Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church

The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a religious group that first emerged in Jamaica during the 1940s and later spread to the United States, being incorporated in Florida in 1975. Its beliefs are based on both the Old and New testaments of the bible, as well as the teachings of Marcus Garvey, self-reliance, Afrocentricity and Ethiopianism. Their ceremonies include bible reading, chanting, and music incorporating elements from Nyahbinghi, Burru, Kumina and other indigenous traditions. The group holds many beliefs in common with the Rastafari, including the use of marijuana as a sacrament, but differ on many points, most significantly the matter of Haile Selassie's divinity.

The group expanded rapidly in the 1970s, under the leadership of 'Niah' Keith Gordon, attracting a new generation of white American followers to their "Gospel camp" in Jamaica. The Coptic's pro-marijuana beliefs went as far as to consider it their duty to distribute it widely, and the new converts helped move ever larger consignments of "herb" from Jamaica to the United States. Proceeds from marijuana smuggling allowed the Coptics to acquire significant land holdings in Jamaica, as well as a luxurious 'embassy' in Miami. They also established numerous agricultural and business ventures in Jamaica, providing badly needed employment during the island's turbulent 1970s.

The group attracted widespread publicity in the early 1980s, when they were the subject of investigative TV reports, and several of its members were prosecuted for importing marijuana to the United States. The movement continues to this day, but went into decline when a large number of the American members were incarcerated in the 1980s, followed by the death of Keith Gordon in 1986.