Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jun 2003
Source: King County Journal (US WA)
Contact:  2003, Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.
Website: http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2948
Author: Jamie Swift
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/spirit.htm (Spiritual or Sacramental)

CHURCH LEADER DEFENDS MARIJUANA USE

AUBURN -- There's a church here that provides marijuana to members of its
congregation for physical and spiritual healing.

At least there was until police raided it a little more than a week ago.
More than 200 plants were confiscated, along with all the church's lamps and
other equipment for growing marijuana.

The Reverend Lee Phillips is not pleased. He said the government has no
right to ``steal from the church'' and ``defile our temple.''

The church is a one-story house at 2711 N St. S.E., where Phillips lives
with his wife of two years, Lori Phillips.

Lori, 45, has a doctor's note to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, which
has been legal in Washington since 1998. Lee is ``mandated'' by the Religion
of Jesus Church to grow, smoke and share cannabis with people in need of
physical or spiritual healing, he said.

Phillips, 52, has helped heal ``hundreds'' of people at his home-based
church the past four years, he said. Some are hurting physically, others
emotionally and spiritually.

``It takes some of the pain away,'' Phillips said. ``God doesn't want any of
us to hurt.''

Phillips says the Valley Narcotics Enforcement Team had no right to raid his
south Auburn home, confiscate his plants and marijuana-growing equipment and
take his wife to jail for the night.

By doing so, Phillips said, police have forced Lori to suffer and infringed
on the couple's Constitutional right to freedom of religion.

``This house is a church,'' Phillips said last week, sitting in the one-car
garage of his south Auburn rambler. ``In this building we heal, we counsel,
we hold church. People come to us for what we offer them.

``I have no choice as a reverend of this church but to use cannabis and
share it with those who need it.''

According to the Religion of Jesus Christ bylaws, which can be found on the
Internet: ``Because Cannabis brings us closer to God and our Heavenly Father
closer to us, it helps us to achieve greater growth of our soul. Cannabis is
and always will be a spiritual aid -- this fact is proven over and over
again throughout history.''

``The government can't tell you how to practice your religion unless they
have a compelling state interest,'' Phillips said. ``I don't see how we're
bothering anybody.

``The use of the sacramental medicine is done only in the confines of the
church -- never in public view.''

The couple's church is registered with the state as a nonprofit organization
called The Center for Healing and Spiritual Renewal.

Detective. Jim Miller, who led the VNET investigation of the Phillips
couple, said his team was not aware when they raided the home that Lori
Phillips had a doctor's note to use marijuana to ease symptoms of her
condition, Hepatitis C.

Miller also didn't know Lee Phillips is registered in Hawaii as an ordained
cannabis sacrament minister and is a reverend in the Religion of Jesus
Church, founded in Hawaii more than 40 years ago.

Miller knows now, but he still thinks VNET was right in busting the couple
for producing such large quantities of pot.

``She may have permission from a doctor,'' Miller said, ``but she doesn't
have permission to have over 200 plants.''

And as for the issue of Lee Phillips' religious duty to share what is called
the ``Holy herb'' in his faith, that will likely be settled in the courts.
Maybe even the U.S. Supreme Court.

First, the couple must be charged with a crime. Miller said the
investigation could take up to three more months. Criminal charges could
include possession and distribution of narcotics, plus potential money
laundering charges.

Phillips, whose employment consists of being leader of his church, said the
many people who seek healing at his church are not asked to pay for their
marijuana.

He declined to reveal how much money his church receives in donations from
its members but he did say it's enough to provide for his family and to
assist church members with paying their bills or buying food.

Miller said what the couple is doing is ``the same as selling dope. Having
200 plants is tantamount to marijuana for sale.'' The street value of those
plants is between $200,000 and $400,000.

The marijuana is not used to make money, the Phillipses insist. Lee Phillips
said he was insulted that the narcotics officers broke down his front door
and tore apart his church ``like it's some kind of crack house.''

Lori Phillips said the officers could have approached her or her husband in
a less aggressive way and either would have willingly invited them inside
the house and showed them Lori's doctor's note to use marijuana for
Hepatitis C, a chronic disease that slowly damages the liver, often causing
liver cancer.

``My joints ache all the time,'' she said.

Lori was the only one home during the raid. She was handcuffed and taken to
the Kent City Jail, where she stayed overnight. Lee turned himself in.

This wasn't Lee Phillips' first marijuana arrest. Most recently, he was
arrested in Auburn during a traffic stop for possession. The charge was
dropped, he said, after he explained that the marijuana was medication for
his wife.

The couple is represented by Seattle attorney Jeff Steinborn, who has a Web
site at www.potbust.com.

``These are not just druggies growing pot and selling it to children,'' said
Steinborn, adding that he sees validity in the couple's religion.

``In many respects, I feel the same way,'' he said. ``Throughout religion,
mystical experiences have been altered states of consciousness brought on by
the use of some substance.

``These folks aren't just nutcases.''

Said Phillips: ``I don't want the public to this we're some crack house on
the corner. Inside this house, we're doing some good work.

``I'm not just a guy who's into weed and hiding behind religion.''
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