From: [c--o--n] at [dsmnet.com] (Carl E. Olsen) Newsgroups: alt.drugs Subject: Israel Zion Coptic Church Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 16:53:23 Coptic priest claims church privilege to use marijuana PRAIRIE DU CHIEN (AP) -- A Coptic priest who grew marijuana in his basement says drug charges filed against him should be dismissed because they violate his constitutional right to exercise his religion. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ testified on Michael Matteson's behalf during a hearing that Crawford County Circuit Judge Michael Kirchman continued to May 6 for additional testimony. "It's clear that ganja (the Coptic word for marijuana) is central to their worship," said the Rev. Cynthia S. Mazur of Arlington, Va. "Without their ganja, it would be impossible for them to worship." Matteson, 47, of rural Soldiers Grove, was arrested last year after deputies found 30 potted marijuana plants growing in his basement. Matteson said the plants were for sacramental use. Mazur, the Virginia minister, was one of several defense witnesses during the daylong proceeding Thursday. She said state and federal law grants exemptions to the Native American Church to worship with peyote -- a controlled substance. She urged the same exemption for Coptics, who "abhor abuse of the sacrament of ganja" and prohibit the use of alcohol. The Israel Zion Coptic church has about 30 members locally, District Attorney Timothy Baxter said. He said similar cases have never been upheld. In June 1989, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, on a 2-1 vote, rejected a claim for a religious exemption to drug laws by a priest of the Jamaica-based Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency had denied the exemption. John Morgan, a New York City physician and medical professor who also testified at Matteson's hearing, said alcohol is consumed in many Christian denominations in communion wine. Alcohol is more dangerous to humans than marijuana and more likely to be abused, he said. State and federal exemptions allowed the legal use of sacramental wine even during Prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s, he said. Defense attorney Donald Fiedler of Omaha, Neb., said marijuana is sacred and holy to Matteson and his fellow Copts. When church members partake of the substance, he said, "something spiritual happens." "It is the small religions that need protection" under the law, Fiedler said. Stanley Moore, a professor of philosophy at UW-Platteville, said "nothing is more common" than for various religions to have differing interpretations of scripture. Copts cite verses in the Old Testament they say gives them the right and duty to use marijuana. The use of psychoactive drugs is common in spiritual practices in many lands, Moore said. "It is the western rejection of them that is unusual," he said. Wisconsin State Journal, Prairie du Chien, Saturday, March 27, 1993, Page 5D. 'Holy herb' or illegal substance? In court: Coptic argues for right to worship with marijuana BY TERRY BURT of the Tribune staff PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. -- Calling marijuana "a spiritual food for mankind" and "a holy herb," a Crawford County Coptic priest told a judge Thursday that he would be unable to fully practice his religion if he were unable to smoke the controlled substance. Michael Matteson, 47, of rural Soldiers Grove testified on his own behalf in a Crawford County Circuit Court hearing that had been continued from March 25. Matteson is asking the court to dismiss the felony drug charges against him. Last month, several witnesses testified that ganga (the group's word for marijuana) is central to their worship. The Copts would like an exemption from prosecution much like that granted the Native American Church to worship with peyote -- also a controlled substance. Matteson was arrested in March 1992 for growing about 30 marijuana plants in the basement of his family home near Rising Sun in northern Crawford County. Matteson has pleaded innocent to the charges of manufacturing marijuana. The prohibition against using marijuana, said Matteson, "is the only area of discrepancy I have with man's law." Members of the small Israel Zion Coptic sect moved to Crawford County from their former home in Iowa about 1981, he said. Also testifying Thursday was Dr. Andrew Kane, a Milwaukee psychologist with several years experience in the field of alcohol and drug abuse counseling. Kane testified that alcohol use is potentially much more harmful than marijuana use. Although not as physically addictive as alcohol, some people become psychologically dependent on marijuana, said Kane. Judge Michael Kirchman gave lawyers for both sides one month to submit written arguments outlining their cases for or against dismissal of the charges. A jury trial on the felony drug charges against Michael Matteson is scheduled for July 14-18 in Crawford County Circuit Court. AT A GLANCE THE COPTS use marijuana as a sacrament in their religious rites. It has a place in their religion similar to that of sacramental wine in some mainstream Christian denominations. TO USE marijuana recreationally, "or in a drunken or careless or irresponsible manner would be abuse," Michael Matteson said Thursday in Crawford County Circuit Court. MATTESON said he neither abuses marijuana nor uses any other drugs or