Is it a sin or sinful to smoke marijuana?

[jkiernan56]

Nicotine hardly can be compared to feel good drugs like alcohol and vicodin. It’s not mind altering. It’s not illegal to smoke a bunch of cigarettes and then drive.

True, but you asked why would anyone want to smoke cigarettes. It’s a Nicotene addiction … .it does have psycho/physiogical effects … which is why most people who are addicted have a hard time quitting. The real question is why would any one want to start to smoke cigarettes?

 

[bksumm]

I hate to jump in here at this point but I have to…with all due charity I think:

1. The Church teaches that recreational pot smoking is a sin.
2. The Bible teaches we are to “submit to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.” (Rom 13:1-2) Therefore we are to submit to the governing authorities who have said that marijuana is illegal.
3. One can drink some alcohol and remain sober. I think the point of smoking pot is to become impared. How can we love God in an impared state?
4. One of my best friends from high school has done great harm to himself and family due to his addiction to this non-addictive drug.

Therefore my take on the subject is…stay away from marijuana.

 

[taylorc]

True, but you asked why would anyone want to smoke cigarettes. It’s a Nicotene addiction … .it does have psycho/physiogical effects … which is why most people who are addicted have a hard time quitting. The real question is why would any one want to start to smoke cigarettes?

Exactly. Why would anyone want to start? I enjoyed my first glass of champagne. I can’t imagine enjoying a first cig.

 

[rinnie]

I hate to jump in here at this point but I have to…with all due charity I think:

1. The Church teaches that recreational pot smoking is a sin.
2. The Bible teaches we are to “submit to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.” (Rom 13:1-2) Therefore we are to submit to the governing authorities who have said that marijuana is illegal.
3. One can drink some alcohol and remain sober. I think the point of smoking pot is to become impared. How can we love God in an impared state?
4. One of my best friends from high school has done great harm to himself and family due to his addiction to this non-addictive drug.

Therefore my take on the subject is…stay away from marijuana.

Thank-you Bk And AMEN!

 

[guanophore]

use it how?? to what means?

THC, the active ingredient, has been shown to relieve pain, and increase appetite in cancer treatment patients. It is also helpful in the reduction of swelling in the eye for glaucoma patients. Most people find it at least as effective, if not moreso, than alcohol for relief of anxiety and stress.

 

[Lux_Caelum]

Interesting topic. I was in a fraternity during my college years, which I’m sure jumpstarted my alcoholism. Besides drinking some of us would use a number of mind numbing chemicals including pot, acid, shrooms, helium, cocaine, otc medicine robitussen, etc… Many of us also smoked cigarettes and/or chewed tobacco.

I don’t use anything now, quit drinking at 30 and I’m now five years sober. I personally don’t use painkillers unless I absolutely need them. People that say marajuana isn’t addictive, wrong. There are NO withdrawal symptoms like there is with smoking tobacco, however the need to continually use pot to relieve daily stress and anxiety is addictive. I know a number of people that couldn’t stop smoking pot every day because they couldn’t deal with life on life’s terms without the help of cannabis.

Now as far as controlled medical use I don’t have a problem with it. If someone is dying of cancer or has a chronic dibilitating disease and finds marajuana relieves them of their symptoms, great! Alcohol has its medicinal uses as well. 150 years ago it was used as a painkiller for a number of things. Nowdays it probably isn’t the best choice but then again look at all the people addicted to oxycontin.

Using something that is legal for medicinal use and/or legal for social interaction (without getting high) is not sinful. Obviously marajuana is not legal for recreational use, so smoking one joint is sinful. Smoking 1 joint, 3 joints or whatever that has been prescribed in a state which allows it medicinally is NOT a sin.

Cocaine or acid either medicinally or recreationally is a sin either way because our country has deemed them illegal. On the other hand using legal things like oxycontin, robitussen, codine, helium, glue or whatever to get high is a sin. The catechism states that excessive smoking is a sin. I don’t know many people that smoke one cigarette a day just to be social but maybe they’re out there. So I guess I would have to say using tobacco on a consistent basis is sinful.

So I guess the question we have to ask ourselves is this: Do I use or do anything in an manner for the sole purpose of escaping life or helping me to deal with life? Also, is what I’m doing on a frequent basis and would it be considered unhealthy or bad by the Catholic Church?

I think if we answer yes to those questions we have a problem and are probably sinning.

