Weedpress Exclusive: Weedpress Founder & Veteran Cannabis Advocate Jason Karimi Tapped as Expert Witness in Federal Religious Cannabis Lawsuits – Ready to Testify This Summer

Weedpress Exclusive: Weedpress Founder & Veteran Cannabis Advocate Jason Karimi Tapped as Expert Witness in Federal Religious Cannabis Lawsuits – Ready to Testify This Summer

Weedpress has learned that its own founder, Jason Karimi, a leading voice in the cannabis reform movement for over 15 years, has been invited to serve as an expert witness in multiple federal religious cannabis-related lawsuits. Karimi has accepted and will fly in to testify this summer, standing ready as a recognized authority on religious exemptions, federal exemption processes, and the intricate legal frameworks protecting patients, businesses, and the broader industry from unconstitutional overreach.¹²

Karimi’s resume reads like a timeline of hard-won breakthroughs in the cannabis movement. His work has generated international headlines, driven legislative progress in four states, and helped secure real-world victories for religious practitioners long denied their constitutional rights. A career highlight came when he presented alongside legendary activist Mark Emery at a NORML event in Iowa – sharing the stage with one of the movement’s most fearless fighters. Yet Karimi insists the best is still ahead. “My future as a cannabis advocate promises more exciting experiences working alongside the very heroes who taught me everything I know,” he says.³⁴

This is no armchair activist. Karimi has logged more than 20,000 hours studying these laws inside and out. He has held his own in court on multiple occasions, successfully litigating religious exemptions on his own behalf and helping Rastas win in multiple states for over a decade. He will continue that fight until the injustice of denied constitutional freedoms and civil rights – for all Americans, even those with felony records – is finally redeemed.⁵⁶

When campaigns call, Karimi answers with everything he has. “I work 20-hour days, seven days a week for any campaign worthy of the skill sets I bring,” he states plainly. From campaign management to serving as communications director for NORML, his experience is battle-tested. Now operating independently as Weedpress founder, he is unbound by institutional opinions or bureaucratic caution. “Not even attorneys are as informed on the fine details regarding federal exemptions for protecting industry, business, and cannabis patients,” Karimi notes – a claim backed by years of on-the-ground results.⁷⁸

His track record speaks louder than any résumé. In 2011, Karimi served notice on Iowa through a high-profile lawsuit that drew national attention and laid groundwork for future federal exemption breakthroughs. That effort was amplified when Toke of the Town published a major feature on the groundbreaking Minnesota Rastafarian exemption victory, quoting Weedpress reporting and research on federal exemptions and religious use.⁹¹⁰ National NORML later recognized Iowa as the first state to make tangible progress on federal exemptions – progress driven in part by pioneering arguments on federal exemptions for state programs. NORML features a legal brief from Iowa advocates explaining these arguments over a decade ago, and it remains available today in the NORML Legal Brief Bank (https://norml.org/lawyers/legal-brief-bank/).¹¹

Seventeen years of relentless advocacy in courtrooms and statehouses helped seed the ground for federal compliance. When power players saw the need to pursue federal exemptions and rescheduling instead of defiance for state cannabis industries, the Trump administration took action aligning with the very changes Karimi had pushed for more than a decade through research, testimony, bill drafting, and direct lobbying in four states as a private citizen lobbyist.¹²¹³¹⁴

Karimi’s expertise is rooted in real cases with real people: Rastafarian ministers and patients who faced probation violations, license revocations, and federal threats simply for practicing their faith. He has stood in courtrooms from Minnesota to Iowa and beyond, arguing successfully under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and First Amendment precedents that cannabis is a sacrament, not a crime — consistent with the principle that RFRA can require exemptions from controlled-substance prohibitions in appropriate circumstances.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷

The movement needs voices like this now more than ever. Federal religious cannabis litigation is accelerating, and courts are finally confronting the hypocrisy of a system that claims to protect religious liberty while criminalizing sacred practices. Karimi’s testimony will cut through the noise with facts, history, and hard-won precedent.¹⁸¹⁹

Weedpress is just getting started. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Footnotes (Bluebook format)

¹ Jason Karimi, Expert Witness Invitation in Federal Religious Cannabis Litigation, Weedpress (May 2026).

² Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb to 2000bb-4 (2018).

³ Mark Emery & Jason Karimi, Presentation at NORML Iowa Conference (recorded remarks).

⁴ Jason Karimi, Personal Statement on Continued Advocacy (Weedpress interview, May 2026).

⁵ Jason Karimi, Minnesota Judge Grants Rastafarian Exemption from Probation Drug Testing, Weedpress, Oct. 3, 2011.

⁶ Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006) (RFRA requires exemptions for religious use of controlled substances in certain cases).

⁷ Jason Karimi, 20,000+ Hours: A Decade-Plus of Federal Exemption Research (Weedpress internal memorandum, 2026).

⁸ NORML Communications Director Service Records (on file with author).

⁹ Jason Karimi, Serving Lawsuit on Iowa: Federal Exemption Challenge, Weedpress (2011).

¹⁰ Toke of the Town, U.S. Rastafarian Is Exempt From Probation Pot Testing (Oct. 5, 2011), https://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/10/us_rastafarian_is_exempt_from_probation_pot_testin.php/ (quoting Weedpress research on the Minnesota case).

¹¹ NORML Legal Brief Bank, https://norml.org/lawyers/legal-brief-bank/ (featuring a legal brief from Iowa advocates).

¹² U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Order Placing FDA-Approved Marijuana Products and State-Licensed Medical Marijuana in Schedule III (Trump administration action, 2026).

¹³ Jason Karimi, Legislative Testimony and Bill Drafting in Four States (2009–2026).

¹⁴ Carl Olsen, Why I’m Asking Iowa to Seek an Exemption from Federal Drug Laws, Bleeding Heartland (July 11, 2020), https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2020/07/11/why-im-asking-iowa-to-seek-an-exemption-from-federal-drug-laws/ (contextualizing parallel efforts).

¹⁵ Rastafarian Exemption Cases, Multiple State Courts (MN, IA, and others, 2010–2025) (on file with Weedpress).

¹⁶ U.S. Const. amend. I; 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1.

¹⁷ Jason Karimi, Court Transcripts from Personal and Rastafarian Representation (various dockets, 2010–2025).

¹⁸ Pending Federal Religious Cannabis Litigation Dockets (multiple U.S. District Courts, 2026 term).

¹⁹ Jason Karimi, Weedpress Is Just Getting Started (closing statement, May 2026).

The fight for religious cannabis freedom is far from over – but with advocates like Jason Karimi stepping into federal court this summer, the tide is turning. Stay tuned to Weedpress for live updates from the front lines.