religious defense/thc-ministry.org

greetings everyone!

i read an article in december's high times about thc-ministry. i looked it up, and i found it compelling. i don't believe in anything supernatural, but there is no denying that we live in a realm of information beyond the physical. our memories transcend the atoms that hold them. it seems appropriate to call this the spiritual realm.

there is also no denying that consuming cannabis is a spiritual experience. i won't go into many details of describing that experience since many have done so already. having been raised in church as a kid, having had religious experiences, i can say with confidence that the experiences overlap.

so all of the sudden i find myself matching the description of a religious person whose sacrament is cannabis. and probably all of you can as well.

so from there, it seems perfectly reasonable to associate with a religion such as THC ministry, in all sincerity. and there is probably no easier option than to join that denomination.

my question is, from there, what are the chances of being successful in using this as a defense for growing for personal consumption? (no reselling!)

i'm skeptical by nature, and i wonder if thc ministry is not just a clever way for the founder to make some dough. certainly there are testimonials, hopefully truthful, although that remains to be verified from my perspective, and it seems that most of those testimonials are from people in hawaii, where cannabis is much better accepted even tolerated than most other places.

i searched the forums and found a couple of threads on the topic:

this one is almost a year old. and i believe the guy got busted because he was selling.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=39981&page=1&pp=15&highlight=thc-ministry

this one is from earlier this year and has limited information.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55793&page=1&pp=15&highlight=thc-ministry

so i turn to our collective wisdom at ICMAG. what do you guys think? anyone else has thoughts on the topic? any other testimonials?

keep in mind, the scenario is growing a small number of plants (let's say under 12) for personal consumption as a religious sacrament (which is just a way to say that it helps you connect with your spiritual side).

thanks!

I believe it was the guy from THC Ministry that I am thinking of.
If so, he was arrested a while back and I recall that his sacrament defense was thrown out. I can probably dig up a news article on this if you want.

Moleculist said:

I believe it was the guy from THC Ministry that I am thinking of.
If so, he was arrested a while back and I recall that his sacrament defense was thrown out. I can probably dig up a news article on this if you want.

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moleculist: that would be great, thanks!

bumping this because I've also just found out about the THC Ministry and have found myself agreeing with what they have to say.

I have the same issue with it as you, budvapor. The religion defense works in theory, but our "rights" and "freedoms" get trampled all over every single day, so it seems possible that this could turn into another case of that

I have been in contact with a member of the THC Ministry in my area and she gave me her email, but hasn't gotten back to me yet.

we had a thread about this aboiut 3 years ago..... its no help at all was the general consensus...
That thread is where my screenname came from actually..... someone asked if gypsy started a religion what wopuld it be called lol.....

thanks all for the comments! i hoped we'd get at least one or two people here having used that as a defense, successfully or not. disappointing but far from surprising. i remain optimistic, although it will probably still take decades for the majority of people to see beyond government propaganda and for laws to evolve accordingly...

i think your best bet is to move to a med state and get a medical card. at this point i think its the only defense that works.

I think this guy is going to jail, he definitely got shit on during his court case.

didn't soma use that as his defence. and didn't he get off???!!!

I'm pretty sure of it, cause I thought,,,,wow, this is the first time i've heard of that. I think that was the first....but it was in netherlands...

The US says that because it is not part, or never was part, of " our histroy, our culture" that the consitution doesn't imply.
What ever that is suppose to ****ing mean. But that is why u can't use it as a defence in the states.

shiva das said:

didn't soma use that as his defence. and didn't he get off???!!!

I'm pretty sure of it, cause I thought,,,,wow, this is the first time i've heard of that. I think that was the first....but it was in netherlands...

The US says that because it is not part, or never was part, of " our histroy, our culture" that the consitution doesn't imply.
What ever that is suppose to ****ing mean. But that is why u can't use it as a defence in the states.

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You can use religion as a defense in the U.S.A because of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act BUT you have to prove that you are sincere in your beliefs and in my opinion calling a religion something related to cannabis is not going to be taken seriously.

You should study eastern religions and take them seriously because these religions are known to use cannabis and they have been around for thousands of years. Peace.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/467/judge_throws_out_religious_defense_in_marijuana_case

Marijuana: Judge Throws Out Religious Defense in Arizona Marijuana Case, Says Defendants Lack "Sincere" Belief

Truthman said:

You can use religion as a defense in the U.S.A because of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act BUT you have to prove that you are sincere in your beliefs and in my opinion calling a religion something related to cannabis is not going to be taken seriously.

You should study eastern religions and take them seriously because these religions are known to use cannabis and they have been around for thousands of years. Peace.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/467/judge_throws_out_religious_defense_in_marijuana_case

Marijuana: Judge Throws Out Religious Defense in Arizona Marijuana Case, Says Defendants Lack "Sincere" Belief

Click to expand...

all the cases that I've read where judges throw out the religion defense are cases that involved large quantities and distribution. We're talking about a total personal situation.