Introducing The First Church of Cannabis

[Jazzy]

They have weed instead of wine and a “pooh-bah” in place of a pastor who preaches the power of pot to heal the world: Welcome to The First Church of Cannabis.

In May, this Indiana house of worship won the right to light up freely and spread its groovy gospel thanks to a newly awarded nonprofit designation from the Internal Revenue Service.

Because the church has been deemed a charity, donors can deduct gifts made to the church on federal tax returns, and when the cannabis congregation finds a location, it will be eligible for a property tax exemption — even though neither medical nor recreational marijuana is legal in the state of Indiana.

The church celebrated its new status in a note posted to its Facebook page:

“What a GLORIOUS DAY it is folks... Absolutely BEAUTIFUL...HAPPY TUESDAY! Our NOT FOR PROFIT 501 C3 status came in today... WE ARE 100 % a LEGAL CHURCH... All say HALLELUJAH and SMILE REAL BIG!... We are OFFICIAL!”

The newly founded church, based in Indianapolis, launched a GoFundMe page to raise money to lease a building for its worship services, and has so far collected more than $11,000.

“We don’t want to poison people. We want to see them healthy. And cannabis is the healthiest plant on Earth,” church founder Bill Levin said in an interview with Yahoo News.

Levin, a 59-year-old carpenter, started the church on March 26, 2015, to push the limits of Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which prohibits the government from “substantially burdening” anyone’s right to exercise his or her religion. Earlier this year, the controversial bill sparked protestsfrom gay rights groups claiming it would allow for businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians citing religious beliefs.

Levin also protested the bill, but said that in signing it, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence provided the “fertilizer” that allowed his new religion to bloom.

“After Pence made the announcement that he would sign it in a private ceremony, I became born again,” Levin said.

Thoughts?