 

[guanophore]

I think it would be more accurate to say that you cannot get a spiritual effect from God by taking drugs so don’t bother.

This will not work at all for people who have had very convincing experience to the contrary.

If you want a spiritual effect from God sit down in your room or outside somewhere alone or better yet in Church and pray. All you have to do is talk to God, He hears you.

Lot’s of people have trouble with this, or have tried and it did not “work”.

Mood altering chemicals can be largely controlled by the person ingesting them. There is no guarantee of an experience of God by sitting.

 

[stringbeanduck]

How does helium get you high? I’ve sucked it for several years(not on regular basis) and haven’t cop a buzz from it. lol

 

[Lux_Caelum]

How does helium get you high? I’ve sucked it for several years(not on regular basis) and haven’t cop a buzz from it. lol

oops, I meant nitrous oxide. sorry. I think the only thing helium does it make your voice go three octaves higher.

 

[rinnie]

This will not work at all for people who have had very convincing experience to the contrary.

Lot’s of people have trouble with this, or have tried and it did not “work”.

Mood altering chemicals can be largely controlled by the person ingesting them. There is no guarantee of an experience of God by sitting.

My point was and still is if you smoke Pot and your excuse is because it is a gift from God and brings you closer to God, I disagree. IF smoking Pot is a sin, how can a sin bring you closer to God.

If you are taking it because of medical reasons it is not a sin, and I am not saying that it can or cannot give you a feeling of being closer to God. Because in that case it is not a sin.

But saying I am going to get stoned now, because its gonna bring me closer to God, I DISAGREE. You cannot do something that is a sin, and turn it around and use it as a way to get closer to God. I again do not agree with you. God hates sin and would never accept it for any reason.

 

[cantuschristi]

Nicotene is a feel good drug, I used to smoke cigs and if you have ever smoked tobacco, you would know this.

 

[rinnie]

Nicotene is a feel good drug, I used to smoke cigs and if you have ever smoked tobacco, you would know this.

I really do agree with you. I remember when I smoked it was like a fix to take that first hit. My husband is having a hard time with snuff. He makes me so mad he quits every lent and then goes back. Its like you beat it, the hard parts over, but one time hes back again.

I think cigs also speed up you metabolism. Because when you quit you gain alot of weight, and I don’t think its just because you eat more. I have had people swear they ate the same and still gained.

I guess struggling for your breath can be a kind of work out

And I agree you get a certain kind of buzz, especially when you went like 3 or 4 hours without one, and you are a heavy smoker.

 

[taylorc]

Nicotene is a feel good drug, I used to smoke cigs and if you have ever smoked tobacco, you would know this.

It makes you feel good because when you’re addicted you need it. It’s hardly comparable to mind altering opiates and alcohol. I tried a cigarette once. It was disgusting. It hardly altered my mind or impaired me in anyway like my beloved wine or vicodin would.

 

[absolutebelieve]

My point was and still is if you smoke Pot and your excuse is because it is a gift from God and brings you closer to God, I disagree. IF smoking Pot is a sin, how can a sin bring you closer to God.

If you are taking it because of medical reasons it is not a sin, and I am not saying that it can or cannot give you a feeling of being closer to God. Because in that case it is not a sin.

But saying I am going to get stoned now, because its gonna bring me closer to God, I DISAGREE. You cannot do something that is a sin, and turn it around and use it as a way to get closer to God. I again do not agree with you. God hates sin and would never accept it for any reason.

Thankfully, you disagreeing has no bearing on reality. There’s actually a religion based on the smoking of marijuana in order to bring yourself closer to your creator, as well your fellow man, and Rastafarians are some of the kindest people I have ever had the honor of meeting. To answer the OP, smoking marijuana, in moderation, is not a sin, and it never has been. If King David can eat mushrooms and have a trip, and commune with the lord, why cant you smoke a joint and relax.

 

[Matariel]

It makes you feel good because when you’re addicted you need it. It’s hardly comparable to mind altering opiates and alcohol. I tried a cigarette once. It was disgusting. It hardly altered my mind or impaired me in anyway like my beloved wine or vicodin would.

Wine’s a nice treat…

 

[LegoGE1947]

What part of No do you not understand. Please go back and read what the Pope said. Where did the Pope say that we can use drugs for amusement. Please show me how you got that out of his statement.

Then if you can show me where he said that, we can talk. Do you always have such a hard time in reading simple English.

