Dan and Mary Quaintance in 1991 founded the Church of Cognizance, organized around the principle that marijuana is a deity and a sacrament.

A federal district court in New Mexico found that the couple’s beliefs were not religious and added that they failed to show that those beliefs were sincerely held.

On appeal, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 19 affirmed the denial of the couple’s RFRA defense in United States v. Quaintance.

A man isn’t entitled to use Arizona’s religious-freedom law to overturn his conviction for possessing marijuana while driving, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The unanimous ruling rejected Danny Ray Hardesty‘s argument that he was entitled to use the same defense allowed for peyote use in Native American sacramental rites.

Hardesty said he belonged to a church whose main religious sacrament is allowing individual families to establish their own modes of worship.

“Hardesty’s mode was to smoke and eat marijuana without limit as to time or place,” the court opinion noted.

Without comment, the justices agreed to hear Daniel Hardesty’s argument that the First Amendment protections of free exercise of religion entitle him to use marijuana as a “sacrament” of his church. Both a trial judge and the state Court of Appeals rejected those arguments.

If the high court decides otherwise, it would be the first time in Arizona that judges have concluded there is a legal defense for those who use marijuana.

The founders of an Arizona church that deifies marijuana have pleaded guilty to two criminal charges and are now each facing up to 20 years in prison.

But Dan and Mary Quaintance , founders of the Church of Cognizance, remain confident that they will not end up behind bars.

Dan Quaintance believes freedom of religion will prevail, and predicts the case could go as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.

There is no religious right in Arizona to possess marijuana, the state Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, saying freedom of religion is not the same as freedom of action.

The judges rejected arguments that the First Amendment protections of free exercise of religion entitle an Arizona resident, Daniel Hardesty, to use marijuana as a “sacrament” of his church.

Right now their case is in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and Dan thinks it will go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The criminal-trial date for the founders of a Southeastern Arizona church that deifies marijuana has been rescheduled for Feb. 20 in Albuquerque.

Founders of the Pima-based Church of Cognizance are scheduled to go to trial in January after a federal judge ruled against their assertion that their marijuana usage is tied to religious practices.

A federal judge has ruled against the founders of a Southeastern Arizona church that deifies marijuana and uses it as a sacrament, saying they don’t have a sincere religious belief.

A U.S. judge is scheduled to decide if Dan and Mary Quaintance are drug dealers or church leaders with a national following.

The founders of an Arizona church that considers marijuana a sacrament and deity have stepped down as leaders, saying pending federal criminal char-ges make it impossible to fulfill their roles. The Church of Cognizance continues to function in Southeastern Arizona with about 45 members, said 54-year-old Dan Quaintance, who along with his wife, Mary, 51, is facing 40 years in prison if convicted on federal charges of conspiracy and intent to distribute more than 100 pounds of marijuana.

ALBUQUERQUE - A couple from Pima, Ariz., arrested in a car that contained 172 pounds of marijuana say the drug is a sacrament in their religion. The U.S. attorney's office contends they're trying to use religion as a cover for a drug organization.

S. Arizona couple face prison for what they say is religious use of marijuana