HEARING TO WEIGH RELIGION AND POT

Police will arrest anyone claiming to use marijuana as a religious
sacrament and let the courts decide whether the user is exempt from
state law prohibiting use of the psychoactive herb.

That proposed rule will be the primary focus of a Police Department
hearing Thursday in Kona, the second public hearing on proposed rules
governing marijuana reconnaissance and eradication missions, and
medical marijuana investigations, in Hawaii County.

In March the Hawaii County Council accepted a federal marijuana
eradication grant but imposed several conditions on the Police
Department. One was that the department had to draft rules that would
protect those using marijuana under constitutional or other legal
protections.

The Police Department held its first hearing on the proposed rules in
Hilo in August, and critics pointed out that the rules failed to
address potential religious use of marijuana. A new draft of the rules
was prepared for Thursday's hearing.

Marijuana advocates maintain that freedom of religion permits the use
of marijuana in churches that advocate its use as a sacrament. A Kona
man was convicted of marijuana possession in 1996 after failing to
demonstrate that his religious use of marijuana was a required
sacrament of the church. The Rev. Dennis Shields, an ordained minister
of the Religion of Jesus Church, believes the use of marijuana by
church members, now required as a sacrament, is protected by the First
Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom.

A Puna man, the Rev. Jonathan Adler, also ordained by the Religion of
Jesus Church, intends to use the religious defense against marijuana
charges at his trial in Third Circuit Court later this month.

But under the rules proposed by police, neither man would be exempt
from arrest and prosecution unless the state Legislature changes the
law. Police would still arrest anyone claiming the religious
exemption, but they would have to document the suspect's religious
claims and include them in the police report of the arrest that would
then go to prosecutors and court.

Police maintain that marijuana possession and use violate state law
except for qualified medical marijuana users, and that it should not
be up to police to decide the constitutional and other legal issues
surrounding religious use of marijuana.

The state Legislature has passed a law allowing medical use of
marijuana, and the proposed rules would require police to check on the
validity of a person's claim to a medical exemption before making an
arrest or issuing a search warrant.

The proposed rules will require the signature of Mayor Harry Kim
before they take effect.

The Police Department hearing will start at 10 a.m. Thursday at the
Kona police station, 74 - 5221 Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Those who want to present oral testimony should register before the
hearing convenes. Those who are unable to attend may submit written
comments to the Hawaii County Police Department, 349 Kapiolani St.,
Hilo, 96720.

Copies of the proposed rules are available at the Hilo police station,
961 - 2258, the Kona police station, 326 - 4240, and the office of
Councilman Gary Safarik, 961 - 8267, in the County Building.