The owners of a marijuana dispensary raided last month in ‘the OC’, the California county known as Orange, now say the premises was becoming a church that uses cannabis as part of its ceremonies.

Attorney Matthew Pappas said the Oklevueha Native American Church was in the process of turning the location in Costa Mesa into a branch of one of its 200 chapters nationwide.

So pleased to be part of Oklevueha Native American Church, plant based natural healing is times tested, old and... https://t.co/VeNBgFSqce

— Tracy Elise (@GoddessTempleUS) February 7, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Mormon church has come out against a Utah bill that would allow the medical use of edible pot products, a position that could be a serious blow to one of two medical marijuana proposals before state lawmakers.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said leaders are worried about the unintended consequences of the measure proposed by Republican Sen. Mark Madsen of Eagle Mountain. A majority of Utah lawmakers are members of the Salt Lake City-based faith, and the church's position on an issue can be decisive.

The church doesn't object to another, more restrictive medical marijuana bill that would allow access to a marijuana-infused oil, church spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement.

Salt Lake City —

(KUTV) Utah Senator Mark Madsen said fighting old perceptions about pot have made his efforts to legalize medical marijuana an uphill battle. Then came another hurdle Friday when the Mormon Church said it opposed his bill.

Still, Madsen, who is Mormon, said he won't back down because polls show most Utah residents support the proposed law. Plus, people with serious medical conditions could really use the pain relief.

"It would be immoral to back down," he said.

Madsen said he loves his church and reveres the leaders of the LDS church but he also said he is acting on principle in pushing the legislation because he knows it will make a huge difference in people's lives.

"I don't want to let them down," he said.

Are rabbits in the grips of reefer madness ravaging the Utah countryside? No, they are not.

What’s the difference between a stoned rabbit and a not-stoned rabbit? The layhuman may not be keen to the symptoms, subtle as they are, exhibited by indoor varieties, but an expert in the wild - he can tell.

These are bunnies. But are they high bunnies?

Such was the effect in the Utah State Senate last March, when Drug Enforcement Administration agent and canna-buzzed rabbit connoisseur Matt Fairbanks offered his testimony to Senate Bill 259, a medical cannabis bill.

In this year’s legislative session, one of the more controversial topics to be discussed is whether or not the state should allow any kind of cannabis products to be available for medical use.

A Utah church is suing the feds for seizing marijuana it mailed to a cancer patient, citing protections afforded by its Indian spirituality. But activists call the church a mockery.

An Oklevueha Native American Church medicine woman from Oregon mailed a 5-ounce package of pot—the sacrament of cannabis—to an ailing church member in Ohio on Dec. 10, 2015.

The package never made it. It was seized by law enforcement, as Joy Graves discovered when she used UPS’s online tracking option to track her package. Graves and the church, founded by James “Flaming Eagle” Mooney, turned around and sued for the company and the federal government for their weed and the right to ship it wherever they please, citing federal religious freedom laws as the basis.

House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, addresses legislators in the House of Representatives on the first day of the Utah Legislature at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016.

The Utah Legislature is considering a push for medical marijuana in 2016. A new bill may open the doors for edible marijuana products containing THC, though smoking marijuana would remain illegal. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Saratoga Springs, has garnered support from Salt Lake County District Attorney Sam Gill, as well as the Libertas Institute, a libertarian nonprofit think tank in Lehi.

A South Sound man could potentially spend the next 40 years in prison after he was convicted Friday of illegally growing and selling marijuana.

Prosecutors say 37-year-old Lance Edward Gloor and his business partner opened four illegal marijuana dispensaries throughout Puget Sound. The men claimed the shops were non-profit medical dispensaries, but in reality Gloor was making millions of dollars and breaking state laws, according to prosecutors.

Prior to opening the shops, Gloor was arrested in 2010 when police searched his home and found more than 70 pot plants and a firearm.

The Bear River Board of Health members discussed their position on the use of medical marijuana as the Utah State Legislature prepares to debate a pair of bills regarding its legalization, acknowledging possible medical benefits while taking a cautious approach to its application.

Board member Dr. Jim Davis presented a look at the possible benefits of the marijuana plant as a treatment for serious illness, particularly in cases of epilepsy, nausea and chronic pain, but also noted there was not yet enough conclusive evidence pointing to it as a superior or equally effective treatment for illnesses that already have more regulated treatments with fewer associated risks.

SALT LAKE CITY — When Malinda Heiner was 16 months old, a 53-minute seizure changed the course of her life forever.

Malinda's brain suffered so much damage that she hasn't stopped seizing since.

Now 14 years old, Malinda has 30 to 40 seizures a day. She's confined to a wheelchair, not speaking, not communicating, but seizing all the time.

Medicine has only caused more issues, says her mother, Melanie Heiner. Instead of stopping Malinda's seizures, they've only disrupted her appetite and sleep.

On Wednesday morning, Heiner, her daughter and about 30 other people stood in the Capitol rotunda and called on lawmakers to take a second look at a bill to legalize medical marijuana.