JUDGE SMITES CHURCH OF POT

HAMILTON, Ont. - Two men who operated a church here in which marijuana
was sold as a sacrament were sentenced to prison Friday.

Michael Baldasaro was sentenced to two years in jail while Walter
Tucker will spend one year behind bars in connection with selling
marijuana at the Church of the Universe.

In handing down his ruling, the judge called the operation "a
marijuana convenience store that operates for profit like a
Prohibition-era speakeasy, but disguised as a church."

In 2004, police officers purchased marijuana from the church in an
undercover operation.

Baldasaro and Tucker maintain that God tells them to smoke marijuana
and pass joints to their parishioners.