Court Determines Rastafarian cannot be Prosecuted for Possession

May 29, 2002

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On May 29, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "a conservative three-judge panel said a Rastafarian - whose Jamaica-based religion regards marijuana as a sacrament that brings believers closer to divinity - could not be federally prosecuted for merely possessing marijuana, a decision that upheld a portion of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act."