Marijuana smokers may enjoy soaring moods and hearty appetites but they also can suffer short-term memory loss and reduced intellect, an expert testified Friday.
Dr. Harold Kalant was providing his expert testimony on both the adverse effects and benefits of pot at a constitutional challenge by a Toronto church — the “Church of the Universe.”
A Toronto church — the “Church of the Universe” — asked a Superior Court judge Wednesday for an exemption to the country’s marijuana laws.
Steven Swallick says he runs a ministry about marijuana. He says he mixed the marijuana with other ingredients to create anointing oil, a recipe he says he got out of the Bible.
But the jury didn’t have to address the religious issue, just whether he grew it, possessed it and stole electricity to do it.
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.
An Alabama couple asked a judge to dismiss criminal charges because marijuana is part of their religion.
The Shoops’ attorneys also argued that they were protected by the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment because their religion mandates the cultivation and consumption of cannabis.