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 Msg  : #4150 [218]                                                             
 From : Carl E. Olsen                       1:2613/335      Tue 23 Aug 94 23:52 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : Israel Zion Coptic 2                                                    

From: Carl_E._Olsen@commonlink.com (Carl E. Olsen)
Organization: Common Link Consulting & On-Line Service

'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.

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