Motion To Permit Medical And Religious Marijuana Use On Federal Probation

This motion was filed in USA vs Karimi in April 2022. It was edited a bit more before final filing with an additional quote in the Standing Akimbo case from Justice Thomas.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

__________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Case No.: 21-27 (PAM/KMM)

PLAINTIFF,

 vs. DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO 

PERMIT MEDICAL AND RELIGIOUS MARIJUANA USE

JASON ROBERT BURHAM KARIMI,

DEFENDANT.

Jason Robert Karimi, through counsel, respectfully moves the Court to permit his use of medical and religious marijuana and forego a Condition of Supervised Release that would prevent Mr. Karimi from using marijuana all together. In support of this motion, counsel submits:

1. Such relief is appropriate for needed medical care because Mr. Karimi has a diagnosed medical condition that qualifies him for both The South Dakota Medical Cannabis Program and the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Use Program and he is able to be compliant with state law in both South Dakota and Minnesota. 
2. Such relief is appropriate for Mr. Karimi’s religious and spiritual practice of Rastafari. He has been a member of the Rastafari church and community for over 12 years, since 2009. He is active in his church community and follows the religious lifestyle and practices of a true Rastafarian. 

Thus, Mr. Karimi requests that the Court structure his Conditions of Release to specifically allow the use of medical marijuana and spiritual marijuana as long as Mr. Karimi is in compliance with the medical marijuana laws withing the state that he lives. In the alternative, he requests that this Court take no punitive action if he tests positive for marijuana while on federal supervised release, so long as his use is in compliance with state law.

1. STATE LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND
2.  The South Dakota Medical Cannabis Program

On November 3, 2020, the voters of South Dakota passed Initiated Measure 26 and approved medical cannabis. Since then, the South Dakota Medical Cannabis program has been launched and is in operation. The Departments of Health and Education have delivered a regulatory program that ensures the safety of patients, students, and the public through South Dakota Codified Law 34-20G (“SDCL 34-20G”).  Pursuant to SDCL 34-20G-2, 

A cardholder is not subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty of any kind, or denial of any right or privilege, including any civil penalty or disciplinary action by a court or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for:

1. The medical use of cannabis in accordance with this chapter, if the cardholder does not possess more than the allowable amount of cannabis, and if any cannabis plant is either cultivated in an enclosed, locked facility or is being transported;

2. Reimbursement by a registered qualifying patient to the patient’s registered designated caregiver for direct costs incurred by the registered designated caregiver for assisting with the registered qualifying patient’s medical use of cannabis;

3. Transferring the cannabis to a testing facility;

4. Compensating a dispensary or a testing facility for goods or services provided;

5. Selling, transferring, or delivering cannabis seeds produced by the cardholder to a cultivation facility or dispensary; or

6. Offering or providing cannabis to a cardholder for a registered qualifying patient’s medical use, to a nonresident cardholder, or to a dispensary if nothing of value is transferred in return and the person giving the cannabis does not knowingly cause the recipient to possess more than the allowable amount of cannabis.

Additionally, South Dakota state law enforcement officers are strictly forbidden from enforcing federal laws against medical cannabis in any way. SDCL 34-20G-16 states, 

No law enforcement officer employed by an agency that receives state or local government funds may expend any state or local resources, including the officer’s time, to effect any seizure of cannabis, or conduct any investigation, on the sole basis of activity the officer believes to constitute a violation of the federal Controlled Substance Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et. seq., if the officer has reason to believe that the activity is in compliance with this chapter. No officer may expend any state or local resources, including the officer’s time, to provide any information or logistical support related to any activity to any federal law enforcement authority or prosecuting entity.

Thus, South Dakota has authorized and decriminalized the use of medical marijuana for those who qualify.

2. The Minnesota Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Use Program

Before South Dakota, the state of Minnesota similarly codified the use of medical marijuana.  Minnesota Statutes §§152.22-152.37 provide the definitions, qualifications, and parameters for the use of medical marijuana. Just as in South Dakota, Minnesota residents must be diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition by a health care practitioner and must otherwise meet any and all other requirements under the law.  See Minn. Stat. §152.22 subd. 9. The Minnesota laws do not permit anyone to engage in conduct that would otherwise invoke civil, criminal or other penalties, e.g. undertaking tasks under the influence of medical marijuana that would constitute negligence or professional malpractice, use on a school bus, van or other public transportation, use in any public place, or operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. Minn. Stat. §152.23 subd. (a)(1)-(4).  Thus, Minnesota has carefully limited the use of medical marijuana for those who will benefit from it the most. Mr. Karimi is one of those patients.

