Catholic Church and medicinal marajuana?

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I’ve read legal documents and have been involved in business deals where the meanings of words and phrases get twisted to the point where their obvious meaning is not their actual meaning. I’ve encountered that.

In this case, Church teaching must be the guide along with common sense. What I’m seeing here is the usual, Hey. What’s the big deal? argument, followed by: Ya know. Lot’s of people smoke dope. What are you Katliks worried about? Marijuana don’t kill nobody. Besides, people in pain can use it ta relieve their pain. So what’s yer problem?

People who want medical marijuana can get Marinol. People who think the US government should be a dope pusher need to be honest about that.

God bless,
Ed
 
edwest2 said:
I’ve read legal documents and have been involved in business deals where the meanings of words and phrases get twisted to the point where their obvious meaning is not their actual meaning. I’ve encountered that.

In this case, Church teaching must be the guide along with common sense. What I’m seeing here is the usual, Hey. What’s the big deal? argument, followed by: Ya know. Lot’s of people smoke dope. What are you Katliks worried about? Marijuana don’t kill nobody. Besides, people in pain can use it ta relieve their pain. So what’s yer problem?

People who want medical marijuana can get Marinol. People who think the US government should be a dope pusher need to be honest about that.

God bless,
Ed
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That is not just. People have the God given right to receive whatever medical treatment that may work for them if there is evidence behind it. The government has no Divine right to tell people which medicine people can and can’t use. Especially if it comes from a plant that God created. Science already has proven that marijuana can treat medical conditions.

Also Marinol is not medical marijuana. It is synthetic THC in a pill .Medical marijuana is a greenish plant flower bud with some seeds in it and can be smoked, inhaled in a vaporizer, or eaten and contains THC, CBD, as well as many other cannabaniods. While Marinol it isn’t a bad option it shouldn’t be the only legal option. It’s just sad how much more controlling the U.S. is, especially with the frightening Health Care bill.
 
Petergee said:
The use of Cannabis is particularly sinful because, like LSD, it is an hallucinogen. That is, it makes you think that you are seeing, hearing, touching, smalling and tasting things which you aren’t. The user deliberately removes his senses from experiencing the reality of the world and gives a false experience of an unreal or semi-real world.
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Eh? Can you provide some verified, empirical evidence of this assertion?
 
I’m not sure what the Church’s position on marijuana is. I’ll read this whole thread eventually but I can’t right now. I will say that I have no problem with marijuana whatsoever. Marijuana does have medicinal purposes. It can abused like alcohol, sex, food, internet, etc. just as anything can. It can have negative effects just as alcohol and tobacco can. I’m not a scientist or a marijuana expert.

I’m not going to go all into detail or say anything particularly direct, but based on certain experiences I will say I think marijuana is healthier than alcohol. If you don’t smoke it, then the negative effects are much smaller; also if you grow it on your own. If you get it from a dealer then you know stuff has been added to it, which makes it much more dangerous. I understand it’s illegal in America, but I don’t know why it would be against Church teaching if it was legal.

I can see a lot of uses for medicinal marijuana in particular, for instance people with HIV/AIDS, women with severe period cramps, a bad headache, people who need to increase their appetite, etc. That’s my opinion, I’m not saying it’s ok to DEPEND on marijuana or abuse it or anything, but really it’s been demonized to a ridiculous extent. For a good laugh watch the always informative “Reefer Madness”, not sure if it’s already been mentioned

PS: Hope no one judges me harshly based on my position…
 
mariahloves said:
I’m not sure what the Church’s position on marijuana is. I’ll read this whole thread eventually but I can’t right now. I will say that I have no problem with marijuana whatsoever. Marijuana does have medicinal purposes. It can abused like alcohol, sex, food, internet, etc. just as anything can. It can have negative effects just as alcohol and tobacco can. I’m not a scientist or a marijuana expert.

I’m not going to go all into detail or say anything particularly direct, but based on certain experiences I will say I think marijuana is healthier than alcohol. If you don’t smoke it, then the negative effects are much smaller; also if you grow it on your own. If you get it from a dealer then you know stuff has been added to it, which makes it much more dangerous. I understand it’s illegal in America, but I don’t know why it would be against Church teaching if it was legal.

