Marijuana good or bad?

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nightshade said:
I think intent goes a long way here too. If someone has terminal cancer and is using it medicinally I don’t really see how that is sinful. But if one is of good health and using it to get high or as an escape from reality, that seems sinful.
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This would be my vote as well. I do believe there are strong arguments for medicinal use. Recreational use is bad. Like alcohol it kills brain cells. Brain cells, once dead cannot be regenerated.
 
I agree with the OPs assessment. If something compromises your use of reason, it cannot be used without sin unless there is a good reason. The OP rightly points out that cannabis does this.

Additionally, I would like to add that in my experience, I have never seen anything good come from using cannabis recreationally.
 
Helped me curb my out-of-control self-harm and alcohol abuse. Also has psychological benefits for the people I know who use it recreationally.
 
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If state forbids it, going contrary to will of the state is sin. If state allows it, I think it falls under the rule of temperance, where it would be allowed with moderation (same way alcohol and tobacco are allowed). I might be wrong though.
 
What I was saying is that drugs and alcohol are not in themselves bad. But people sometime abuse these things.
 
Some people eat food that is really not good for them. Is that a sin?
Some people exceed the speed limit driving their vehicle. Is that a sin?Any object or product can be abused.
Are guns bad, because some people use them for bad things?
 
JoeShlabotnik said:
Some people eat food that is really not good for them. Is that a sin?
Some people exceed the speed limit driving their vehicle. Is that a sin?Any object or product can be abused.
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According to Catechism, yes. Any object or product can be abused and abusing it is a sin. Intent is the key though.
 
That is what I said in an earlier post.
It is not what goes into a human being. It is what comes out.
 
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To a certain extent, I believe marijuana is used by many people in the USA because it is illegal. Outlaw any substance and people will flock to it. If, like cigarettes, marijuana were legal, regulated, and taxed, there would probably be less abuse.
I do not smoke. I do not use marijuana or unprescribed medicinal substances. I do drink alcohol on occasion, but not daily.
I know at one time, alcohol was made illegal. Prohibition was a complete disaster.
 
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Morally neutral, like alcohol.

It’s use is still against Federal Law in the US. We are to obey just laws.
 
Also, do not hate the product. Abusers will find something to abuse. They need help.
The original post was – marijuana, good or bad.
What am saying is that abusing the product is what makes it bad.
 
Changing the subject slightly…

I was wondering about another possible moral peril of marijuana. Can it become a substitute for God?

Now, this is not unique to marijuana. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote (possibly extending something from St. Augustine) that many things can serve as false gods, things like wealth, pleasure, power, and honor.

I recalled this when another CAF member wrote long ago that he used marijuana as a means to experience or be near God. That particular member is a faithful Christian, but I got to thinking that for irreligious people, marijuana might seem to satisfy their spiritual needs.

I wouldn’t know from personal experience, but could it be that marijuana provides a state of mind similar to the peace and joy that others find in faith and love?
 
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Beryllos said:
I was wondering about another possible moral peril of marijuana. Can it become a substitute for God?
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As you noted, pretty much everything can become a “substitute for God”, a false idol as it were. That includes marijuana, other drugs, alcohol, food, sex, material possessions etc. I don’t think we can single out one thing as being bad on that ground. Everything can be bad on that ground.
 
JoeShlabotnik said:
Prohibition was a complete disaster.
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That is exactly why you should be VERY hesitant to legalize. As Catholics we aren’t utilitarian, so I don’t like speaking from a “what is best for society” viewpoint. Laws inform the morality of the people. But that said, nobody really knows what the long-term affects on society are of marijuana use.

Let’s at least entertain the possibility that they are REALLY BAD, nobody can say for sure otherwise (and I’m not saying they necessarily will be). We will never ever be able to take back what we’ve done, as you pointed out with prohibition. I hope we can agree that more research needs to be done. And I don’t want to gamble with society’s future.
JoeShlabotnik said:
Some people eat food that is really not good for them. Is that a sin?
Some people exceed the speed limit driving their vehicle. Is that a sin?Any object or product can be abused.
Are guns bad, because some people use them for bad things?
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I don’t think you understood me. All of those things: food, alcohol, driving cars are not objectively morally wrong because they are not ordered toward evil outcomes. As to speeding, the church has a tradition of saying that breaking just civil laws isn’t morally right. As to whether or not it’s elevated to the rank of “sin” I don’t know.

However, weed is ordered toward getting high. We make these sorts of arguments all the time. Getting your significant other to take their clothes off so you can ogle them isn’t sex. But it’s a sin because rightfully understood, it is ordered toward premarital sex. I don’t see how smoking weed can be ordered toward anything other than destroying your reason even if you stop short of that. If you want to change my mind tell me what else weed can be used for recreationally. Does it taste nice? Anything???

If we’re not even supposed to have a hint of sexual immorality in our lives, why would Jesus tolerate a hint of drunkenness?
 
In my opinion as a Catholic I think that it’s acceptable for use as a treatment for things like cancer patients who can’t eat, or people like myself who have very bad anxiety and depression issues.

I use it because it genuinely makes those things manageable. Personally I think I take the position of your husband. Alcohol is itself a drug and the Church within the catechism states that the abuse of drugs is immoral. Alcohol is abused far more than marijuana and the consequences are far worse.
 
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