Higher Calling: Officials and neighbors skeptical of Redondo Beach’s ‘cannabis church’
Illustration by Tim Teebken As the video begins, a camera pans over a couple dozen people packed into a small white room before focusing on a young woman standing before them. She’s flanked by a man in sunglasses. It’s a hot mid-August afternoon, and she’s barely audible over at least three fans as she reads from a piece of paper. “We provide spiritual protection and continued spiritual guidance for all of our churches,” she says. “Cannabis is central to our religious beliefs. We believe in this sacred plant’s ability to heal us, unite us, and elevate us toward our higher selves.” “Minister Joe,” the man in sunglasses (real name Jose Luna), is thanked for the provisions he freely distributes among the church members. As the video streamed on Seaside Church of Alternative Healing’s Facebook page cuts out, Luna begins passing out joints, a smokeable form of the “blessed sacrament.” Seaside denotes itself as a place of healing, where its many “ministers” help members meditate and “rest in their divine light” through the use of cannabis. Seaside is the first of its kind in Redondo, but it’s one of a growing number of cannabis-related operations in a legal grey area throughout the…
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