A man has found himself in a sticky situation after he was arrested while transporting 56lbs of marijuana from Michigan to Georgia, but he, and the church he’s a part of say it’s part of his religious freedom to transport the leaf.
Back in April Joseph Farlie was pulled over on I-75 in Monroe County and police discovered he had 56lbs of marijuana in his car. He was subsequently arrested and charged with trafficking.
The Reverend of his church says Farlie was wrongfully arrested while practicing his religious beliefs. Heidi Lepp says that Farlie is a member of Sugarleaf Church which promotes using marijuana and other psychedelic drugs.
Sugarleaf Church was founded in 2014 by Reverend Heidi Grossman Lepp in California and has since grown to other states. The web-site says they use “Entheogenic Sacraments religiously, such as Cannabis and Psilocybin Mushrooms, to facilitate spiritual healing and a deeper connection with the Divine Creator.”
While Reverend Lepp says she hopes to get Joe out of jail soon the Monroe County District Attorney Jonathan Adams says that the government is well within its right to restrict the use of the federally illegal drug.
“The government has the capacity, even under the First Amendment, to restrict the practice of your religion if it serves a legitimate government purpose and we’re doing it through the least restrictive means possible,” Adams said. “I think the government’s purpose that would argue here is drug use is not a legitimate religious practice.”