Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legalized?

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What is our responsibility as Catholics if we live in an area where there is an economic interest in the success of legal marijuana?
 
Can someone work in a store that sells marijuana?
 
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Good question.
My first instinct is no, but I don’t know. 🤔
Since (in the us) it’s federally illegal, I’d be more inclined to say no, breaking federal law and all…
 
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I have worked in the field of addictions & criminal justice for many years. Marijuana is not harmless and I am not if favor of legalization for recreational use. (Not a fan of alcohol or cigarettes, either - though cigarette use is becoming increasingly illegal). I have 3 main objections to recreational legalization. 1. Driving. Buzzed driving is driving impaired. No, you don’t drive better - you are lying to yourself. 2. The workplace. If you are working next to someone who has a buzz, who is picking up whose slack. Your employer can still fire you for coming to work under the influence or not hire you because of it. 3. Kids - developing brains & bodies. They are using at an early age already. The more legal & socially acceptable it becomes, the earlier onset of use. My “evidence” is based on 30 years of case study & not official research. More than 90% of the heroin users I have interviewed started abusing marijuana at an early age - (11-13). About 50% of the marijuana smokers I have interviewed experience withdrawal, which may be psychological, but manifests as irritability that continues for a period of 2 weeks or more when they stop use. The psychological attachment is problematic. I had a young lady explain it like this. “When I smoked marijuana, the world seemed so much brighter - why shouldn’t I enhance my pleasure? When I had to stop (due to arrest), it was hard. Everything was dull. But I decided that I did not want to “need” marijuana to feel that joy. Eventually, my joy came back, without the chemicals.” So my question is - why do you need a chemical high? Your body is wonderfully made & produces endorphins naturally. No need for marijuana or alcohol.
 
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edwest said:
The FDA should weigh the evidence as it does for any drug. In this case, it’s simply being released into the wild.
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The FDA doesn’t determine legality. What I’m trying to get at is this: if the principle you’re endorsing is “unhealthy things should be criminalized”, on what basis are you in favor of legal alcohol, cigarettes, fatty foods, etc?
 
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Good questions. I think a substance that impairs mental function and is addictive needs some control. That includes alcohol and marijuana but not cigarettes. But what kind of control? We see lives destroyed by alcohol which has only an age requirement. But cigarettes have that also.
 
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I will take a step further. Because of the obvious and indisputable health risks I think cigarettes should be illegal. My father died of lung cancer.
 
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My own position is that there is a continuum of harm and the amount of control a substance requires goes up as you move along the continuum. Some things, like meth or heroin, are so overwhelmingly harmful that they need to be banned outright. I just think marijuana is much closer to the booze end of the scale: needs regulation but not out and out bans.
 
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Or guns, for that matter. A lot of people in the US die or are horribly maimed due to guns—not just from murder either. Suicides, accidents, mistaken identity…

Guns and alcohol and opiates are contributing to death and serious injuries at an extremely high rate. Marijuana is not. But except for illegal opiate trafficking and use, the Federal Government and some posters here think marijuana is a more serious problem than guns and alcohol. :roll_eyes:
 
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Can we regulate moderation? We would have to track purchases and limit them. Not very feasible.
 
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My father died of heart issues brought on in part because he smoked for decades (although he quit before he died). I still don’t think tobacco should be illegal. I don’t think people should smoke cigarettes, because they are obviously a health hazard, and I certainly don’t think people should pick up the habit, but I don’t think people should face civil or criminal penalties for smoking tobacco products. Selling them to kids, that is one thing, and it is already illegal. But cigarettes are dying out anyway because more and more places have indoor smoking bans, the price of a pack is much higher than it was 20 years ago and young people aren’t picking it up at a rate anymore to replace people who die or quit. It is attrition. The government simply has to enforce commonsense laws and as smoking becomes socially unacceptable over time, less and less people will start smoking and more will quit.

But if a person wants to have a smoke on their back porch and aren’t bothering anyone, I don’t see any valid reason to get Johnny Law involved.
 
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Arguably worse than marijuana, given that people tend to smoke cigarettes way more frequently than all but the most dedicated potheads. Still wouldn’t ban outright though.
 
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Canvas said:
But if a person wants to have a smoke on their back porch and aren’t bothering anyone,
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Was thinking the same with pot and alcohol. But the impairment come more quickly with pot. One needs to plan on not driving. A drink wont hurt but a little pot can. It comes down to personal responsibility which some people do not have and some have a genetic supposition to addiction.
 
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I was also thinking in terms of danger to others. Getting high or drunk and driving endangered others…but then so does second hand smoke. I am glad it is banned at least on hospital properties and many other sites.
 
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You never know when you may be called to serve.
Best not to inebriate yourself at all, even a little.
 
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Is it ok to work in a store that sells cigarettes?
 
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“horribly maimed” Are there other descriptions you’d like to try? Guns have nothing to do with this.
 
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edwest said:
“horribly maimed” Are there other descriptions you’d like to try
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What’s wrong with “horribly maimed” as a description?
 
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