alcohol. The LaCrosse Tribune, May 7, 1993, Page A7. Coptic testifies about his faith By Lyn Hanson Jerde PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. -- In some churches, "giving testimony" means talking about one's faith. That's what it meant Thursday when Michael Matteson took the witness stand in Crawford County Circuit Court. Matteson, 47, told Judge Michael Kirchman of his faith journey -- which took him from a Catholic school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to an Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church confession in Jamaica. Along the way, he said, he tried being a Pentecostal "holy roller," a Methodist, a Lutheran, a Hindu and a Buddhist. He also pursued "every kind of drug and pleasure." The turning point came in the spring of 1971, when a group of friends, whom Matteson described as drug dealers, came back from Jamaica to Iowa City. They gave away possessions. And some of the activities they used to enjoy -- such as watching pornographic films or using drugs other than ganja, including alcohol -- were now sinful. They taught Matteson that the name of Jesus should be pronounced "Jess-us," or "just us." That's because the spirit of Jesus is in all people, he said, not in the heavens looking down on people. To get in touch with the divine spirit inside oneself, Matteson said, God gave people ganja. "People can't have the fullness of the truth without ganja," Matteson said. "Without it, they're denying themselves the full insight they're entitled to." "So you don't smoke ganja just to get high?" asked Crawford County District Attorney Timothy Baxter. "In my mind," Matteson replied, "to get high is to be one with God. For that purpose, I smoke ganja at all times. But to use it in a drunken and careless manner is wrong." Not long after Matteson embraced the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church faith, he broke away from it and accepted the Israel Zion Coptic faith, over doctrinal differences. Matteson said Israel Zion Coptics believe spiritual things, especially ganja, should never be bought or sold. For Matteson, that belief is rooted in an experience he had when his mother died. Matteson, then 11, asked a priest to say a Mass for her. The priest said he would -- for $25. Other "mainstream" religions he tried were not much different, he said. "Most of the faiths I went to were more interested in the collection plate, the style of the building or dress of the people in the congregation." Baxter asked Matteson if he would be offended if someone called the Israel Zion Coptic faith a "cult." Probably, Matteson said, if he or she defined a cult as a group brainwashed by a charismatic leader. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Friday, May 7, 1993, Page 3A. Marijuana use draws fire in court Prairie du Chien man defends drug use By Lyn Hanson Jerde of the Telegraph Herald PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. -- Attorney Don Fiedler posed a question his client Michael Matteson has heard time and time again. "Isn't this just a ruse to get high?" More than a year after he was charged with manufacturing marijuana, Matteson was on the witness stand Thursday in Crawford County Circuit Court to testify about the role of marijuana in his Israel Zion Coptic faith. "If I just wanted to get high," Matteson said, "I wouldn't make it public. I'd stay hidden, in secret. But that's not my faith. I stand with the truth." Matteson's lawyers, Fiedler, of Omaha, Neb., and Thomas Geyer, of Platteville, are trying to get the charge against Matteson dismissed on religious grounds. Matteson contends the 36 marijuana plants that Crawford County deputies seized from his home in March 1992 are sacramental ganja, crucial to the practice of his faith. Ganja is part of his faith's holy trinity which also includes truth and the person. Without all three, he said, communion with the spirit of God inside him is incomplete. Crawford County Attorney Timothy Baxter agreed that Matteson uses marijuana for religious purposes. But he's fighting the dismissal motion because he believes the Legislature, not the courts, should decide whether there is a religious exception to the laws against marijuana. Matteson said this is his first marijuana related arrest since he moved to Crawford County with others of his faith in 1981. When the Israel Zion Coptics carved a commune out of the remote Star Valley in northern Crawford County, newspapers and television stations from all over the Midwest were there, too -- producing stories about the group, its religion and its use of marijuana. Before long, Matteson said the sheriff came to call. "I told Sheriff (William) Fillbach that if he wanted to bust us for possession, he could do it any time," he said. Matteson also promised the sheriff the commune dwellers would not try to convert others to their faith, nor distribute their ganja to anyone. For several years, Matteson -- who has since moved from Star Valley to the unincorporated settlement of Fairview -- grew his ganja outdoors. But people stole it. So he began an indoor growing operation in his basement. The sheriff's department got a search warrant based on an anonymous tip and on Wisconsin Power and Light figures that showed an unusually high electric use to the Matteson home. Matteson was arrested March 5, 1992, and released on a signature bond. A Milwaukee psychologist, Andrew Kane, said the amount of marijuana in the Matteson home was consistent with his claim that it is used for religious observances, not recreational purposes. "It is clear to me that the use of ganja is central to the defendant's practice of his faith," Kane said. Thursday's proceedings were a continuation of a hearing that started March 29, in which Fiedler called witnesses to testify about the effects of marijuana. Judge Michael Kirchman asked lawyers for both sides to write their arguments in 30 days. After that he'll decide whether to dismiss the charge. