Is smoking Marijuana sinful?

[Lucas333333]

Only if you use a bong. However, if you paint a cross on your bong, it nullifies the sinfulness within. In fact, if you paint a cross on your bong, you will be more fully able to communicate with God.

 

[bingbang]

Marijuana and psychadelic mushrooms are the reason that I am a believer in God and why I am so interested in religion. There is a good chance I could be an atheist right now without marijuana.

 

[bingbang]

I am 19 years old. Why does it matter, though? Just wondering

I am just curious as to how you make your distinctions between alcohol and cigarettes and pot. What are the standards by which you judge each drug? Why are cigarettes sinful to you, but not alcohol?

We are not able to get further on this issue because you continue to insist that pot and alcohol and cigarettes are on the same playing field.

If you can show me a church document that infallibly declares alcohol in moderation as sinful, I will shut my mouth and whole-heartedly agree with you at once.

The only argument, barring the fact that marijuana is illegal in most places, that I can find for why alcohol is in a different league than marijuana is because Jesus drank wine and wine was obviously sacred. The last supper involved wine thus mass involves wine, and Jesus’ first miracle involved wine. So, because of this history wine and alcohol is ok, but not marijuana which Jesus probably didn’t smoke.

 

[Spirithound]

Slightly revised, and including explanations for some generalities in definition.

Medicinal - Having a beneficial physical effect. Here I mean to include such things as the effect of a glass of red wine a day on the heart and even the effect of psychiatric drugs which may come at the price of some side-effects. I mean to exclude the effect of cocaine, namely that it causes a build-up of dopamine, but at the expense of having that dopamine recycled for later usage, causing an eventual crash from the high.

Purpose - The reasons or intentions a person has in pursuing a particular course of action.

Beer- A beverage made from fermented grains, with an alcohol content not less than 4% and not greater than 6%. This beverage is definitely not red wine. It has alcohol in it, so that it is useful for this discussion, but not a huge amount, so that it is more difficult to become drunk.

“Just for fun” - Any purpose other than as medicine. By this I mean to create an exhaustive list of motives for consuming alcohol. It is either “medicinal” or “not medicinal”.

Friends - People with whom I share a similar interest, and with whom I consent to associate.

Sin - That which lessens our attraction towards God.

 

[GodLovesTheSpek]

I one eliminates one prohibition, one hurts organized crime.

Just like ending alcohol prohibition hurt crime, ending drug prohibition would as well.

The Eucharist, in the species of wine, is just as much of a drug as wine. Wine is just as much of a drug as marijuana (since marijuana is safer than alcohol). The Catholic Church certainly doesn’t hold that CCC 2291 applies to the Eucharist in the species of wine. Thus, marijuana shouldn’t be considered a “drug” in the sense that CCC 2291 is talking about.

Hurting crime by legalizing sins and disobeying The Catholic Church. No thank you.

Clever to add “species” because when The Blood Of Christ is consumed it is no longer wine. Thus, The Blood Of Christ shouldn’t be considered part of the discussion.

A Catholic Seminarian?

 

[GodLovesTheSpek]

Doing illegal acts is necessary for furthering any culture. New technologies arise and new understandings philosophically and scientifically promote new behaviors within a society. The feminist movement and the civil rights movement for instance.

I can not condone the idea that just because something is illegal, it is sinful.

Illegal acts necessary for furthering any culture. Furthering it to what? How about immoral acts?

New behaviors? Technological “advances” such as the Atomic Bomb, Abortion, and Contraception. Technology can be used for good – if those who receive the advance use it that way.

Illegal acts are not necessarily sinful – depends upon those who create the law, what the law is and how it is enforced: Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Khmer Rouge, People’s Republic Of China are contemporaneous examples. In the USA, the “Jim Crow” laws, slavery, lynching and many others. Immoral acts are sinful.

 

[GodLovesTheSpek]

Exactly. If a person uses marijuana without disabling their ability to reason, in a moderation that doesn’t cause noticeable harm to health, and a legal manor, there is no sin involved.

In regards to 2291 of the CCC, my priest told me that legality doesn’t determine if a drug is to be set in that category, rather an analysis of whether or not the drug can be used, in moderation without cutting off the ability to reason or is gravely harmful to health/life is the criteria.

2291 states, in part: “The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense.” Has your priest read 2291? Does his homilies espouse the use of marijuana? Does the local RCIA address the issue and advise?

