Drinking Alcohol, Ok. Legalized Marijuana?

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PetiteFoi

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So legalization of marijuana is right around the corner, here in Canada.
Now to preface this, I have no issue with alcohol, but I avoid it because I just do not like the taste of it.
But when marijuana is legalized, if used in moderation, like drinking, can it be enjoyed without committing a sin?
I’ve heard from friends and people who I believe as respected Christians, that once its legal, and used correctly, then it shouldn’t be accounted as sin.

Not that long ago alcohol itself was illegal as well…🤷

So I don’t know what to think…thoughts?

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
 
can I ask you a question?

If Jesus were in the room with you, would you smoke marijuana?

Also, I would advise against smoking this highly dangerous drug…especially if you are a role model to younger siblings or nieces/nephews or young cousins. You don’t want to give the impression that it is cool to smoke marijuana!
 
I would be very careful before you start smoking it. A family member of mine, as well as a great many of her friends, will spend much of their free time getting stoned. My older sister was planning on marrying a man, but the relationship fell apart because he was smoking so much weed that he just didn’t care about doing much else.

So just keep in mind that it can become a habit, regardless of what you may have heard.
 
The difference between alcohol and marijuana is this:
When you drink alcohol you can drink enough to prevent yourself from getting drunk.
When you smoke marijuana, unless you smoke so much that you’ve become immune to the effects, then no matter what you will get high.

We shouldn’t be going out and getting hammered. Alcohol should be had in moderation. I can see someone getting drunk on occasion (feast, wedding, etc), but it should not be a regular occurrence. In the same way, people shouldn’t be smoking marjiuana because they will get high every time.
 
edwest2 said:
It is a dangerous drug. You should not harm your body.

justice.gov/dea/divisions/sea/in_focus/seattle_marijuana_factsheet.pdf

Peace,
Ed
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So is alcohol.

Personally, I do not think that marijuana should be used outside of certain medical circumstances (excluding “pain”, etc), if refined and the psychotropic element (THC) is removed. (There is an article I posted here a few months back about a child who uses a cannabanoid extract to treat a debilitating condition.) However, if it is legal, the only limitations for recreational use would be in operating vehicles, machinery, etc.

Of course, like alcohol, any use that knowingly deprives the person of sobriety would be sinful (alcohol is not prohibited but drunkenness is).

EDIT:
GangGreen said:
The difference between alcohol and marijuana is this:
When you drink alcohol you can drink enough to prevent yourself from getting drunk.
When you smoke marijuana, unless you smoke so much that you’ve become immune to the effects, then no matter what you will get high.

We shouldn’t be going out and getting hammered. Alcohol should be had in moderation. I can see someone getting drunk on occasion (feast, wedding, etc), but it should not be a regular occurrence. In the same way, people shouldn’t be smoking marjiuana because they will get high every time.
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Thanks for addressing this. If it is indeed not possible to use marijuana without becoming impaired, then every recreational use would be sinful.
 
PetiteFoi said:
So legalization of marijuana is right around the corner, here in Canada.
Now to preface this, I have no issue with alcohol, but I avoid it because I just do not like the taste of it.
But when marijuana is legalized,*** if used in moderation, like drinking,*** can it be enjoyed without committing a sin?
I’ve heard from friends and people who I believe as respected Christians, that once its legal, and used correctly, then it shouldn’t be accounted as sin.

Not that long ago alcohol itself was illegal as well…🤷

So I don’t know what to think…thoughts?

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
Click to expand...
Ah, here’s the thing. If marijuana COULD be used in moderation, like alcohol, it’d be okay. However, let’s see if that’s possible.
If you drink one beer or one glass of wine (provided you have normal sensitivity to alcohol), how is your ability to reason affected? Not much, you still retain God-given rationality (a violation of which is one was intoxication is a sin). How is bodily health/health of others affected? (the other way intoxication could be a sin) Not at all. Perhaps you’re driving ability would be impaired (though for some, one drink is under the legal limit), but alcohol leaves your system in just a couple hours. Since one drink isn’t enough to make you drunk, it isn’t likely to cause any behaviors that could hurt anyone.

Now, say you smoke a little bit of marijuana. Unlike alcohol, which one would drink without the aim of becoming intoxicated (for taste and because it has some physical effects before rationality is altered), you can’t smoke a small enough amount of pot to be just a little high. You smoke a bit- your rationality is undermined (problem number one). Because you can be high from just a tiny bit of pot, you can be unsafe (driving, ect). Marijuana also presents a cancer risk (like normal smoking, stoner logic non-withstanding). It stays in your body for weeks.

Basically, smoking marijuana automatically entails smoking with the intention of getting high. Therefore, it’s just as wrong as drinking alcohol with the intention of getting drunk. It’s just alcohol also gives you the option of not becoming intoxicated. 🙂

Does that make sense?

(Also, certain medical uses for marijuana, such as for epilepsy [for this use, plants are bred so that the THC is actually very low so that intoxication doesn’t occur] are okay. It’s recreational use (to get high) that’s morally problematic).

EDIT= I see I was a bit late to the party. 😛
 
So I have spoken to my IL’s about pot - they were huge hippies; like part of the “Jesus People” movement, living in a commune hippies.
They tell me the pot of the 60-70’s is not the same pot that’s handed around today.
That I totally agree with - today’s marijuana has been genetically altered and spliced to have a higher THC content than the pot that was grown organically in the back garden,
It wasn’t as “potent” as todays stuff.

I believe there are varying degrees of being “high” depending on the potency of the THC content.
So then technically is it not possible to get “just a little” high? Like you would “get a little fuzzy” after your second glass of wine/beer?

