IRS dubs First Church of Cannabis a nonprofit

INDIANAPOLIS — Emotions appeared to be sky high at the newly formed First Church of Cannabis after the Internal Revenue Service granted it nonprofit status.

The designation means donors can deduct gifts to the church on their federal tax returns if they itemize and the church is eligible for a property-tax exemption in Indiana. The organization has raised $10,905 in a gofundme.com solicitation but has not found a home yet.

"What a GLORIOUS DAY it is folks," the founder and grand poohbah, Bill Levin, wrote May 26 in a Facebook post announcing the church's IRS approval as 501 (c) (3) charitable organization. "WE ARE 100% a LEGAL CHURCH. ... All say HALLELUJAH and SMILE REAL BIG! ... We are OFFICIAL!"

The First Church of Cannabis may be the first tax-exempt religious organization focusing on pot, according to a search of IRS Form 990s on the IRS and GuideStar websites, which have information on returns filed in previous tax years.

Levin provided The Star with a copy of his notification from the IRS.

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"You are qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts," the letter, stamped May 21, read. "We determined that you are a public charity."

Levin, who also calls himself the church's minister of love, formed the organization this year partly as a means to test the Indiana's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which bars the government from infringing on religious practices.

He plans his first official church service July 1, the day the law goes into effect. At the end of that first service, he plans to follow the blessing with a congregation-wide marijuana smoking.

Police here typically do not arrest people accused of petty offenses, such as smoking marijuana. If officers intervene, it's likely Levin and church worshipers will get a ticket and a court date.

"Come on feet, we are doing a HAPPY DANCE.," Levin wrote on the church's Facebook feed, later saying that love without sexism is the cornerstone of the church.

Legal experts had said it was inevitable that someone would test the controversial religious freedom law, and Levin has said he was eager to see if police would pinch him for toking in church.

If Levin does go through with the ceremony and is prosecuted, he would need to prove to a judge that his church was a legitimate religion to get protection under the state's religious-freedom act, said Robert Katz, a law professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

"One thing the court would look at is the history of the church," Katz said. "Churches with a long established history would be looked at more favorably."

While the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ostensibly was designed to protect religion from government infringement, it drew national attention when critics viewed it as a tool the potentially would allow business owners to refuse service to same-sex couples.