EX-CON'S RELIGIOUS USE OF POT AT ISSUE

Federal Judge Ready To Send Rastafarian Back To Prison But Says He'll Wait
For Appellate Ruling.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A man who claims a religious right to smoke marijuana
will be going to prison unless an appeals court decides his quest to get
high is protected by the First Amendment.

At issue is whether the Constitution's religious freedom clause trumps
criminal laws that prohibit marijuana use, Thomas O'Malley, Rohi Israel's
attorney, told The Journal Gazette for a story Thursday.

Israel, a Rastafarian, has continued to smoke marijuana in violation of the
terms of his supervised release from prison. Rastafarians consider smoking
marijuana a sacrament.

U.S. District Judge William C. Lee ruled on Wednesday that Israel should
serve 11 months in prison for the violation, but Lee agreed to delay the
sentence pending appeal.

Israel has 30 days to file a notice with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Chicago.

In February 2000, a federal judge in Washington state ruled a man there had
a right to smoke marijuana while practicing the Rastafarian religion, even
on supervised release from prison.

Lee said the Washington case was an anomaly. He ruled in December that the
government's interest in regulating convicts' marijuana use through routine
drug screenings overrides the burden it places on their religious practice.

Israel, formerly known as Jarvis Jefferson, adopted the Rastafarian
religion in 1996, while serving a five-year prison sentence for being a
felon in possession of a handgun.