Morality of hemp use

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returningcath

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Does the Church have an opinion about the use of hemp products? (Not thc or for psychoactive purposes or medical marijuana) but for industrial uses such as clothing, textiles, etc?
 
None whatsoever. You won’t find a single mention in any Church document. It is of zero interest to the faith.
 
If it was immoral to use anything that could possibly be abused as a drug, Catholics would not be able to use Sharpies, vaporub, cough syrup, glue, among other common household items.
 
redbetta said:
If it was immoral to use anything that could possibly be abused as a drug, Catholics would not be able to use Sharpies, vaporub, cough syrup, glue, among other common household items.
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Weirdly, for millennia, hemp was a staple food and fiber crop in Europe, and was widely grown, and bred, in monasteries, as well. For some reason that I cannot fathom, Europeans remained oblivious to the psychotropic effects of the drug, and there is practically no mention of the medicinal, religious or recreational use of the plant in Europe until quite recently. Kind of strange considering the plant was pretty ubiquitous throughout the continent.
 
I keep waffling back n forth on this issue.
Objectively, I’d say it is not sinful.
Subjectively, I’d say it can be.
 
Well, the same rules that shape conscience regarding the inordinate attachment to pleasurable things (concupiscence) would seem to apply to the weed. Without a properly formed conscience, all pleasurable things can become sinful. Not sinful to everyone, everywhere, from all of time (objective bad), but sinful to the individual if:
  1. there is no moderation (gluttony)
  2. it happens to be illegal in your locale (sin against proper authority)
  3. it effects harm on the body (no more so than smoking, but still…temple and all…)
  4. it’s use causes scandal. It is still a sin.
and many more probably.
 
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How does any of this apply to the use of hemp for food or fiber?
 
Yesish and noish. Same species, different parts of the plant. And different varieties have been bred for different uses. The industrial varieties currently grown tend to produce little THC, whereas the medicinal and recreational varieties have been bred for higher THC content, at the expense of fiber quality and seed production.

Until recently, you could get high on the industrial hemp grown in Europe. The bewildering thing is that no one seems to ever have.
 
Hemp was a major crop in colonial America. It’s connection to marijuana is a matter of misplaced suspicion.
 
What about the use and consumption of CBD oil? I cannot find anything from the church about this.
 
returningcath said:
I cannot find anything from the church about this.
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You won’t. Vaguely, the Church does not oppose it’s use in medicine. And its position on its recreational use would be the same as its position on any form of marijuana, which is not fully articulated anywhere except in terms a general warning against harming one’s health and breaking the law of the land.
 
It’s use does not cause scandal. Come on. People aren’t smoking hemp. They’re using it to eat the seeds or using its fibers for fabric.
 
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