Indianapolis Cannabis Church founder to run for Indiana governor

Bill Levin, founder of the Church of Cannabis in Indianapolis, has just announced his intention to run for governor of Indiana. However, he will need to be nominated by the Libertarian Party, which seems feasible given that Levin had already won their support when he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2014, where he received 11% of the vote. Interviewed by High Times on his motivations for becoming governor, Levin replied, «It's very simple. It's human love and compassion versus greed and selfishness. It's an easy win. Our state needs love, compassion and good health right now.».

Among its campaign proposals, One of these is the project to legalize cannabis. According to Levin, this project would have been carried out a long time ago if Indiana's voting system were different: «If we'd had a referendum, we'd have had legal cannabis 10 years ago». But for him, «the Republican Party controls the state and nobody is talking about a referendum. When I'm elected governor, having referendums is one of the things I'm going to push for. We'll have it so that the citizens of this state can decide their future rather than the big corporations that buy our politicians.»

His Church of Cannabis, founded in 2015 following a law strengthening the principle of religious freedom, has several commandments, including «Don't be a jerk: treat everyone with love as an equal». The most important of these, however, is the one establishing cannabis as a sacred plant, which «brings us closer to ourselves and to others. It's our source of health, our love, which heals us from illness and depression. We embrace it with all our hearts and minds, individually and as a group».

Members of this religious congregation are not, however, permitted to consume cannabis. This is despite the fundamental principle of religious freedom in the United States, justice refused in 2018 to exempt the Church of Cannabis from Indiana's prohibition. Since then, Bill Levin has embarked on a «pro-marijuana political crusade», in the words of Attorney General Curtis Hill.