Man who smokes pot for religion could be imprisoned

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A man who claims a religious right to smoke marijuana will be going to prison unless an appeals court decides his getting high is protected by the First Amendment.\nAt issue is whether the Constitution's religious freedom clause trumps criminal laws that prohibit the use of marijuana, Thomas O'Malley, Rohi Israel's defense attorney told The Journal Gazette for a story Thursday.\nIsrael, a Rastafarian, has continued to smoke marijuana in violation of the terms of his supervised release from prison. Rastafarians consider smoking marijuana a sacrament.\nU.S. District Judge William C. Lee ruled on Wednesday that Israel should serve 11 months in prison for the violation, but Lee agreed to delay the sentence pending appeal.\nIsrael has 30 days to file a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago.\nIn February 2000, a federal judge in Washington state ruled a man there had a right to smoke marijuana while practicing the Rastafarian religion, even on supervised release from prison.\nLee said the Washington case was an anomaly. He ruled in December that the government's interest in regulating convicts' marijuana use through routine drug screenings overrides the burden it places on their religious practice.\nIsrael, formerly known as Jarvis Jefferson, adopted the Rastafarian religion in 1996, while serving a five-year prison sentence for being a felon in possession of a handgun.