Recreational marijuana

[CopticChristian]

I have had thoughts about recreational marijuana. Currently both Church and state allows recreational tobacco smoking and drinking but why not marijuana? Many studies have shown that marijuana is less toxic than tobacco. Compared with alcohol it is also less detrimental, its hallucinogenic effect rarely leads to violent outbursts like alcohol. According to new studies marijuana may also helps the lung and increase appetite. Like alcohol marijuana tolerance can increase with time. Finally statistics show a large number of people have died from alcohol consumption and tobacco use, but not many died from marijuana use or marijuana related accidents.

So my question is why isn’t marijuana allowed? What are the spiritual and social concerns that may impede its usage.

Unity,

The Church asks us to obey the laws of the land. Marijuana is illegal according to Federal Standards.

There is no such thing as Recreational illegal actions.

Spiritual concerns, disobedience of Church Teaching on obeying laws of the land.

Social concerns confirm Church teaching, it is illegal according to Federal Law that trumps all state law.

Usage is illegal and there is no allowance for recreational disobedience in either regard.

 

[CopticChristian]

I have to ask: is it a gateway drug because of its illegality? Correlation doesn’t prove causation, those that sell cannabis likely either sell harder drugs or are around people that do.

Skeptic,

The “Gateway” notion is hammered by those that teach addiction as disease. You may want to read Stanton Peele, PhD…“The Truth About Addiction”…

 

[CopticChristian]

Alcohol is not physically addictive? Alcohol is one of the two drugs known to man that can kill you from withdrawal (the other being benzos). You are EXTREMELY misinformed.

Interested,

This is a generalization. Alcohol when consumed in large amounts can be a cause of withdrawal. The withdrawal can be shakes and vomiting or it can go into what is called DT. DT is not 100% for ever person withdrawing. I believe it is about 10% of those that withdraw and when they withdraw there is a possibility of death. So what you say is true however it is not across the board.

 

[CopticChristian]

A person can become addicted to almost anything. Sex, caffeine, sugar heck I saw a show where a woman was addicted to eating the stuffing out of her pillows! You cannot overdose on marijuana, as you can on alcohol, and as far as I know there has never been a case of someone dying of marijuana related disease as happens all the time with tobacco. I do concede that it is illegal. But abortion is legal and we know that is wrong. I am not advocating smoking marijuana, I am just trying to give the alcohol and tobacco defenders something to think about.

Coach,

Your wisdom unfortunately has been turned into two books…

Love and Addiction
The Truth about Addiction

authored by Dr. Stanton Peele. You all should read this and you may find your discussions changed.

 

[TexCatholic4JMJ]

A major difference in our two candidates for congress is that one supports the legalization
of marijuana. Some of the information about it may give you pause.

First of all, it is against the law.

A doctor came out with studies showing that it is addictive, and a “gateway” drug. The
potency of marijuana is generally stronger than it was in the past. It is not possible to
know this by the user.
A story from a woman who wrote in our “Letters to the Editor” wrote that she worked in the
Los Angeles police department in the 70’s. At that time when an arrest was made, a card
was made listing the arrest charge. Another arrest for the individual was followed by a
new card stapled to the first. When she went through the ones that had several cards, the
bottom card usually had some type of marijuana use. The newer ones eventually went to
cocaine, or heroin.

Ask yourself why you need this experience. Is there something legal that will fill this
need?

I huge correction. It was in the 40’s that she worked in the police department.

I could not locate the original article that Dr. Martha Casas wrote. (June, 2012) but I did
find her letter response to a letter writer calling her information on marijuana, “unproven.”
The research she cites is from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and from
the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) The “oldest” study she mentions
is from 1991 and the newest, 2010 from www.health.harvard.edu/mentalextra.

I’ll admit that it updated some of the information I had believed about marijuana. To be
honest, the last “research” I had done was in the 70’s. One thing I had known was on the
potency of the marijuana today and the marijuana of the 50’s. It is much more potent today
than it was then.

 

[coachkfan1]

Coach,

Your wisdom unfortunately has been turned into two books…

Love and Addiction
The Truth about Addiction

authored by Dr. Stanton Peele. You all should read this and you may find your discussions changed.

I would probably concede that I would not understand this man’s work, as I have no background in psychology or addiction. But I am speaking from personal experiences and observations. Yes, I know that is not valid scientific research. I have seen that havoc that alcoholism has wrecked on people’s lives. Most of us know someone who has died from lung cancer after many years of smoking tobacco. The costs of these two drugs, ethanol and nicotine, to society far outweigh the costs of illegal drugs. I don’t have time to site the studies now, but that is fairly well accepted in the medical community. What I am saying is that it is the height of hypocrisy that the two are legal and the one is not. Finally, do you know who contributes more money to the anti-legalization campaign than anyone else? That’s right, the alcohol corporations.

