Canadian Court Refuses To Permit Religious Use of Marijuana

In Canada today, an Ontario trial court judge rejected a constitutional challenge by two members of the Church of the Universe to Canada's marijuana laws.  The Toronto Star reports that two church members who had been charged with trafficking in marijuana and hashish claimed that cannabis is sacred to their religion and that Canada's Controlled Substances Law infringes their freedom of religion as protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Responding to arguments made by Rev. Brother Peter Styrsky and Rev. Brother Shahrooz Kharaghani, the court rejected carving out an exception for religious use of marijuana. The court wrote in part: "It is difficult, if not impossible for an outsider to identify the religious user and religious use because religious use is barely distinguishable from recreational use."