GOD, NORML AND THE FDA

When my hands were anointed with the sacred oil, it was something
like a religious experience, as far as such a thing is possible in
the basement of a Holiday Inn.

At the very least, it was an interesting exchange about religion.

As I strolled among the tables at the NORML conference in San
Francisco, Rev. Tom Brown was passing out flyers about the use of
cannabis as a sacrament. He looked sort of like a biblical prophet,
with a flowing white beard and clear blue eyes that seemed both calm
and intense as he spoke.

Rev. Tom talked about organized religion and the protection it was
afforded in the United States, not only by the Bill of Rights, but
by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law protects people
who engage in practices that some might consider dangerous, like
snake handling or the ingestion of hoasca tea, so long as those
practices take place within a religious ceremony.

Individuals who use cannabis as a religious sacrament, he said, share
the same protection. A cannabis user need only go through a few
steps to declare their residences as places of worship, and
themselves as minister s.

The concept made some sort of sense. But, I said, I didn't know if I
would be interested in doing that for a few reasons. First, I'm a
Lutheran who attends services with some regularity, and it seemed
disingenuous to proclaim myself as a minister in a new religion while
still practicing another religion that has its own established sacrament.

Rev. Tom shared a long history of Christianity which suggested there
would be no contradiction. Indeed, he said, the oil with which Jesus
anointed followers contained cannabis. Then he produced a small
bottle containing a brown oil. He said it was made according to an
ancient recipe and included aromatic herbs and other
ingredients. It smelled sweet and a little pungent; something like
cinnamon was discernable among the various scents . He poured a bit
on one of my palms and said I should rub my hands together.

I did so and felt glad for the experience.

I went on to talk to more people and watch several interesting
presentations in San Francisco. During the conference, I had the
chance to share a talk about DrugSense and the Media Awareness
Project with a polite and attentive audience. Unfortunately, I had
another commitment while a panel on "Marijuana, Religion and
Sacrament" took place, but I did get to chat briefly with Roger
Christie, whose THC Ministries ( http://www.thc-ministry.org ) also
proclaims religious protection for the sacramental use of cannabis.

I was reminded of Rev. Tom soon after I returned home. I was
catching up on the news and finally read the Food and Drug
Administration statement (
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01362.html ) suggesting
that smoked marijuana could not be medicine. (The FDA statement,
incidentally or mystically, was released on April 20, the very day I
had my conversation with Rev. Tom.)

As I read the statement, I was amazed to see that the other side
seemed to be embracing religion as well, although in more of a
stealth fashion. The FDA's statement isn't about science, as it
cites no specific research. It might be looked at as political, but
it doesn't announce policy change or shift in power.

It is simply a statement of belief: what religious scholars might
call a creed. The FDA has majestically taken what it wants from
available texts and ignored the rest, then conveyed this creed as if
it were truth from on high. The statement implicitly designates
contrary views as heretical while boldly announcing that the grand
theology is shared by bureaucratic brethren at the DEA and ONDCP. Hallelujah!

Karen Armstrong, a former nun who has written a series of books about
religion, was recently interviewed in the Chicago Tribune. She said
when she started writing, she was skeptical of religion and very
conscious of all its negative aspects. But, over time, she came to
see the positive side of religion, particularly the encouragement of
kindness. She said she now tries to be kind in her own life.

At the NORML conference, I saw attendees and presenters expressing
kindness and compassion toward others. I perceived Rev. Tom's
interaction with me as a bit of kindness in the form of an attempt to
share enlightenment.

The last time I went to a ONDCP event (a student drug testing
"summit" - http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2004/ds04.n342.html#sec5 ), I
saw the organizers primarily endorsing fear and coercion.

I hope religious freedom stays strong in America. The FDA, DEA and
ONDCP and their representatives should believe what they want to
believe. These federal agencies, though, have overstepped their
bounds and gone way beyond First Amendment protections in trying to
live their beliefs. They have no right to demonize individuals, to
officially withhold medicines, or to direct violence at non-believers
bold enough to bypass the high priests.

Rev. Tom may have been evangelizing, but he certainly wasn't trying
to impose his religion on anyone else. In that sense, even if the
feds' beliefs are very strong (though I doubt they are), their
spiritual evolution is clearly several generations behind Rev. Tom
and just about everybody else I met in San Francisco.