 

[GodLovesTheSpek]

I am 19 years old. Why does it matter, though? Just wondering

At 19 in the USA it is illegal for you to both smoke and drink alcohol. End of discussion.

 

[pcg2]

At 19 in the USA it is illegal for you to both smoke and drink alcohol. End of discussion.

Okay… how is that in any way relevant to this discussion? Just because I am 19 that doesn’t mean that I can’t debate about this subject and try to figure out the Church’s teaching on the use of marijuana. And btw, I am of legal age to smoke if I wanted to.

 

[LilyM]

Just like ending alcohol prohibition hurt crime, ending drug prohibition would as well.

The above is like saying the demise of vinyl records hurt the music industry, or that the demise of the CD will do so. Of course it hasn’t. Nor has the demise of cassettes, nor will the demise of the CD.

Music moguls still make their squillions, they’ve simply moved with the times and sell the music as digital downloads, or ramp up the sales of merchandise and the concert ticket prices.

In the same manner, the lifting of a prohibition on alcohol didn’t hurt crime at all. The crims simply moved onto pushing other drugs. And if marijuana is legalised there is still plenty of cocaine, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, ice and whatnot that people can make money off.

And if ALL drugs - even the hard ones - became legal tomorrow, there’s still plenty an enterprising crim could do by way of plain old fashioned extortion - threatening business owners that if they are not regularly paid money they will be harmed. Or other crimes - robbery, frauds and cons etc etc etc.

 

[BobObob]

BobObob;6946347:

I one eliminates one prohibition, one hurts organized crime.

Just like ending alcohol prohibition hurt crime, ending drug prohibition would as well.

Hurting crime by legalizing sins and disobeying The Catholic Church. No thank you.

Legalizing marijuana isn’t disobeying the Catholic Church.

Catholic moral theologians will tell you that if doing something to eliminate an evil (say, prohibition against a substance), but in doing so you create an equal or greater evil in the process, that the original evil may be morally allowed (although not condoned).

BobObob;6946347:

The Eucharist, in the species of wine, is just as much of a drug as wine. Wine is just as much of a drug as marijuana (since marijuana is safer than alcohol). The Catholic Church certainly doesn’t hold that CCC 2291 applies to the Eucharist in the species of wine. Thus, marijuana shouldn’t be considered a “drug” in the sense that CCC 2291 is talking about.

Clever to add “species” because when The Blood Of Christ is consumed it is no longer wine. Thus, The Blood Of Christ shouldn’t be considered part of the discussion.

The Eucharist, in the species of wine, is just as intoxicating as the wine it was prior to transubstantiation, and thus, is just as much of a drug as that wine. It is just as possible to become intoxicated by the Eucharist as by wine.

BTW, both the consecrated host and the consecrated (former) wine are both the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ. “Species” denotes the appearance of the Eucharist (bread or wine).

newadvent.org/cathen/04175a.htm

 

[BobObob]

At 19 in the USA it is illegal for you to both smoke and drink alcohol. End of discussion.

The smoking age in most places in the US is 18… In some states it’s lower. In some places it’s 19. Thus, a 19 year old can almost always legally smoke in the US.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_age#United_States_of_America

 

[BobObob]

BobObob;6946347:

Just like ending alcohol prohibition hurt crime, ending drug prohibition would as well.

The above is like saying the demise of vinyl records hurt the music industry, or that the demise of the CD will do so. Of course it hasn’t. Nor has the demise of cassettes, nor will the demise of the CD.

In the same manner, the lifting of a prohibition on alcohol didn’t hurt crime at all. The crims simply moved onto pushing other drugs. And if marijuana is legalised there is still plenty of cocaine, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, ice and whatnot that people can make money off.

And if ALL drugs - even the hard ones - became legal tomorrow, there’s still plenty an enterprising crim could do by way of plain old fashioned extortion - threatening business owners that if they are not regularly paid money they will be harmed. Or other crimes - robbery, frauds and cons etc etc etc.

That analogy has many weaknesses and does not work.

The fewer ways organized crime has to make money, the harder it is for them to survive.

Crimes, such as extortion, robbery, etc., are a lot less profitable than artificially profitable illegal narcotics.

