INDIANAPOLIS – Brian Bennett thought oil extracted from marijuana plants to treat children with severe epilepsy, like his son, might just be legalized this year.

A proposal sailed through the Indiana House, carried by some conservative Republicans, without a single vote in opposition.

But Bennett’s hopes were dashed Tuesday, when a Senate committee stopped the measure in light of opposition from prosecutors who likened it to legalizing medical marijuana.

“This is ‘reefer madness,’ ” said a frustrated Bennett. “We shouldn’t be making decisions based on scare tactics.”

Sorry, Hoosiers, but you probably can't use Indiana's religious freedom law as an excuse to smoke marijuana — although residents like Bill Levin, founder of the First Church of Cannabis, are certainly trying.

Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which takes effect on July 1, allows people to challenge laws that "substantially burden" their religious practices.

Following the RFRA's passage, the Washington Post's Sarah Bailey and Huffington Post's Matt Ferner reported that Levin founded the First Church of Cannabis, which considers marijuana a sacrament, in an attempt to bypass the state's laws prohibiting marijuana for any purpose.

The same day Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, paperwork was also submitted to register The First Church of Cannabis Inc. as a non-profit organization.

The church, founded by Bill Levin, promoted the filing with the Secretary of State via Facebook, and pointed out,

“Cannataerians… would seek love, understanding and good health.”

 

The recently enacted controversial law prevents the state (Indiana) government from “substantially burdening” a person’s right to exercise religion only if it can demonstrate that it is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest.

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff canceled the company’s events in Indiana after Gov. Mike Pence signed a law on Thursday that could protect business owners who refuse to serve LGBT couples.

“Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination,” Benioff tweeted.

Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination. http://t.co/SvTwyCHxvE

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) March 26, 2015