The U.S. State Department has released its annual report to Congress on international religious freedom issues, again examining the relationship between marijuana laws in other countries and how they either\u00a0respect or violate the rights of certain believers to practice their faiths.<\/p>\n
For 2022, the report revealed increased tolerance in some countries for religious groups like Rastafarians who use cannabis ceremonially, with spiritual leaders saying that they\u2019ve been encouraged by reform efforts to legalize or decriminalize marijuana.<\/p>\n
In certain nations like Saint Lucia, religious organizations said that the government had actively engaged them on cannabis issues. And while certain groups in other countries continue to fight for ending prohibition\u2014a policy that they say infringes on their religious rights\u2014the trend in 2022 was more positive than past years<\/a> for those who consume marijuana as part of the spiritual tradition.<\/p>\n The report<\/a> notably does not detail how the ongoing criminalization of cannabis federally in the U.S. affects the rights of religious groups domestically. But while President Joe Biden directed a review into marijuana scheduling last year, prohibition remains the law of the land and makes no exception for spiritual use.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a breakdown of what the\u00a0report\u00a0found:<\/strong><\/p>\n A law that decriminalized marijuana \u201calso recognizes the government\u2019s responsibility to uphold the religious rights of persons of the Hindu and Rastafari faiths,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe law allows these persons to apply for a special religious license to cultivate the plant within their private dwelling, use the plant for religious purposes within their private dwelling or within their approved place of worship, and transport the plant between their private dwelling and approved places of worship,\u201d it continues.<\/p>\n However, the special religious license doesn\u2019t permit the commercial sales of marijuana, and the State Department notes that \u201csome Rastafarians with licenses to cultivate cannabis complained that police targeted them for arrest for transporting cannabis, which the law permitted between private residences and private places of worship.\u201d<\/p>\n Rastafarians reported that the government has continued to violate \u201ctheir constitutional right to religious freedom by prohibiting the legal use of marijuana in ceremonial rituals,\u201d the State Department said. But there are plans in the works to allow legal access to medical cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cRastafarians said police continued to profile and arrest them for possessing small quantities of marijuana used in ceremonial rituals,\u201d it says. \u201cIf convicted of a crime, Rastafarians were not exempt from the prison\u2019s short-hair policy and were required to cut their dreadlocks.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also noted that Rastafarians who faced drug-related convictions were placed in rehabilitation centers.<\/p>\n In 2022, \u201cthe government entered consultations with Rastafarian religious leaders on medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp legislation,\u201d and Rastafarian leader Rithmond McKinney \u201csaid the discussions were a step in the right direction in sanctioning marijuana use for the Rastafarian community. The government said it expects to introduce the bill in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n In Dominica, Rastafarians \u201ccontinued to press the government for complete legalization of marijuana use for religious purposes following the decriminalization of possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in 2020,\u201d while cultivation remained prohibited.<\/p>\n \u201cRepresentatives of the Rastafarian community, however, again said authorities did not enforce the law against using marijuana when the community used it in its religious rites,\u201d the department said. \u201cIn July, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced his support for allowing a domestic medical marijuana industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Rastafari in Ethiopia said that they\u2019ve faced suspicion from other communities because of \u201ctheir spiritual use of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n Rastafari in Guyana said that a law that continues to criminalize possession of up to 15 grams of cannabis \u201cinfringed on their religious practices.\u201d<\/p>\n They also said that legislation enacted last year to allow counseling and community service as an alternative sentence for possessing up to 30 grams still \u201cdiscriminated against Rastafarians because the law hindered their constitutional right to freely practice their religion.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rastafari Council \u201ccontinued to petition the government to legalize the use of small amounts of marijuana for religious purposes,\u201d and a council member \u201csaid he believed the new law discriminated against Rastafarians because it hindered their constitutional right to freely practice their religion.\u201d<\/p>\n Rastafari reported facing discrimination when seeking to serve in the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF). While the military institution said it does not discriminate based on religious identity, they maintained strict rules prohibiting the use of cannabis and mandating hair length standards.<\/p>\n The requirements \u201cwere the obstacles to Rastafarian participation in the force.