“The Tree of Life”: Church of the Universe Fights For Recognition of Smoking Pot as a Protected Religious Rite

The Ontario Superior Court is hearing an interesting religious claim this week from the Church of the Universe. The Church is claiming the need to smoke marijuana to commune with God.

Brother Peter Styrsky in Ontario Superior Court gave testimony that he was an aggressive, agitated delivery driver before turning to the Church and pot. He insists “It is a high. But it is not just recreational. It’s like a connection to God.”

Brothers Styrsky and Kharaghani are charged with marijuana trafficking offenses for allegedly selling street-level amounts of cannabis to Toronto police officers. The brothers claim to be ministers at the “G13 Mission” which sells organic plants.

The Church refers to pot as “the tree of life” and claims 4,000 members in Canada.

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