I can see a lot of uses for medicinal marijuana in particular, for instance people with HIV/AIDS, women with severe period cramps, a bad headache, people who need to increase their appetite, etc. That’s my opinion, I’m not saying it’s ok to DEPEND on marijuana or abuse it or anything, but really it’s been demonized to a ridiculous extent. For a good laugh watch the always informative “Reefer Madness”, not sure if it’s already been mentioned

PS: Hope no one judges me harshly based on my position…
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I agree with you 110%.

Reefer Madness was a hoot:D
 
lufty said:
Are there any Church rulings, or thoughts on the Catholic Church or Catholics and medicinal marijuana? Just wondering as I have not seen this come up yet.
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i don’t think the Church has yet ruled on the use of medical marijuana, but if it can be proven that patients can benefit from its use, I don’t see why it cannot be accepted as a legitimate medical practice in some cases.
 
There should be no problem with medical marijuana. It is a lot less dangerous than many prescription drugs and actually alters your mind less than some as well.
 
edwest2 said:
It is wrong and a bad idea.

justice.gov/dea/marijuana_position.html

God bless,
Ed
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I disagree. I will just give you a few reasons why from my experience:

First of all, legalizing it will make children getting it harder. It seems stupid, but it is true. When I was in high school I had no problem calling up different people to get weed. This wasn’t the same case with alcohol though. Weed was a phone call away. Alcohol was much more of a pain to get because you had to either have a fake id, know someone with a fake id, or know someone over 21.

If weed was legal, it would reduce the use of other drugs IMO. Drug dealers will tend to get harder things and offer it to their customers that only buy weed. This won’t happen in a convenience store or wherever you would buy weed legally.

It would stop funding illegal operations and criminals. Who do you think profits so much off of weed? CRIMINALS. Who would profit off of weed if it was legal…the government. Who do you want getting money?

Also, in my opinion, weed is much less damaging to society than alcohol. People get in fights all the time when they are drunk and do all sorts of other illegal and damaging things. This definitely does not happen as much with weed. Also weed has not been conclusively linked to cancer like alcohol so in my opinion it is a safer alternative for both the individual and for society.

It is a no brainer to me.
 
Independent corporations would get the money and not pay taxes as they do now.

justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/index.html

The dope dealers will be standing just outside the Dope Store, telling customers:

“Hey. Marijuana’s nothing. I’ve got the good stuff.”

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
 
edwest2 said:
Independent corporations would get the money and not pay taxes as they do now.

justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/index.html

The dope dealers will be standing just outside the Dope Store, telling customers:

“Hey. Marijuana’s nothing. I’ve got the good stuff.”

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
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That’s speculation, not fact. The most common illicit drug use is marijuana. So why would folks be going on to the good stuff when we already know most prefer even while it’s illegal to stick with marijuana? What person would go through all the risk that is associated with buying from a dealer when they could get it at a store? The only reason why people move on to other drugs is because the goverment has made marijuana taboo to this society. I’m willing to bet the DEA would make alcohol illegal if they could, especially by reading fact #10. They even admit how much damage alcohol causes to society yet have no proof of how much damage legalizing marijuana would do to society, because they have none. The only ‘proof’ they have of the probelms that occur with marijuana are the ones that stem from it being illegal.
 
edwest2 said:
I suggest you learn about what’s actually going on out there:

drug-rehabilitation.com/marijuana_addiction.htm

The dull, uninterested and high people will not bring this country up but will drag it down. How many comnpanies need sharp, intelligent and alert employees?

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
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I usually don’t respond to red herrings, but I will say that the link isn’t all that bad, though it’s main author has a few misleading statements in there.
 
Do you know how many drug rehab centers there are in this country? I keep hearing about a certain group of people that will bring this country down if they are allowed to proliferate. People who dull their minds with marijuana are nor spending their time in a healthy or productive way. A lot of time, energy and good ideas are lost forever to a guy just wasting his time being high. For those who fear a loss of the competitive edge of this country, just picture a whole lot of people sitting on couches all over the country getting high.

Having worked in heath care, I know there will be more business coming into Emergency Rooms across the country if this becomes legal.

The Catholic Answer is that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Don’t abuse it.

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
 
edwest2 said:
Do you know how many drug rehab centers there are in this country? I keep hearing about a certain group of people that will bring this country down if they are allowed to proliferate. People who dull their minds with marijuana are nor spending their time in a healthy or productive way. A lot of time, energy and good ideas are lost forever to a guy just wasting his time being high. For those who fear a loss of the competitive edge of this country, just picture a whole lot of people sitting on couches all over the country getting high.

