Hawaii Supreme Court Rejects Religious Defense In Marijuana Case

In State of Hawaii v. Adler, decided by the Hawaii Supreme Court on August 18, the court rejected a Free Exercise defense raised by Jonathan Adler who was convicted of commercial promotion of marijuana after authorities seized 82 marijuana plants at his home. The parties stipulated that Adler held sincere religious beliefs that his religion mandated the sacramental use of marijuana. However, his religion only required its members to use marijuana once a year. The court held that therefore Adler had failed to show that prohibiting the possession or cultivation of more than 50 plants burdens his free exercise. The court concluded "Inasmuch as Adler falls short of establishing a substantial burden of his free exercise of religion, this court need not evaluate (1) whether the State has a compelling interest in prohibiting the possession or cultivation of 50 or more marijuana plants or (2) Adler's somewhat disingenuous argument that [the commercial promotion statute] constitutes a total prohibition on the consumption of marijuana. "