LOCAL JUDGE FINDS REV. GUILTY OF POSSESSION

U.S. Man Claims Laws Governing Religious Practices Discriminatory

Local News - An Ontario Court judge has rejected the argument of a
Wisconsin man, admittedly bringing ecstasy and LSD into Canada, that he
shouldn't have been searched because he is a minister with a religious
organization in which marijuana is a sacrament.

Rev. Generik Broderick was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of
possession of a narcotic and fined $400.

Broderick, 43, was arrested March 14, 2002, when he tried to enter Sault
Ste. Marie at the International Bridge.

At his trial in December, he said he was on a pilgrimage to the
headquarters of the Church of the Universe in Hamilton, Ont., and had
ecstasy and LSD with him because he wanted to discuss these substances with
the church elders.

The Mount Horeb, Wisc., man - representing himself in these legal matters -
called the search unconstitutional.

During submissions Wednesday, he said he told Canada Customs officers about
the drugs in his pickup but "that I was a minister and they were not
allowed to" seize them.

Wearing a hemp-woven cap in court - the privilege was extended to two
Church of the Universe ministers in Hamilton last year, as well as being
addressed as "Reverend" - Broderick said his church was discriminated against.

"To allow a religion to have a belief and then to deny it a practice based
on that belief . . . seems to me highly discriminatory," he said.

But federal prosecutor Marty Pawelek cited court decisions outlining that
religious beliefs, though largely protected under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, don't necessarily translate into religious practices when they
contravene established law.

"We can't stop anyone from believing what they want . . . but it's in the
practice that problems arise," Pawelek said.

Broderick said the onus should have been on the state to prove his
practices are harmful to others.

He said his mission is to counsel others on the benefits - and dangers - of
drugs. Any substance that can act as a healing agent can also be abused and
too often is, he said.

"I'm trying to prevent harm coming from misguided, overused use of these
drugs," he said. "Most people don't know anything about correct dosage,
most people don't know anything about toxic effects and how to ameliorate
them . . . Someone's got to (educate them)."

He was originally also charged with possession of marijuana but that was
quashed in the wake of a Superior Court of Ontario ruling that possessing
small amounts is not an offence.

Justice Wayne Cohen expressed respect for the self-taught blacksmith -
"Rev. Broderick has an exceptional command of the English language and is a
superb historian," Cohen said - but said he was bound to apply existing laws.

Outside court, Broderick said he was happy to have "met my objectives . . .
to get these arguments on the record."

He plans to appeal.

"The issue really is between religious practice and religious belief. I
still maintain that any substance made through man's creation is also God's
creation."