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Friday, May 7, 1993, Page 1A. State of Wisconsin v. Michael Matteson Crawford County Circuit Court No. 92-CF-10 Memorandum Decision The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the Information in this case on the grounds that Wisconsin Statutes 161.41(1)(h) violates the defendant's first amendment free exercise of religion rights and equal protection rights. The Court denies these motions. Defendant Matteson is a priest in the Israel Zion Coptic Church. Church doctrine as it has been stated, dictates the use of marijuana or ganja as a "religious sacrament". Ganja is used during worship by church members called "reasoning". It's use is not confined to any particular right or service. It may be carried on continually. The marijuana was cultivated by the defendant in containers under grow lights in his basement. A search warrant was executed on the premises of defendant's residence and the plants were seized and the defendant was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance. Statutes such as the charging statute in this case, which imposes restrictions on the exercise of religion, must be measured against the government interest served by the statute. State v. Yoder, 49 Wis.2d 430 (1971), affirmed Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972). In spite of defendant's efforts to make distinctions, this case is amazingly similar to the Wisconsin case, State v. Peck, 143 Wis.2d 624. As in the Peck case, the State concedes that Matteson is a sincere practitioner of a bonafide religion; that his use of marijuana is a religious practice rooted in his sincere theological beliefs and that the Statutes prohibiting the manufacture of controlled substances impose a burden on Matteson's first amendment right to use marijuana in his religious rituals. I believe that the question in this case is the same as the one in Peck, i.e. whether the State can show that it has a compelling interest in regulating such conduct. Can the State show an "overriding" interest as required by United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252 (1982)? Much testimony was received in this hearing that marijuana is not a health hazard nor a threat to social welfare. One witness thought it should be reclassified. It is obvious that there are conflicting opinions as to the threat or danger to individuals or society by marijuana use. Nevertheless, Wisconsin's Legislature has determined that manufacturing marijuana is an act that should be subjected to criminal penalties. A trial Court may not substitute it's own judgment for that of the Legislature. I conclude that the State's interest is of sufficient magnitude to override Matteson's first amendment interest in using marijuana as a daily sacrament. Chapter 161 exempts the Native American Church from its penalties with respect to religious use of peyote and mescaline. A similar exemption appears in Federal drug laws. But this Court, as other Courts have before, including Peck, holds that the separate treatment of the Native American Church does not result in an unconstitutional classification violating defendant's equal protection of the laws. The Native American Church's exception is based upon unique cultural and historic attributes of native americans. This does not appear to be the only distinction based upon their unique status. The defendant's motions will be denied by separate order and the case will proceed to trial. Dated this 27th day of July, 1993. BY THE COURT: Michael Kirchman, Circuit Judge State of Wisconsin v. Michael Matteson Crawford County No. 92-CF-10 October 2, 1993 - Defense files a 9 page brief with the District IV Court of Appeals requesting a Writ of Prohibition directing the trial court to adjourn the scheduled trial on the grounds that the defendant's co-council, "a nation-wide expert in the area of constitutional rights and freedom of religion," was unavailable. November 2, 1993 - Judge Gartzke of District IV Court of Appeals denies defendant's Writ of Prohibition. November 2, 1993 - State of Wisconsin files a Motion in Limine asking the court to prohibit the defendant from using a "religious use exemption" theory of defense. November 5, 1993 - Agreement between the defendant & state to a "stipulated trial." November 9, 1993 - Judge Michael Kirchman grants state's request for Motion in Limine and finds defendant guilty based on facts. Defendant files Notice of Intent for appeal. December 8, 1993 - Defendant is sentenced to five years probation, $500 contribution to Crawford County Crime Stoppers, $500 contribution to Crawford County DARE Program, reimburse the state for the cost of the attorney's fees, seek and maintain full-time employment, and incarceration in the Crawford County Jail for a term of 90 days.