Court OKs use of religious pot on federal lands
Appellate ruling applies to 9 Western states, territories

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

May 29, 2002

If you're a Rastafarian who considers marijuana holy, it's legal to light up in Guam -- and maybe in any national park on the West Coast.

At least that seemed to be the conclusion of a federal appeals court in San Francisco, which said Tuesday that a 1993 religious-freedom law puts limits on prosecutions in the "federal realm" -- specifically in a U.S. territory like Guam, or potentially within any other federal property.

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.

The same reasoning would apply to drug prosecutions on other federal property, such as national parks, said Barry Portman, the federal public defender in San Francisco. He said marijuana possession for personal use is prohibited by federal law but is rarely prosecuted.

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