I showed it to my Son he is 22, I said what is the pope saying, He said if you do drugs other then from the Dr its a Sin. My Daughter 25 same thing.

Okay guys on this thread is there anyone here except for jk that see the Pope saying in his statement that we can do drugs for amusement only.

Come on Jk you are not even funny. Go back to school. Do us all a favor. Except the teacher

Maybe it is the space between the “n” and the “o” that some people don’t understand about the word “no”

 

[Benedict108]

Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Schedule I drugs are classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

STREET NAMES

Grass, pot, weed, bud, Mary Jane, dope, indo, hydro(3)

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS

When marijuana is smoked, its effects begin immediately after the drug enters the brain and last from 1 to 3 hours. If marijuana is consumed in food or drink, the short-term effects begin more slowly, usually in 1/2 to 1 hour, and last longer, for as long as 4 hours. Smoking marijuana deposits several times more THC into the blood than does eating or drinking the drug.(4)

Within a few minutes after inhaling marijuana smoke, an individual’s heart begins beating more rapidly, the bronchial passages relax and become enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look red. The heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even double. This effect can be greater if other drugs are taken with marijuana.(5)

As THC enters the brain, it causes a user to feel euphoric— or “high”—by acting in the brain’s reward system, areas of the brain that respond to stimuli such as food and drink as well as most drugs of abuse. THC activates the reward system in the same way that nearly all drugs of abuse do, by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine.(6)

A marijuana user may experience pleasant sensations, colors and sounds may seem more intense, and time appears to pass very slowly. The user’s mouth feels dry, and he or she may suddenly become very hungry and thirsty. His or her hands may tremble and grow cold. The euphoria passes after awhile, and then the user may feel sleepy or depressed. Occasionally, marijuana use produces anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic.(7)

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illnesses, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency toward obstructed airways. Cancer of the respiratory tract and lungs may also be promoted by marijuana smoke. Marijuana has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke.(8)

Marijuana’s damage to short-term memory seems to occur because THC alters the way in which information is processed by the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for memory formation. In one study, researchers compared marijuana smoking and nonsmoking 12th-graders’ scores on standardized tests of verbal and mathematical skills. Although all of the students had scored equally well in 4th grade, those who were heavy marijuana smokers, i.e., those who used marijuana seven or more times per week, scored significantly lower in 12th grade than nonsmokers. Another study of 129 college students found that among heavy users of marijuana critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were significantly impaired, even after they had not used the drug for at least 24 hours.

This is an excerpt from the DEA weblink: usdoj.gov/dea/concern/marijuana.html

For those of you who think this drug is quite harmless, let it be known that it has harmful side effects and you are free to check the information for yourself, as drug trends are included on the actual site. There is no need for me to state the Church’s position, as it has been stated on the thread many times.

Pax.

 

[jkiernan56]

For those of you who think this drug is quite harmless, let it be known that it has harmful side effects and you are free to check the information for yourself, as drug trends are included on the actual site. There is no need for me to state the Church’s position, as it has been stated on the thread many times.

Pax.

Benedict, I thank you for your contribution. I will be looking into the information that you provided. In the meantime, CHEERS and BOTTOMS UP? What is your alcohol of choice??? . In fact, were you having an alcoholic beverage as you wrote your posting to this thread???.. I have been around a lot of religious, and trust me, they could outdrink any Irishman … LOL

 

[Benedict108]

Benedict, I thank you for your contribution. I will be looking into the information that you provided. In the meantime, CHEERS and BOTTOMS UP? What is your alcohol of choice??? . In fact, were you having an alcoholic beverage as you wrote your posting to this thread???.. I have been around a lot of religious, and trust me, they could outdrink any Irishman … LOL

Just a pepsi for me .

 

[rinnie]

Thankfully, you disagreeing has no bearing on reality. There’s actually a religion based on the smoking of marijuana in order to bring yourself closer to your creator, as well your fellow man, and Rastafarians are some of the kindest people I have ever had the honor of meeting. To answer the OP, smoking marijuana, in moderation, is not a sin, and it never has been. If King David can eat mushrooms and have a trip, and commune with the lord, why cant you smoke a joint and relax.

Yes And I believe you. Father just talked about them on ewtn just this week they are called cults.

To do drugs other then from a Dr is a sin. That is the answer according to the CCC.

And how can me telling what the Church teaches have no bearing on reality. Are you saying the church does not exist?