MARIJUANA-WORSHIPPING CHURCH IS FRACTURED AS LEADERS FACE CHARGES

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A Pima, Ariz., couple has stepped down as leaders of
a church that considers marijuana a sacrament and deity.

Dan and Mary Quaintance say pending federal charges against them have
made it impossible to properly lead the church. In February, the two
were arrested in a car that contained 172 pounds of marijuana in the
New Mexican town of Lordsburg near the Arizona state line.

The Quaintances are facing 40 years in prison if convicted on federal
charges of conspiracy and intent to distribute marijuana. Dan
Quaintance, 53, said the church is now fractured, explaining that the
45-member congregation that he and his wife founded in 1991 no longer
has its spiritual leaders. The Quaintances are scheduled to go on
trial October 30 in Las Cruces, N.M., though they hope the case will
be dismissed before the end of the month. They're awaiting a decision
from U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera on whether she'll dismiss the
case on the grounds that religious freedom should allow them to use
the illegal drug.

The government contends the church is a front for drug trafficking.

The couple's lawyers cite a February decision by the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that the government has no right to seize hallucinogenic
tea containing a federally banned substance from members of a New
Mexico church. The tea, called hoasca, contains the substance
dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, known for its hallucinogenic properties.
Members of the O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, or
UDV, said using the hallucinogenic tea during worship helps them gain
union with God. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New
Mexico, which also prosecuted the UDV case, do not comment on pending matters.

But in court documents, they say the Quaintances are "obsessed and
focused on marijuana," and that Dan Quaintance's writings about his
worship are "disjointed, poorly supported, illogical ramblings." They
conclude that the couple's "lack of sincerity is patent."

The Quaintances are out on bond and remain under court supervision.
They must submit to weekly urine tests. They have been living without
marijuana since their arrest.