7602294 - 11/06/07 11:48 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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---
Edited by EntheogenicPeace (01/30/21 06:43 PM)
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fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: pokermush]
#7603297 - 11/06/07 03:47 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
pokermush said: Frankly, I'm surprised that the "privacy" angle hasn't been used to legalize marijuana. The supreme court has held that "right to privacy" even extends so far as allowing a woman to pay a doctor to kill her perfectly healthy unborn child before it is delivered, yet simple possession of a portion of a harmless plant can land you in prison.
There is no "right to privacy" under US law. That's just a misconception. You have a right against unreasonable search and seizure, and a right to be secure in your home and effects, but there is no specific "right to privacy". And it doesn't have anything to do with the abortion issue.
-FF
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Groomies
Ghost



Registered: 08/16/07
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: fastfred]
#7603383 - 11/06/07 04:09 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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our next president should be a atheist. no more dumbass god loving shitheads. WAKE THE FUCK UP, THERE IS NO GOD!
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SammyLC
Taoist Shaman


Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 13
Loc: BC, CANADA
Last seen: 14 years, 3 months
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: Groomies]
#7603750 - 11/06/07 05:29 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I'm awake, and I believe there is a god.
-------------------- “We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.” Dalai Lama
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gooddrugguy



Registered: 08/15/06
Posts: 527
Loc: Subjectiville
Last seen: 1 month, 23 days
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: Groomies]
#7604357 - 11/06/07 08:04 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I believe in God. I couldn't explain my God to you, or even begin to understand my God, but I do know he is there. Not everyone believes God is a bearded man in the sky, and just because I believe in a higher power means I am willing to dismiss any current or further scientific findings. As well, I do not attempt to suppress critical thinking, as many religious followers (not believers in God, there is a big difference)tend to do out of fear of thinking "evil thoughts" that may or may not send them to hell.
To me, there is an indisputable order to the universe, complicated beyond solving, but it is there. I think that this existence only makes sense if there is something greater than ourselves, you may believe the opposite. Neither you nor I are wrong, as what I may call God you may attribute to science or underlying patterns in the world. Neither you nor I are wrong, that is until you begin claiming supremacy of opinion,
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Diploid
Cuban



Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: Marijuana as First Amendment right [VA] [Re: veggie]
#7608563 - 11/07/07 07:44 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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The EZCC has existed in Jamaica since at least the 1940s, and was first incorporated in the United States in Miami in 1975.
I remember they were on the local news here back then. Their kids take part in their religious ceremonies involving pot.
I'll never forget the videos of a little girl about 8 years old smoking a giant blunt longer than her arm. She had to use both hands to hold it!
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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