2. THE FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE TO STATE APPROVED MARIJUANA USE

The past decade has seen a significant shift in public attitudes toward marijuana and all but a handful of states have changed their laws. In 2021 alone, Connecticut, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia all legalized adult-use marijuana. It is now legalized for adult-use in 18 states and Washington, D.C., – comprising nearly one-half of the U.S. population.  Additionally, 36 states (including Minnesota and South Dakota) now allow and regulate medical cannabis use and distribution to qualifying patients. Due to this pressure from the states and their constituents, many federal legislators from both parties are moving for change. 

To address the legalization of marijuana for medical treatment by the states in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Congress mandated that “none of the funds made available under the Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States … to prevent them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession and cultivation of medical marijuana. P.L. No. 116-260, sec. 531. And in United States v. McIntosh, the Ninth Circuit held that an earlier substantively-identical version of the appropriations rider “prohibits DOJ from spending money on actions that prevent the Medical Marijuana States’ giving practical effect to their state laws that authorize … medical marijuana, such as by “prosecut[ing] … individuals who engaged in conduct permitted by the State Medical Marijuana Laws and who fully complied with such laws.” 833 F.3d 1163, 1176-77 (9^th Cir. 2016).

Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service has instructed the states on how to administer their medical marijuana programs and has issued guidance on how it will tax businesses involved in the industry. The IRS advises, “[i]ncome from any source is taxable and taxpayers are generally required to file a tax return to report that income to the IRS. Many marijuana-industry businesses conduct transactions in cash, which need to be reported, like any other form of payment.”

More directly, in an attempt comport federal law with state law, on Friday, April 1, 2022, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would remove marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances.  The measure, H.R. 3617, is known as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or the MORE Act.  The bill still needs a vote in the Senate, but there are other very similar bills being raised.

On November 15, 2021, Republican House Representative Nancy Mace introduced a bill known as “The States Reform Act,” H.R. 5977, that proposed to end the federal prohibition on cannabis. The bill seeks to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substance Act (21 U.S.C. §801 et seq. (1970)) and its current designation as a Schedule I substance alongside LSD and heroin and to regulate it like alcohol. It also seeks to provide states deference to its regulation. Rep. Mace’s bill is expected to have its own hearing later this month.

In July 2021, a few months before Representative Mace’s bill, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Senator Cory Booker also released their proposal to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act in a draft of The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.  They are expected to formally introduce their much-anticipated federal decriminalization bill later this month as well.

Thus, although the federal law on cannabis has not changed since it was designated as a Schedule I controlled substance in 1970, 72% the states have authorized medical cannabis use for specific medical conditions. 

3. MR. KARIMI HAS PRACTICED RASTAFARIA FOR TWELVE YEARS AND USES MARIJUANA AS RELIGIOUS SACRAMENT

Rastafari is a religious and political movement that began in Jamaica in the 1930s and was adopted by many groups around the globe. “It combines Protestant Christianity, mysticism, and a pan-African political consciousness.”  Rasta beliefs are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible and a central, monotheistic belief in a single God, referred to as Jah, who is deemed to partially reside within each individual. 

Rastafari “levity,” or the  principle of a balanced lifestyle, includes the wearing of long hair locked in its natural state, dressing in the colors of red, green, gold and black to symbolize the “life force of blood, herbs, royalty, and Africanness.” The colors also represent the Ethiopian flag as many Rastas accord Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974, as a human prophet who fully recognized the inner divinity in every individual. Some members of the Rastafari Religion wear head-coverings in the form of turbans, while others choose to wear the traditional Rastacap or Tam. Religious rituals include prayer services, the smoking of ganja (marijuana) to achieve better meditation with Jah, and “bingis (all -night drumming ceremonies).”

Mr. Karimi has been a practicing Rastafarian since 2009 when he had an enlightening experience while with Rasta friends. Mr. Karimi stated that he was drawn to Rastafari because the members had biblical answers that no religion had offered him before. Mr. Karimi grew up in a Christian household where he was consistently dissatisfied with the lack of answers to his religious questions. 

Today, Mr. Karimi incorporates his religious beliefs in his life. He frequently reads, interprets and discusses the bible with friends, often while smoking marijuana, their religious sacrament. Recently, Mr. Karimi was roommates with Jamison Arend, a licensed Rastafarian minister in Minnesota, who served as a mentor/father figure until Mr. Arend’s untimely death in December of 2020. Mr. Arend was instrumental in helping Mr. Karimi find his spirituality and his established beliefs in the Rastafari religion. 

4. CONCLUSION

For these reasons, Jason Robert Karimi, through counsel, respectfully moves the Court to permit his use of medical and religious marijuana and forego a Condition of Supervised Release that would prevent Mr. Karimi from using marijuana.