Catholic answer to legalized marijuana

[BT3241]

As for the excuse God made it and its natural so is opium and many other drugs. I live in country that has legalized it they say almost all the customers are middle aged white people . I don’t think anymore people are using it than before its just legal. I was just for decriminalizing it not selling it. I haven’t really seen any negative effect so far.
Gambling is a way bigger problem there are VLTs everywhere I have seen people in tears guarding a machine because they think its going to pay out on the next turn. I don’t know how it is in the USA with the gambling people blow their whole pay checks on VLTs here.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There is no “Church Teaching” as such on this specific issue. As @1Lord1Faith says, the main consideration is that we don’t consume the drug to the point of losing our ability to reason.

My own opinion is that it certainly could be something that could be part of a legitimate medical therapy, and potentially also for recreational use.

I am in agreement with this.

If someone is prescribed it for a legit medical use, then I have absolutely no problem with it. I have known people with cancer who used it for pain relief, which I don’t think anyone in their right mind could have a problem with.

With respect to recreational use, it’s similar to alcohol in my mind. My concerns are:

• the driving issue that Patty mentioned
• the fact that many people smoke it; in my opinion inhaling any sort of smoke on a regular basis is not good for your lungs, and it’s been laughable how some of my pot-smoking friends will cite all sorts of stuff trying to prove that inhaling resin is somehow okay or even healthy
• for those who are eating it rather than smoking it, there has occasionally been confusion over how much one can/ should consume and some folks have gotten ill after eating too much - we definitely need better labeling and better knowledge transfer on this matter
• the same issues that come up for any sort of mind-altering substance regarding developing too much dependence on it, young people using it instead of developing coping skills, etc.

 

[runningdude]

Medical use is not controversial from a moral perspective, as long as it is prescribed to treat a condition it is known to be effective against. Many medicines could be abused recreationally, however this alone shouldn’t be a reason to deny an effective medicine. Care of course should be taken to limit the possibility of abuse.

 

[Raxus]

Also, fwiw, seizure medicines are horrendous. The end.

God, that’s the truth. The right ones can really help, but my poor sister endured a ton of unnecessary suffering at the hands of incompetent doctors by way of harsh drugs before she got a doc that cared enough to actually look around for something that wouldn’t twist her every which way and still help control her issues.