The largest danger of smoking marjuana isn’t that you’re smoking it, I think its because it’s completely unregulated, you have no idea if it’s cut with anything else more harmful and you have no idea who/where it’s coming from.

If it were to be leagalized, all of these would have to be in effect - or you’d just grow your own (it grows all over the place here… :o )

So far I’ve gotten answers like “don’t do it, it’s bad for you” - well so is McDonalds and Vodka, but people still regularly ingest these.
My question is: If it were to become legal, would it still be a sin to smoke it? If drunkenness is a sin, but drinking is fine, is smoking ok as long as you’re not completely stoned?

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
 
PetiteFoi said:
So I have spoken to my IL’s about pot - they were huge hippies; like part of the “Jesus People” movement, living in a commune hippies.
They tell me the pot of the 60-70’s is not the same pot that’s handed around today.
That I totally agree with - today’s marijuana has been genetically altered and spliced to have a higher THC content than the pot that was grown organically in the back garden,
It wasn’t as “potent” as todays stuff.

I believe there are varying degrees of being “high” depending on the potency of the THC content.
So then technically is it not possible to get “just a little” high? Like you would “get a little fuzzy” after your second glass of wine/beer?

The largest danger of smoking marjuana isn’t that you’re smoking it, I think its because it’s completely unregulated, you have no idea if it’s cut with anything else more harmful and you have no idea who/where it’s coming from.

If it were to be leagalized, all of these would have to be in effect - or you’d just grow your own (it grows all over the place here… :o )

So far I’ve gotten answers like “don’t do it, it’s bad for you” - well so is McDonalds and Vodka, but people still regularly ingest these.
My question is: If it were to become legal, would it still be a sin to smoke it? If drunkenness is a sin, but drinking is fine, is smoking ok as long as you’re not completely stoned?

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was around the hippies in the late 1960s and 1970s and illegal drugs, not just pot, were heavily promoted. Ask them about LSD. Even if it became legal where you are, it would set a bad example to the young and others.

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCFDRUGS.HTM

Peace,
Ed
 
I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone but at the same time I have to say I cannot believe it is a sin when used in moderation as long as you’ve already got a fully developed mind and moral framework. It’s a naturally occurring plant and cannot be put in the same category as other “drugs” that are brewed by a chemist in a lab. Fact is it was likely used by many in Jesus’ time and for many years after; no one started to care about its use until the last few hundred years. It wasn’t government regulated at all until about 1860 and I’ve read about at least one historic US president that smoked it and mentioned it in a letter. If you do it it’s all about what it does for you and what you do with yourself. For many it’s not something they’ll want to nor should get in to and they already know this or will right away upon trying it. It can definitely be a life changing thing but some people likely do need it.
 
PetiteFoi said:
So legalization of marijuana is right around the corner, here in Canada.
Click to expand...
Really? Not the impression I have. At any rate I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone but at the same time I have to say I cannot believe it is a sin when used in moderation as long as the person already has a fully developed mind and moral framework. It’s a naturally occurring plant and cannot be put in the same category as other “drugs” that are brewed by a chemist in a lab. Fact is it was likely used by many in Jesus’ time and for many years after; no one started to care about its use until the last few hundred years. It wasn’t government regulated at all until about 1860 and I’ve read about at least one historic US president that smoked it and mentioned it in a letter. If you do it it’s all about what it does for you and what you do with yourself. For many it’s not something they’ll want to nor should get in to and they already know this or will right away upon trying it. It can definitely be a life changing thing but I think there are those that need this.
 
Peerce said:
Really? Not the impression I have. At any rate I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone but at the same time I have to say I cannot believe it is a sin when used in moderation as long as the person already has a fully developed mind and moral framework. It’s a naturally occurring plant and cannot be put in the same category as other “drugs” that are brewed by a chemist in a lab. Fact is it was likely used by many in Jesus’ time and for many years after; no one started to care about its use until the last few hundred years. It wasn’t government regulated at all until about 1860 and I’ve read about at least one historic US president that smoked it and mentioned it in a letter. If you do it it’s all about what it does for you and what you do with yourself. For many it’s not something they’ll want to nor should get in to and they already know this or will right away upon trying it. It can definitely be a life changing thing but I think there are those that need this.
Click to expand...
I don’t know if it’ll be Harper that legalizes it, but if Trudeau gets elected; I’d put money on it. 😃 That being said however, I do like Harper, so I hope he’s around for a while yet… 🙂
 
PetiteFoi said:
So legalization of marijuana is right around the corner, here in Canada.
Now to preface this, I have no issue with alcohol, but I avoid it because I just do not like the taste of it.
But when marijuana is legalized, if used in moderation, like drinking, can it be enjoyed without committing a sin?
I’ve heard from friends and people who I believe as respected Christians, that once its legal, and used correctly, then it shouldn’t be accounted as sin.

Not that long ago alcohol itself was illegal as well…🤷

So I don’t know what to think…thoughts?

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
Click to expand...
From first hand experience (having to help my son back from the brink of suicide), my husband and I found that every one of the many professionals/hospital/institution, that we were brought into contact with asked first and foremost if our son used marijuana. We had known he smoked but because he seemed to function well in his work and social life, didn’t have a clue he had been addicted to marijuana for 2 years until the psychiatrist told us. It seems that all the experts are aware of the awful effects of marijuana on peoples precious mental and physical health… but there remains this strange aura of taboo around making that public. I don’t really understand what gives it this untouchability in public debate to be honest?
 
Does anyone have a source from the Church that says marijuana is immoral?
Many of these same arguments can be used to say nicotine cigarettes are sinful.
 
The Pontifical Council for the Family released a statement in January, 1997 approved by Pope John Paul II, against decriminilization of so called ‘soft’ drugs… and addressing the problems with legal drugs.

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCFDRUGS.HTM
 
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