There are some who have taken marijuana to the spiritual plane in order to create their own religions and their own churches, where they can worship this plant, which incidentally comes up rather often in the Bible.
All around the world, there are all kinds of religions in which followers of a person (whether real or fictitious), an idea or even a ‘hobby’ come together to unleash their passion because, naturally, we all believe in whatever we want to believe. For this very reason, and taking advantage of the passion they feel for marijuana, some have jumped at the opportunity to create their own church, based on this plant.
Apart from the Rastafari movement, which began in Jamaica in the 30s, but under the same premise of holding cannabis as sacred, most cases follow the principles of the Christian faith and argue their faith in the work of God and in Jesus’ actions. “It is our divine right to use this sacred herb. If God did not want us to use this plant, he would not have created it in the first place”, says a member of the 'Church of the Universe'.
Founded in the 1960s by Tucker Walter, this institution made marijuana a sacrament and gave rise to many other religious organisations whose principles include the growing and use of marijuana in the Canadian territory. Like the rest, the Church of the Universe, which according to its estimates currently has around 4,000 members, has also had its run-ins with the country’s justice system.
The most recent legal battle they had to wage was when Reverends Peter Styrsky and Shahrooz Kharaghani were arrested in October 2006, both accused of dealing marijuana and hash. The Canadian police raided their church after they supposedly agreed to sell pot to two undercover policemen who infiltrated among followers.
The Church of the Universe and other religious congregations that reside in Canada have had to confront numerous misunderstandings with the authorities in their country. However, it seems that the eternal battle has come to an end. Last May, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the parishioners arrested in the raid conducted by police in the city of Cochrane in 2002 were practicing their religious beliefs (and that is not a crime), ordering a reimbursement to those affected for the amount of cannabis confiscated, whose value is estimated to reach one million dollars.
Parishioners of cannabis also in California
Following the example of their northern neighbours, some have already created their own church of marijuana in the U.S. In California, one of the twenty states where marijuana is legal, Reverend Steve Cherms has united a group of smokers around cannabis that feel devotion towards it. “We believe that the marijuana plant is the tree of life and the right to use it is sacred”, says the Reverend. They claim that they are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of religion. Thus, and attacking California law, parishioners of this community grow their own plants and use their fruits in the liturgies they celebrate. Rastafarians come to Brazil
In Latin America, where the example of Uruguay and certain countries already planning to change course in their prohibitionist policies has spread, there were also some who, swayed by their devotion to cannabis, created a church where they could worship marijuana. In the township of Americana in the Sao Paulo province, Geraldo Antonio Bautista founded the ‘Igreja Niubingui Etíope Coptic de Sião do Brasil’ in 2011. Following the example of the Rastafarians, Ras Geraldinho, as his parishioners know this particular Reverend, has brought this religion with Jamaican roots, which considers marijuana to be a sacred product.
However, Ras Geraldinho was arrested in May 2013 and later sentenced to 10 months and 20 days imprisonment, charged with growing and harvesting marijuana without the necessary authorisation and allegedly assisted by minors, as well as preparing it for non-personal use. Although his lawyers maintained that his religious freedom was being violated, witnesses that participated in the trial revealed that the faithful had to pay $10 upon entering the congregation, which led to the court ruling.
Either way, as in so many other cases where cannabis is involved, each country makes and breaks at will. While the case of Uruguay is repeated in other countries worldwide, we can only hope that Canada sets an example and that no authority may tell us who and what we should worship.