[420 Girl]

When Florida police busted what they call an elaborate marijuana operation, they discovered a surprising Hawaii twist. The Florida suspect is ordained by The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry or (THC Ministry). The head of the group in Hilo says there's 62,000 more members worldwide.

Florida police found more than 100 marijuana plants at the Palm Bay home of Steven Swallick, 52, they arrested him Wednesday on charges of cultivating the drug. Police say Swallick's operation netted $100,000 a month and police called it "pretty sophisticated." Swallick will likely raise as his defense his membership in The Hawaiian Cannabis Ministry based in Hilo.

"People that join our ministry get to enjoy that legitimacy for themselves," says ministry founder Roger Christie, “a religious defense to prosecution for their spiritual, private use of cannabis." A $50 donation gets a religious use of marijuana ID card; $250 dollars gets ordainment, and another $250 buys a legal defense kit. Christie says they provide anointing cannabis oil and the smokeable version, what he calls “the burning bush of Moses.”

"I'm able to grow it myself because my license allows me to provide the services and the sacrament of the ministry," Christie said. Asked how big the Hilo growing operation is, Christie said, “We'd rather not tell that in an interview, but the demand exceeds the supply." He says 62,000 religious cannabis user cards have been obtained, mostly online, and at the rate of about 50 a day.

But police say the only card offering protection from arrest in Hawaii would be a medical marijuana card and only if the amount possessed is within those small limits. If they find one of the THC Ministry cards on someone also holding marijuana: "They get arrested and go through the same process as anyone else," said Maj. Marshall Kanehailua of the Hawaii Police Department. “If they're under the impression that religious use of marijuana will prevent them from getting arrested, then that's a false sense of security."

As for Christie's bold stance on marijuana growth and use, Kanehailua said, “If he openly comes out and sells or distributes marijuana or uses or possess marijuana in the open he's subjected to arrest like anyone else." Christie said they've had 83 successful defenses and only 2 convictions. He says those two had not purchased the ministry's legal defense kit.

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