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRastafarians continued to report wider societal acceptance, despite continued negative stereotyping and stigma associated with their wearing locs and smoking marijuana,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n \u201cRastafarians continued to object to laws making the use and possession of cannabis a criminal offense in the country, stating its use was a part of their religious doctrine,\u201d the State Department said.<\/p>\n Last November, Rastafarians held a peaceful protest to \u201cdenounce the fact that they cannot legally use marijuana in their religious ceremonies\u201d under the Dangerous Drugs Act.<\/p>\n Police arrested 12 Rastafari members during that protest, and they were \u201clater released on bail.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe constitution provides for freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination based on religion,\u201d the report says. \u201cThe government continued to ban public marijuana usage except for registered places of worship of the Rastafarian religious community or any place authorized by the Prevention and Abatement of the Misuse and Abuse of Drugs Act.\u201d<\/p>\n A top government official earned bipartisan support for their proposal to implement a 2019 court ruling that allows \u201ccitizens to legally use marijuana in private places.\u201d That includes use \u201cfor religious activities, as well as in registered spaces of worship for members of the Rastafarian faith.\u201d<\/p>\n The government engaged with both the Saint Lucian Christian Church and Rastafarian community on cannabis policy issues last year after the country decriminalized possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana for personal use.<\/p>\n \u201cRastafarians continued to say they were accepted in society, and overall, the country\u2019s citizens were becoming more tolerant of their way of life\u2014especially regarding their traditional cultivation of cannabis,\u201d the report says, noting that \u201cpossession and use of two ounces or fewer of marijuana is decriminalized, including for religious rites.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result of the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, observers said there was widespread and increasing use of cannabis on the country\u2019s main island, which they believed suggested broader societal acceptance of its use,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n Rastafarians advocated for the legalization of marijuana, and the Seychelles Interfaith Council ultimately came out in support of legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes, while ensuring that polices were enacted to prevent youth consumption.<\/p>\n In Sierra Leone, Rastafarians said that the \u201cgovernment continued to prohibit the production, sale, and consumption of marijuana, although they again did not report any arrests or fines of their members during the year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRastafarians said this prohibition under the country\u2019s law was an infringement on their religious freedom to access cannabis, which, they said, was a core component of their religious practices,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n The report notes that possessing up to 30 grams of cannabis is legal, while public consumption remains prohibited.<\/p>\n \u201cThe law also provides a pathway for removing prior marijuana convictions from a person\u2019s criminal record, including those using marijuana for religious rituals, and it allows individuals to cultivate plants for personal use,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n The State Department report again does not discuss domestic cannabis policy or its discriminatory effects on marijuana consumers, even as U.S. courts have continually rejected cases arguing that religious exceptions should be made to the country\u2019s cannabis criminalization laws that result in hundreds of thousands of arrests every year.<\/p>\n Where Presidential Candidate Tim Scott Stands On Marijuana<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post State Department Notes Growing Tolerance For Religious Use Marijuana In Some Countries\u2014But Ignores U.S. Criminalization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department has released its annual report to Congress on international religious freedom issues, again examining the relationship between marijuana laws in other countries and how they either\u00a0respect or violate the rights of certain believers to practice their faiths. For 2022, the report revealed increased tolerance in someContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65310"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65311,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65310\/revisions\/65311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Antigua and Barbuda<\/a><\/h3>\n
Bahamas<\/a><\/h3>\n
Dominica<\/a><\/h3>\n
Ethiopia<\/a><\/h3>\n
Guyana<\/a><\/h3>\n
Jamaica<\/a><\/h3>\n
Malawi<\/a><\/h3>\n
Mauritius<\/a><\/h3>\n
Saint Kitts and Nevis<\/a><\/h3>\n
Saint Lucia<\/a><\/h3>\n
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines<\/a><\/h3>\n
Seychelles<\/a><\/h3>\n
Sierra Leone<\/a><\/h3>\n
Trinidad and Tobago<\/a><\/h3>\n
United States<\/h3>\n
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\nRead More: State Department Notes Growing Tolerance For Religious Use Marijuana In Some Countries\u2014But Ignores U.S. Criminalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"