Having worked in heath care, I know there will be more business coming into Emergency Rooms across the country if this becomes legal.

The Catholic Answer is that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Don’t abuse it.

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
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Better not drink alcohol at the bar, or a party, or even at all then. Lot of time, money, life, and reason wasted in that alright. If you think that every person who smokes marijuana, does it all the time, dulls their mind, and is unproductive to the church and society you are absolutely incorrect.
 
edwest2 said:
Do you know how many drug rehab centers there are in this country? I keep hearing about a certain group of people that will bring this country down if they are allowed to proliferate. People who dull their minds with marijuana are nor spending their time in a healthy or productive way. A lot of time, energy and good ideas are lost forever to a guy just wasting his time being high. For those who fear a loss of the competitive edge of this country, just picture a whole lot of people sitting on couches all over the country getting high.

Having worked in heath care, I know there will be more business coming into Emergency Rooms across the country if this becomes legal.

The Catholic Answer is that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Don’t abuse it.

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
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Please explain how marijuana would cause more people to go the emergency room.
 
SonofMonica said:
Hey LittleSoldier - I am saying a prayer for you this morning. That you experience healing. That you will one day experience justice.

I’m one of those people who is adversely affected by our laws and our medical system, and I will never deem what you are doing a sin. For the past month and a half I have been without medical insurance and have had to forgo some of my diabetic medications, ONE of which, without insurance, costs $400 for less than a month’s supply. As a result, I gained 15 lbs. and have been endlessly sick for the past month. I got coverage again, and I’m really grateful that I didn’t run out of anti-depressants, because then I probably would have had to seek M and risk the judgment of others and perhaps the law.

Whatever the uncharitable position of some or our nation may be, know that you will always have a compassionate ear in me. I cannot, for the life of me, (literally) understand why some deem evil the natural, renewable therapy that God has put on the Earth for humans to use for their benefit and the benefit of others. Nor can I understand why insurance companies (which are required by law to pursue maximum profits to their shareholders, and NOT your health) are allowed to be middlemen between people and their everyday healthcare treatment. That’s not insurance, it’s extortion. Our system works fine for people who don’t have to use it. I’ve never met a cancer patient, diabetes patient, etc. who thinks our system of laws or healthcare is fine or “the best in the world.”

In Christ’s love and compassion – SonofMonica
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I’m sorry it took me so long to respond. I thought this thread had died and I put in my last post as a last-ditch effort to make a point (which is that my “adversaries” never posted references to any scientific research to back up their claims).

I’m so sorry about your medical condition and health insurance condition. I’m diabetic, although it’s being controlled with diet right now. It amazes me that someone who is diabetic can’t afford the meds he needs. I know how destructive diabetes can be (my Mom had it since she was 19 and died from it at age 81. It was a constant struggle for most of her life).

I’ve decided to not go on the MM program, but instead move to a state with a warmer climate. So I’ve been trying to get off the opiates and as I’ve cut down on the dosage my pain level, naturally, increases. Then I realized my TMJ pain (which was pretty much nullified by the opiates) is showing up again. I honestly don’t know if I can do this. I don’t think I can take the back and leg pain, and then TMJ pain on top of it, especially since the TMJ pain was so bad by itself that I considered suicide to stop it. I’m really worried now.

The people who need MM are in no condition to fight for it. And with the way pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies are run (not to mention the federal government) I just can’t see any sort of national reform soon. MM is almost free, the side effects are relatively small, and I can’t see any reason for it not to be legalized, except that the pharmaceutical companies would make no profit.

Any treatment for TMJD is not covered by any insurance except Medicare. Not medical insurance and not dental insurance. It’s so frustrating to know there is a plant that can help so much and yet I’m told I’m breaking the law for using it (not that I am right now). Just what are people like us supposed to do? I keep hearing “well, the current legal pain meds work” but they don’t! Why don’t people understand that they don’t? We’re not trying to be tweakers. And the frustration makes the pain worse.

I appreciate your kinds words and you (and everyone else who is suffering) is in my prayers. Maybe someday, through the grace of God, this gift He sent us will be used.
 
edwest2 said:
I suggest you learn about what’s actually going on out there:

drug-rehabilitation.com/marijuana_addiction.htm

The dull, uninterested and high people will not bring this country up but will drag it down. How many comnpanies need sharp, intelligent and alert employees?

