The First Church of Cannabis in Indiana has attracted dozens of patrons adorned in tie-dyed clothing and shirts with marijuana leaf emblems. The recently formed Indianapolis church was reportedly formed as a test case for the new Religious Freedom and Restoration Act in the state.

The group claims opposition to their pot worship is religious persecution

A church devoted to the legalization of marijuana held its first service in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

INDIANAPOLIS — The First Church of Cannabis won’t have cannabis for its inaugural service Wednesday, church founder Bill Levin said on his Facebook page.

Marion County prosecutor Terry Curry and IMPD chief Rick Hite had a news conference Friday (June 26) to warn about arrests if people had marijuana. After that news conference, Levin said it changed nothing about his plans.

On Monday afternoon, though, it did change.

“Right now, we do not want to address this in criminal court, because it’s not a strong hand,” Levin said in an interview with The Indianapolis Star. “If we address this in civil court, we have a stronger hand.”

Police, prosecutors will discuss enforcement plans for July 1 event

The city's top law enforcements officials put the new First Church of Cannabis on notice Friday: Anyone who smokes marijuana at the inaugural service next week will face criminal charges.

The warning from Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Rick Hite "changes nothing," said Bill Levin, the church's founder, who pledged to move forward with plans for a service at noon Wednesday where marijuana will be smoked.

"They haven't raised the stakes," Levin said. "These have been the stakes the whole time."

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – The Dearborn County prosecutor spoke out against legalizing marijuana the day after a task force led by the prosecutor of neighboring Hamilton County released a report touting the benefits of legalizing marijuana in Ohio.

Aaron Negangard, the prosecutor in Dearborn and Ohio counties, told WCPO that he believed the decriminalization trend was largely responsible for “the increased drug problems we’re having.”

“I think it’s an awful idea,” Negangard said. “I think it will lead to greater drug abuse. It will lead to greater crime, and we’re already seeing that.”

Hoosiers who try marijuana while visiting states where it's legal may risk breaking the law, or possibly losing their jobs, experts say, if they face a blood or urine draw when they return home.

If you're traveling this summer to a state where marijuana is legal and feel tempted to partake, employment and legal experts say you still may want to think twice before lighting up.

That's because the pot you smoke legally there could wind up causing you big problems back here at home — even days or weeks after the buzz has faded.

The most extreme consequences could be a trip to jail or getting booted from a job:

More than a year after Indiana lawmakers legalized a so-called cash crop, the coffers are still empty.

Legislation signed into law in 2014 approved the commercial growth and research of the versatile industrial hemp plant, which is a non-intoxicating form of cannabis.

But lack of federal approval has stalled the state from moving forward.

Jamie Petty, the founder of the Indiana Hemp Industries Association, says the plant could be a boon for Indiana agriculture and manufacturing.

“We have empty factories in Anderson and Kokomo that could be converted,” she says. “It becomes the hemp processing plant.”

With IRS recognition, gifts are tax deductible for Bill Levin’s new Indianapolis church, which will begin operation the day Indiana’s new Religious Freedom law takes effect

though he grew up at the Reform-affiliated Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, Bill Levin recently founded a church. And not just any church — the First Church of Cannabis, for which Levin will serve as the Minister of Love.

Indiana's First Church of Cannabis, an organization which is expected to test the limits of the state's new controversial religious freedom law by using marijuana recreationally during its services has purchased a former church building as its worship center where it plans to host alcoholics anonymous and narcotics anonymous meetings.

The group's founder, former musician Bill Levin told Indy Star that the new building located in Indianapolis' Eastside area will include a souvenir store and will host the recovery meetings in the basement.

Grower Steve Jenkins checks out his marijuana plants at the Botanacare marijuana store ahead of their grand opening on New Year's day in Northglenn, Colorado December 31, 2013. The world's first state-licensed marijuana retailers, catering to Colorado's newly legal recreational market for pot, are stocking their shelves ahead of their January 1, 2014, grand opening that supporters and detractors alike see as a turning point in America's drug culture.

Indiana's First Church of Cannabis, a religious organization pushing the boundaries of recreational marijuana use in the state that recently received tax-exempt status has released its own version of the Ten Commandments named "The New Deity Dozen."