Quote Originally Posted by stinkyattic
There's a bit of difference between a Native American community continuing on with a tradition thousands of years old, and a 'religion' that was created SOLELY to take advantage of this legal loophole.
Federal courts have respected the rights of Rastafarian's to possess (not to distribute, but to possess) marijuana in addition to the Native American cases. The problem is that State Courts do not have to respect the Federal decisions, according to the Supreme Court.

If publicly elected officials representing the majority of Americans think that distribution of large amounts of marijuana should be a crime, that is their right. While it is one of the least dangerous drugs out there, and the laws against it are hypocritical considering alcohol is legal... cannabis *is* still a drug that can cause serious mental and motor response changes when used (or abused) in very large quantities.

So while officials elected by the American public should be able to make cultivation of extremely large amounts of the drug and distribution a crime if they want to (with a public health justification, as weak as it is), I don't think they should be allowed make personal use illegal... *especially* if that use is related to religious practices.

I'm not saying you should make up a religion to find a loophole around laws, that would be an abuse of religion. But if anyone honestly believes, as I do, cannabis is a historical part of his religion (Christianity for me) why not ask the government to respect that? It gives a sharper edge to the "personal use" argument, one that has worked in Federal Courts.