SC inmate says religion entitles him to smoke pot in prison

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A South Carolina inmate is suing the state prisons department, saying the agency violated his religious freedoms by not allowing him to smoke marijuana.

Media outlets report 41-year-old James Rose sued the South Carolina Department of Corrections on Monday.

Rose is serving a life sentence following a 2013 murder conviction. Authorities say he was involved in the execution-style murder of the son of a town council member in Lincolnville.

Rose says the Department of Corrections violates his constitutional rights be refusing to give him marijuana "as part of the Rastafarian religious practice." He also says the agency unlawfully required him to shave his dreadlocks. He says he should be allowed to grow his hair to "unlimited length" as part of his religion.

The prisons agency doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.