The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a new religious movement which incoporated in Florida in 1975. The members of movement say it is based on the teachings of Marcus Garvey and also claim that cannabis is the Christian sacrament. [1]. They were suspected of smuggling massive amounts of potent cannabis from Jamaica to Miami. They were also featured on 60 Minutes on October 28, 1979. The group's leader was Thomas Reilly, also known as Brother Louv. In 1986, the organization participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration's hearings on cannabis rescheduling in the United States. On August 8, 1994, Jim Tranmer, a former member of the group, wrote a letter to Carl E. Olsen, meditating on his 35-year prison sentence and his departure from the EZCC and their "malicious hierarchy". The EZCC is in no way associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church or the Coptic Catholic Church, both based in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church also has an Ethiopian sister church which is also unrelated.
References
- History of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, by Walter Wells.
- The Law and Brother Louv, The Miami Herald, August 2, 1981
- Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, CBS News - 60 Minutes, Volume XII, Number 7, Oct. 28, 1979.
- Coptic Gets 35 Years, Jim Tranmer, Aug. 8, 1994.
