involving First Church of Cannabis. The church had put in a bid attempting to allow smoking of marijuana as a religious sacrament in Indiana. The group sued the state, attorney general, and then Gov. Mike Pence in 2015. But a judge out of Marion County Superior Court recently ruled against the church, according to RTV6.

Indiana currently has extremely limited medical marijuana provisions and relatively strict laws against recreational use. Attempts to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana were thwarted in 2013, and instead an amendment to IC 35-48-4-11 was added to HB 1006 to increase penalties of certain types of possession to felonies rather than misdemeanors. Some attempts to legalize medical marijuana also failed a few years ago, but last year the legislature was able to push through a bill allowing CBD oil specifically for seizures. Considering all of the people nationwide who have found relief from cannabis for a wide variety of ailments, this seems to be the absolute least they could do.First Church of Cannabis was attempting to appeal to the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which is intended to protect religious groups from government interference. The act stirred up controversy from people concerned the law could lead to discrimination against certain residents, particularly LGBTQ individuals, with business owners citing religion as a shield for their discrimination. It is clear, though, given the reaction to the First Church of Cannabis that the law was never intended to protect all religions. When it comes to discrimination under the guise of religion, state leaders shrug. When a church suggests cannabis be used, however, suddenly there is much concern over churches abusing the law and using the cover of religion for illegal practices.

On the surface, the concern of state officials is not invalid. If marijuana were to be considered a dangerous drug, allowing this church to use it in religious practices would be unfathomable. It could set a precedent for drug rings to use religions as a front for illicit sales and smuggling. Our Orange County cannabis lawyers must ask, though, why is it considered a dangerous drug at all? Marijuana is legal in 30 states for medical use, nine of those states also allowing recreational use. By pushing against this issue so fervently, state leaders have actually exposed a nerve. If marijuana is not allowed to be used in religious ceremonies because it could pave the way for harder drugs to do the same, we must have the conversation about why it is lumped in with other Schedule I narcotics, like heroin or LSD, at all.

The state of Indiana made it clear where its priorities are: to further outdated propaganda about marijuana, and protect its anti-cannabis agenda even above religious liberties. We’ve come a long way in the fight for cannabis rights, but this goes to show there is much work to still be done on the national stage. Considering Pence, now vice president of the United States, had a large part to play in both the religious liberties law and the harsh marijuana punishments in Indiana, it’s no wonder there is still such confused messaging from our top leaders in regards to marijuana.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Judge Dismisses Cannabis Church Case Defending Weed as Religious Sacrament, July 8, 2018, By Morgan Gstalter, The Hil

More Blog Entries:

International Church of Cannabis Draws Mixed Feelings, April 17, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

Supreme Court decision is primed to have a major effect on marijuana rights throughout the country, but the content of the case is not cannabis: It’s sports gambling. The recent decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association opposed a federal law that prohibited states from legalizing gambling on sports. At the heart of the lawsuit is a states’ rights issue, one that will set a precedent far beyond betting on games.

The case began with Congress passing the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 1992, which made it illegal for states to allow sports gambling if they did not already have laws permitting the activity on the books, according to an article from The Hill. Years later, in 2011, New Jersey voters passed a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution and put in place sports gambling permissions and regulations, which sparked the lawsuit with NCAA and sports leagues. It was determined this was in violation of PASPA, so New Jersey legislators instead repealed the laws they had in place forbidding sports bets in casinos, hoping to create one legal avenue. Federal courts stuck down this action as well, which forced a Supreme Court decision on the matter. The Supreme Court, however, sided with New Jersey, stating that PAPSA violated anti-commandeering doctrine.How does this relate back to marijuana? As our Los Angeles marijuana rights lawyers can explain, it all connects back to the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” From this amendment, the Supreme Court created the anti-commandeering doctrine, which declares the federal government cannot force states to enact certain laws, nor can it force them to enforce federal laws. You see, the 10th Amendment on its own does lend quite a bit of authority to the states, but in conjunction with Article VI, Paragraph 2 (otherwise known as the Supremacy Clause), the Constitution still would consider federal law above state law in hierarchy. Without the anti-commandeering doctrine in place, the full extent of state autonomy and authority remains a gray area.

By reaffirming the doctrine once again in this case, the court has bolstered states who choose not to align with federal law. This is particularly applicable to the 29 states that have legalized cannabis in the face of Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812, which labels marijuana a Schedule I narcotic. Not much changes for cannabis business owners, but it creates another layer of protection from hostile Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has made his opinions on cannabis quite known as he has promised to do whatever he could to squash marijuana. Our attorneys know this is a victory, but there is still much work to be done. We can start by helping set up your marijuana business to be in compliance with state and local laws, while we keep a lookout on the national landscape for changing laws and relevant cases, like this one.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Argument Preview: The 10th Amendment, Anti-commandeering and Sports Betting, Nov. 27, 2017, By Amy Howe, SCOTUS Blog

More Blog Entries:

Federal Budget Protects State Medical Marijuana Businesses, For Now, Feb. 14, 2018, Cannabis Law Group