A common theme around here is the tension that can exist between governmental rules – everything from zoning to building codes, sanitation and public health – and First Amendment rights to practice religion according to one's conscience. Sometimes, drawing the line in those conflicts can be tough: how do we respect Amish traditions and still enforce building regulations? Accommodate Muslim prayer requirements into the public school day?
Sometimes, it's…not as tough. Arizona's Daniel Hardesty belongs to The Church of Cognizance. Followers of the faith (Cognizers? Cognizants?), founded in 1991, believe strongly in the power of marijuana, and in the individual freedom to establish one's own "mode of worship". As court documents show, "Hardesty’s mode was to smoke and eat marijuana without limit as to time or place."
So, naturally, when Hardesty was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence, he trotted out a First Amendment defense. In a ruling yesterday, the state's Supreme Court was not impressed.
Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch … pointed out that courts have allowed users of peyote to use federal laws to shield them from prosecution against state drug laws. She said, though, there is "an obvious difference'' between the situations."Members of the Native American Church assert only the religious right to use peyote in limited sacramental rights,'' the chief justice wrote. "Hardesty asserts the right to use marijuana whenever he pleases, including while driving.''
You can read the opinion here (pdf).