 

[christopher215]

even thou alot people argue that cannabis thc levels are alot higher then they where there is still 0 deaths linked to cannabis use thats should tell you something there.at the end of the day it illegal over money you cant patent a plant like this.

 

[CopticChristian]

I would probably concede that I would not understand this man’s work, as I have no background in psychology or addiction. But I am speaking from personal experiences and observations. Yes, I know that is not valid scientific research. I have seen that havoc that alcoholism has wrecked on people’s lives. Most of us know someone who has died from lung cancer after many years of smoking tobacco. The costs of these two drugs, ethanol and nicotine, to society far outweigh the costs of illegal drugs. I don’t have time to site the studies now, but that is fairly well accepted in the medical community. What I am saying is that it is the height of hypocrisy that the two are legal and the one is not. Finally, do you know who contributes more money to the anti-legalization campaign than anyone else? That’s right, the alcohol corporations.

Coach,

You would most certainly understand this man’s work. It is written to demystify the notion of addiction and paint in plain simple language. Read it.

 

[coachkfan1]

I will look into it. Thanks. Believe it or not, I like to be as informed as I can before I start shooting off my mouth.

 

[CopticChristian]

I will look into it. Thanks. Believe it or not, I like to be as informed as I can before I start shooting off my mouth.

Here is how it reads…

Furthermore, as a society, how should we deal with these problems? Are our incessant wars on drugs really going to have the positive impact the generals in these wars always claim? Or is there some more sensible or direct way to reduce the damage people do to themselves through their uncontrollable habits? Rather than arrest drug users, can we treat addicts so that they stop using drugs? And if we expand the treatment for all the addictions we have seen—like shopping and smoking and overeating and sexual behavior—who will pay for all this treatment? Finally, does addiction diminish people’s judgment so that they can’t be held accountable for their behavior, or for crimes and financial excesses they commit while addicted?

what you will read here is not the same as what you see and hear in newspapers and magazines, on television, in addiction treatment centers, in twelve-step groups, and in most physicians’ and therapists’ offices or what your children are learning in school. For in its desperate search for a way out of the convulsions caused by drug abuse and addiction, our society has seized upon a simple, seductive, but false answer that this program disputes. What we say is, indeed, so different from most things you hear that we have provided extensive documentation at the end of this information.

The simple but incorrect answer we constantly hear is expressed by the familiar statement, “Alcoholism is a disease.” In other words, we can treat away these problems in a medical setting. This viewpoint has proved so appealing that it has been adopted by professional organizations and government agencies as well as by groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous And now the “disease” label is applied not only to alcoholism, drug addiction, cigarette smoking, and overeating, but also to gambling, compulsive shopping, desperate romantic attachments, and even committing rape or killing one’s newborn child! A.A.’s image of “powerlessness over alcohol” is being extended to everything that people feel they are unable to resist or control.

But what lies behind the claim that alcoholism and other addictions are diseases? How accurate is it? What evidence supports it? Most important, what good does it do us to believe it? Will it really help you or someone you care about to overcome an addiction? This book will show that the answer is no—that, in fact, it may do more harm than good. What’s wrong with calling a tenacious and destructive habit a disease? Three things:

It isn’t true.

It doesn’t help most people (and even those it does help might succeed just as well in some less costly, less limiting way).

It prevents us from doing things that really would help.

 

[missmorgan389]

You can die from alcohol withdrawals. Marijuana has extremely mild withdrawals, if any at all. Just because you know someone that may or may not be addicted to marijuana doesn’t mean that it is as addictive as drinking. I doubt that you will find any expert in the field that will agree with you.

And smoking once a week is far from addiction. Maybe your friend just likes smoking marijuana.

When do you cross the line between ‘like’ and ‘addiction’?

 

[CopticChristian]

When do you cross the line between ‘like’ and ‘addiction’?

Morgan,

This is a good question. Dr. Stanton Peele points this out.

That is because addiction results when people’s lives are unbalanced. It cannot be remedied by a pill, because a pill cannot balance people’s lives.

Addiction is behavior and in the Life Process program the tools to overcome addiction are as follows.

The Life Process Gambling Program© provides you with these basic building blocks, which can be regarded as tools to overcome addiction. These seven tools, or recovery elements, are (1) values, (2) motivation, (3) rewards, (4) resources, (5) support, (6) a mature identity, and (7) greater goals.

So if addiction is an unbalanced life, then addiction causes you to violate personal values, community values, affects your motivation and goal accomplishments and the rewards are assocatied with consequences.

There is a fine line and the only way to know is to evaluate what the behavioir is doing.

 

[interestedman]

When do you cross the line between ‘like’ and ‘addiction’?

I think for it to be addiction it has to negatively effect your life in some way or another and continue with it despite these negative consequences. It is funny because I believe that you CAN be addicted to marijuana as I was once addicted to marijuana. I was under the influence of marijuana basically 90% of the time I was awake. But I don’t think that anyone that isn’t even a daily smoker is an addict.