God bless,
Ed
Choose Jesus.
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Dear Ed,

I didn’t read the entire article, but I scanned it. I would like you to know that it emphasized smoked marijuana, even in the little part on MM. Perhaps you aren’t aware that this thread is about MM. Here is what I saw about MM in your article:

"THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana, produces effects that potentially can be useful for treating a variety of medical conditions. It is the main ingredient in an oral medication that is currently used to treat nausea in cancer chemotherapy patients and to stimulate appetite in patients with wasting due to AIDS. Scientists are continuing to investigate other potential medical uses for cannabinoids.71 Research is underway to examine the effects of smoked marijuana and extracts of marijuana on appetite stimulation, certain types of pain, and spasticity due to multiple sclerosis.

Some clinical trials of smoked marijuana for therapy are underway, but the inconsistency of THC dosage in different marijuana samples poses a major hindrance to valid trials and to the safe and effective use of the drug. Moreover, the adverse effects of marijuana smoke on the respiratory system will offset the helpfulness of smoked marijuana for some patients. Finally, little is known about the many chemicals besides THC that are in marijuana, or their possible deleterious impact on patients with medical conditions."

From what I know from personal conversations, people who are using MM do not smoke it. We aren’t trying to get a buzz. We aren’t mixing it with codeine or crack cocaine.

What would you have me do? What would you have the other posters on this thread who are suffering do? Yes, it would be just dandy if we could be alert, and HEALTHY. Maybe you don’t understand that some of us (too many) ARE IN PAIN. Please excuse my upper-case letters, but I don’t think I’m getting through to some. People in pain are not high-functioning people. People in pain are already taking opiates and medications for the side effects of the opiates (such as nausea) and medications for the side effects of the medications used for the side effects of the opiates.

People like me want nothing more than to continue in our careers or start a career, continue in school, be high-functioning, happy, healthy contributors to society. We can’t do it.

Please let me describe a TMJ headache. Imagine an axe embedded in the top of your skull, from front to back. Now imagine an ice pick stuck in each ear. Now imagine one of your eyebrows just aching really bad and the area in front of your ear (on the same side as the eyebrow) hurting so much that you can’t touch it. Now let’s add some lymph nodes (I think that’s what they are) at the bottom of your cheek (again on the same side) enlarged and aching. Add a lot of nausea.

Now you need to remember that the person who has this pain can’t go to the ER because unless she has Medicare, this will not be covered. Yes, they are required to treat her. But then she will be hounded and harassed until she pays every single penny used to treat her. And she can’t work because of the pain.

I haven’t even mentioned the DDD, fibromyalgia, muscle spasms, sciatica, weakness, trembling, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum. So tell me.

What would you have me do?
 
edwest2 said:
Marijuana should not be legalized but there is a form of medical marijuana that does not require smoking:

justice.gov/dea/ongoing/marinol.html

God bless,
Ed
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I must say that’s not much of an article. No refs, just one page. But I will ask my pcp about Marinol. I have a lot of questions about it. Does it cause someone to get “high?” How long does it stay in the system? HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? There are a lot of things I need to know about it and I am concerned because my pcp said he would sign the papers authorizing my use of medical marijuana. If Marinol is so great, why would my physician agree to let me join a MM program? I’m not asking you to answer these questions; I’m just listing them just to throw them out there for anyone who is interested.

I never had any intention of smoking MM. I agree that smoking anything is bad.

I really just want the pain to stop. That’s all. Just for awhile before I go insane.

Thank you.
 
LittleSoldier said:
I must say that’s not much of an article. No refs, just one page. But I will ask my pcp about Marinol. I have a lot of questions about it. Does it cause someone to get “high?” How long does it stay in the system? HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? There are a lot of things I need to know about it and I am concerned because my pcp said he would sign the papers authorizing my use of medical marijuana. If Marinol is so great, why would my physician agree to let me join a MM program? I’m not asking you to answer these questions; I’m just listing them just to throw them out there for anyone who is interested.

I never had any intention of smoking MM. I agree that smoking anything is bad.

I really just want the pain to stop. That’s all. Just for awhile before I go insane.

Thank you.
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If Marinol actually worked,which it doesn’t,that’s what your Doc would recommend.

It is crazy expensive and it doesn’t work…That’s why your Doc want’s you on a MM program.

It will help.Docs and patients have proven that.

Good luck to you.

I’ll pray the MM will help you as much as it has the other MM patients.
 
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