Weed- a cause of sin

[amaxiner]

I have a friend who has struggled with drug/alcohol use and has been to rehab. He is still working things out and I was giving him a ride home the other day. We drove by a dispensary (recreational marijuana is legal here) and he asked me if he could stop to pick some weed up, which he smokes occasionally when he gets cravings for the hard drugs he gave up. I told him I don’t support him smoking weed but took him to the dispensary anyway. and I know Catholicism teaches using marijuana to get high is sinful even if legal, but am I responsible for his sins because I took him there? Honestly, I know if he is with me he wont be doing hard drugs or abusing alcohol and he would have just gone on his own so I want to brush it off, but I also dont want him to think I’m okay with it just because I took him and I dont want to be the cause of his own sin. Thanks

 

[Irishmom2]

I can’t answer whether it’s sinful or not, but as for myself, I couldn’t do it. I would feel like I was enabling him to smoke weed. And if he has been to rehab already, I wouldn’t want to help him get anything. Let him get there of his own accord.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

If it keeps him from getting back into hard drugs then why would you be against it?

What I would do is tell him to get into a support group or to get some counseling for recovering addicts. Once your friend has a good solid footing under them they probably won’t feel the need to use marijuana to cope with whatever they are still dealing with.

 

[amaxiner]

I’m not against him doing it as a preventative and I hope he eventually wont need it, but we have a responsibility to not lead others to sin and since weed is a sin I don’t want to cause him to do so

 

[1Lord1Faith]

Weed isn’t a sin. Abusing drugs is a sin. See the difference?

 

[Irishmom2]

I think that for someone with a history of drug abuse, the weed could be a problem.

 

[ThomasMT]

If it keeps him from getting back into hard drugs then why would you be against it?

I’m sure the OP has enough on his/her plate without having to entertain such complex moral considerations. Sounds like she offers enough charity as is. Besides, that kind of question is for an addiction specialist to consider. Finally, an addict has no limit to the amount of excuses one can generate to justify getting high.

 

[ThomasMT]

Being “high,” like being “drunk” is a sin. Catholic scholars that I have heard from seem to regard weed as being too mind altering to mess around with period. Most Christian scholars tend to agree, potential medical benefits notwithstanding. Sure… I guess you could take a “puff” and be relaxed and not “high,” per se… but I dont think that I will ever hear such an argument from someone that’s not a bit biased on the issue, if you know what I mean

 

[Catfinger77]

I don’t think it’s clear that using legal medical or recreational marijuana is immoral at all, and we should probably not judge others as sinful for using them. Alcohol is far more damaging to society and individuals than marijuana and those who use alcohol
are not considered sinners.

 

[ThomasMT]

As I said…

Being “high,” like being “drunk” is a sin

…LEGITiMATE medical exemptions notwithstanding.

It’s not a personal judgement. You are welcome to look it up on Catholic Answers. If there is ambiguity on the matter, there is certainly no affirmation that it is not a sin either. Smoke all you like, but don’t kid yourself, or others.
You are also welcome to look up CCC paragraph 2291.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

If you’ve thought about it and don’t feel right about taking him there, then in the future don’t take him there. This came up on the spur of the moment, you made a spur of the moment decision, you didn’t really have time to think it through.

If he wants his legal weed that bad then he can walk to the dispensary or get an uber to take him there or whatever. You don’t have to be his taxi service to the weed shop. I also agree that it sounds like a great way for him to just develop a dependence on weed instead of facing up to his substance abuse problems and trying to live life totally sober.

 

[dochawk]

and I thought this was going to be a thread about Bermuda grass and mustard weed, and how they lead us astray . . .

:crazy_face: