"Is Marijuana Sinful for Christians?" (an article discussing this)

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A marijuanna high and drunkeness are very different and can’t really be compared in any meaningful way.
 
That article made no sense. The guy’s entire argument was based on the fact that he has seen people smoke pot at a Phish concert, so he can tell you that everyone who smokes even a little bit of pot is out of their mind. That’s like me saying “I’ve never had a beer, but I’ve been to frat party, so that makes me qualified to judge the effects of any amount of alcohol on any person ever, and any amount of alcohol leads to people barfing in trash cans and getting into fist fights.” Ok… Then he goes on to say this:

“If you’re going to pull a bullet from my arm and we have no painkillers, I’m getting drunk. And that’s okay.”

Sure it’s ok. If you want to risk bleeding out all over the darned operating table.
 
J_Peterson said:
A marijuanna high and drunkeness are very different and can’t really be compared in any meaningful way.
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I am not approving of any drug or alcohol abuse, but lets have some objectivity. These drugs can be compared in many meaningful ways.

I am not expert, but as a prosecutor for many years, I have come to understand that alcohol is more damaging than marijuana in many ways; more importantly, in ways more likely to to hurt other people.
  • Alcohol is far more likely to spark violence or all kinds.
  • Studies show alcohol causes greater impairment in driving.
  • Alcohol is a relatively* fatal *drug, with a fatal overdose only about ten times higher than a “feeling good” dose. Marijuana has no fatal dose, as no one has ever died from marijuana toxicity. Only heroin is worse than alcohol. Meth and cocaine are less toxic than alcohol too.
I sometimes wonder if we are wearing western cultural blinders. I wonder how South American Indians view drinking alcohol vs. chewing coca leaves (which they have done for thousands of years).

Does anyone know what the Church taught about such natural products as these and others like opium before the 20th century, when what humans consumed was not the business of the government, even if and when it was immoral?
 
Since some questions raised here concern facts–is marijuana use actually harmful?–I thought I would supply a link to information on this from the National Institutes of Health, the leading U.S. medical research center and leading overall health information center in the U.S. You can go to this information at www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana-abuse
This webpage provides a “table of contents” that can lead you to information of interest.
 
I suspect controlled medicated marijuana will have its uses just like any other drug. If you look up the history on how marijuana became illegal in the US and several other countries, it’s a bit shady and poorly founded. That being said, marijuana is strongly linked to turning a person into a retard. The crowd that is sympathetic to recreational marijuana likes to point to negative consequences of alcohol abuse. What they omit is that alcohol is everywhere, and marijuana is a niche group. If it were to ever explode to the same level of alcohol use, the consequences of recreational marijuana would become a lot more obvious.
 
TK421 said:
The crowd that is sympathetic to recreational marijuana likes to point to negative consequences of alcohol abuse. What they omit is that alcohol is everywhere, and marijuana is a niche group. If it were to ever explode to the same level of alcohol use, the consequences of recreational marijuana would become a lot more obvious.
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Perhaps the consequences are not as obvious as you think. I have heard evidence–and it bears consideration–that rather than a simple explosion of marijuana use, there would be a displacement of alcohol use, which on balance would not be any worse than the current situation with* regard to substance abuse*.

Now if its only a wash, why trade one problem for another? Because it eliminates the need for all the police, prosecutors, and prison cells that currently house these people, the lives ruined by prison, the organized crime gangs that run the trade, along with all the taxes that are extorted by the government to pay for the whole failed “war on drugs.”
 
TK421 said:
I suspect controlled medicated marijuana will have its uses just like any other drug. If you look up the history on how marijuana became illegal in the US and several other countries, it’s a bit shady and poorly founded. That being said, marijuana is strongly linked to turning a person into a retard. The crowd that is sympathetic to recreational marijuana likes to point to negative consequences of alcohol abuse. What they omit is that alcohol is everywhere, and marijuana is a niche group. If it were to ever explode to the same level of alcohol use, the consequences of recreational marijuana would become a lot more obvious.
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Actually, marijuana has been proven to grow brain cells.
 
There’s a reason why they call it dope.

No, never mind that or the evidence of its association with mediocrity and failure posted already, Joe Rogan said it’s good, so toke up and let your pursuits in life go on the back burner for a couple of hours to laugh like beavis and butthead, duuuuuuuuuuuude
 
I can’t say I’ve EVER met anyone who used pot with the intent to just barely feel it. (Yes, I realize there are medical users like this, I just don’t know any).

Alcohol used properly, on the other hand, is used that way 90% of the time I have seen it used. Alcohol enhances dining experiences, makes people more social, lowers social inhibitions and generally helps people to enjoy one another’s company.

True, I don’t hang out in bars or go to night clubs. Not my thing. It doesn’t appear that Jesus did either. But he did contribute wine to what appears to have been a raucous wedding bash. He also clearly drank it at supper with the apostles (or it wouldn’t have been at hand for the Eucharist).

Can you advocates really, seriously see Jesus and the apostles gathered around a dinner table toking up? Ridiculous.

Pot is used to escape the world, to get high, to check out. That’s simply not what we’re here for. Using alcohol for that purpose is also wrong, I’d agree. I’d even concede that alcohol is readily abused that way. But it has positive uses socially that pot just doesn’t.
 
manualman said:
Pot is used to escape the world, to get high, to check out. That’s simply not what we’re here for.
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I agree totally. That’s not what we are here for.

But even if it is sinful, is it yours or my place to lock people in prison cells who commit that sin? What theory of punishment allows us to harm people in ways that are so disproportionate to the harm they have caused themselves?

If we treat drug use as criminal (rather than the moral, social and health issue it is), should the same jail cell await those who commit arguably worse sins, such as sexual sins? How about drunkenness? Gambling?
 
Reep said:
I agree totally. That’s not what we are here for.

But even if it is sinful, is it yours or my place to lock people in prison cells who commit that sin? What theory of punishment allows us to harm people in ways that are so disproportionate to the harm they have caused themselves?

If we treat drug use as criminal (rather than the moral, social and health issue it is), should the same jail cell await those who commit arguably worse sins, such as sexual sins? How about drunkenness? Gambling?
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We’re usually talking about a hundred-dollar fine for procession of an ounce or less. Dealers need to be dealt with more harshly.
 
Reep said:
I agree totally. That’s not what we are here for.

But even if it is sinful, is it yours or my place to lock people in prison cells who commit that sin? What theory of punishment allows us to harm people in ways that are so disproportionate to the harm they have caused themselves?

If we treat drug use as criminal (rather than the moral, social and health issue it is), should the same jail cell await those who commit arguably worse sins, such as sexual sins? How about drunkenness? Gambling?
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I admit to ignorance. Are people actually locked up in jail for possession of usage amount of pot? Or are they actually simply fined and have it seized? I’ve been under the impression that jail time is reserved for dealers (who tend to become murderers to protect their turf and supply).
 
Robert_Sock said:
What is the penalty in your state or country? Does it entail a jail term?
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In Missouri a misdemeanor amount (< 1 oz) is up to one year in jail. Fines are seldom given. First offenders are likely to get probation. There are a few cities–not mine–which specify a fine for a first offense, but this only takes in the minority of possession cases in the state.
 
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