BTW, crime rate rocketed during alcohol prohibition and subsided afterwords. There’s no reason why crime would likewise go down if prohibition on other drugs was repealed.

druglibrary.org/prohibitionresults3.htm
eh.net/encyclopedia/article/miron.prohibition.alcohol

 

[BobObob]

In the previous post, I meant to say:

“There’s no reason why crime would not likewise go down if prohibition on other drugs was repealed.”

rather than

“There’s no reason why crime would likewise go down if prohibition on other drugs was repealed.”

 

[John_Pascendi]

If so, is it because it is illegal? Because from what I know, marijuana is no less healthy than smoking a cigarette or eating a big, greasy McDonlads hamburger!

This is the line pushed by the establishment…golly it aint gonna hurt ya.thats why we invented that nice term ‘pot’ as in mommies pot of soup! No way,it destroys brain cells and is habit forming…(gee,I smoke pot for 30 years and have not found it to be habit forming).Lets face it,who here is honest enough to see thru this sham…before you fly ,you are given a choice to two planes…the sign reads.‘here Capt.smart only smokes Camels …" here "Capt brain dead smokes pot’ which plane would you board…much less…the first Capt.Smart eats big macs…while etc etc. This is a world gone mad…what once we called ‘stupid’ and ‘dangerous’ is now…for ones health and peace of mind! Its a mad,mad,mad world when the inmates run the asylum!

 

[bingbang]

And if ALL drugs - even the hard ones - became legal tomorrow, there’s still plenty an enterprising crim could do by way of plain old fashioned extortion - threatening business owners that if they are not regularly paid money they will be harmed. Or other crimes - robbery, frauds and cons etc etc etc.

Yes, they could do these things but NONE of these things produce any where near the kind of income that drugs produce. Some people are making millions of dollars off of drugs steadily…you can’t make that kind of money those old fashioned ways.

 

[bingbang]

This is the line pushed by the establishment…golly it aint gonna hurt ya.thats why we invented that nice term ‘pot’ as in mommies pot of soup! No way,it destroys brain cells and is habit forming…(gee,I smoke pot for 30 years and have not found it to be habit forming).Lets face it,who here is honest enough to see thru this sham…before you fly ,you are given a choice to two planes…the sign reads.‘here Capt.smart only smokes Camels …" here "Capt brain dead smokes pot’ which plane would you board…much less…the first Capt.Smart eats big macs…while etc etc. This is a world gone mad…what once we called ‘stupid’ and ‘dangerous’ is now…for ones health and peace of mind! Its a mad,mad,mad world when the inmates run the asylum!

There is no doubt that cigarettes and alcohol are far worse for your body than weed. It isn’t even up for debate. Cigarettes kill millions of people every year and alcohol kills at least hundreds of thousands. Marijuana kills basically 0.

 

[Spirithound]

Hurting crime by legalizing sins and disobeying The Catholic Church. No thank you.

Clever to add “species” because when The Blood Of Christ is consumed it is no longer wine. Thus, The Blood Of Christ shouldn’t be considered part of the discussion.

A Catholic Seminarian?

Yes, I am. Thank you for asking.

Illegal acts necessary for furthering any culture. Furthering it to what? How about immoral acts?

New behaviors? Technological “advances” such as the Atomic Bomb, Abortion, and Contraception. Technology can be used for good – if those who receive the advance use it that way.

Illegal acts are not necessarily sinful – depends upon those who create the law, what the law is and how it is enforced: Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Khmer Rouge, People’s Republic Of China are contemporaneous examples. In the USA, the “Jim Crow” laws, slavery, lynching and many others. Immoral acts are sinful.

2291 states, in part: “The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense.” Has your priest read 2291? Does his homilies espouse the use of marijuana? Does the local RCIA address the issue and advise?

These arguments all beg the question. We are discussing whether marijuana would be sinful in moderation, in a society where it is legal.

 

[stringbeanduck]

2291 states, in part: “The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense.” Has your priest read 2291? Does his homilies espouse the use of marijuana? Does the local RCIA address the issue and advise?

As a matter of fact that, I came to him with that paragraph of the Catechism to ask which drugs fall under this category. As far as his homilies, just like other priests he talks about the evils of the use of drugs and how excess of anything can be very harmful as well.

 

[sean_jackson]

Why are there two separate threads on this subject. This one which is called "Is smoking marijuana sinful? and the other called,“What are the teachings of the church about marijuana?”

I could be wrong in my reasoning, but are not these two the same thing. Church teaching determines what is sinful.