|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
US: State Supreme Court extinguishes pot church member's smoke Jon Johnson Eastern Arizona Courier Wednesday 09 Sep 2009 Danny Ray Hardesty, 43, formerly of Thatcher, was pulled over by police in Yavapai County in 2005 for driving with a burned-out headlight on his van. The officer smelled burnt marijuana, and Hardesty admitted he was smoking a joint and had thrown it out the window. The officer found the joint and seized a baggie of marijuana from the back of Hardesty's van. Hardesty was then charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia – class six-felonies. Hardesty appealed his subsequent conviction and took his case all the way to the State Supreme Court where he lost his appeal for his right to smoke cannabis in any amount, anywhere and at any time. Hardesty said his membership in the Church of Cognizance granted him to use cannabis wherever because it is the church's sacrament. He equated it to the Catholic communion of a sip of sacramental wine. Church of Cognizance founders Danuel and Mary Quaintance pleaded guilty in September 2008 to conspiracy with intent to distribute marijuana. The couple was arrested Feb. 22, 2006, after Border Patrol agents located approximately 172 pounds of marijuana in a sedan that was traveling in tandem with a minivan the Quaintances were in near Las Cruces, N.M. The pair asserted they should be exempt from the federal regulation of marijuana due to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 but a New Mexico federal judge rejected the couple's religious-freedom arguments. Danuel was sentenced to five years and prison, and Mary was sentenced to two to three years. Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch disagreed with Hardesty's claim however and said his statements of being able to use cannabis wherever and whenever, including while driving, led the court to conclude an outright ban is the "least restrictive means" for the government to protect the public. The ruling does not, however, limit others from claiming use of marijuana as a religious sacrament. Hardesty had cited the Arizona Free Exercise of Religion Act and other statutory and constitutional provisions for his defense. Berch pointed out that under the act courts have allowed groups such as the Native American Church to use peyote in religious practices and the same argument could be made for the use of marijuana. The Hardesty case did not meet the same criteria. "Members of the Native American Church assert only the religious right to use peyote in limited sacramental rites," Berch wrote. "Hardesty asserts the right to use marijuana whenever he pleases, including while driving." Hardesty was convicted and placed on probation for 18 months. http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2009/09/09/news/breaking_news/doc4aa7f78c54ed8718372846.txt
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!