Why is smoking marijuana a sin?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Le_Crouton
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And I’ve heard a priest say that being a little tipsy is fine provided you’re responsible about it. A lot of this stuff comes down to prudential judgment.
 
Fair enough, so your position is that using marijuana to get “slightly buzzed” would not be sinful, but beyond that would be?

ETA: OTOH , with regards to alcohol, I think intent is a major factor. If one intends to get a little tipsy, then that would be a sin, if it happened that one was socially drinking and didn’t quite notice until it was too late, that would not be. So I think the same would apply with mariujanna.
 
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Pretty clear from context that the catechism is referring to illegal drugs, since it also mentions that the production of the drugs is scandalous.

Now, if the marijuana is legal and grown/harvested and sold in a non-scandalous or clandestine way, then it would not seem to violate that portion of the catechism.

On another note, I believe Pope Francis has consistently condemned the use of marijuana even if legal.
 
tafan2 said:
Fair enough, so your position is that using marijuana to get “slightly buzzed” would not be sinful, but beyond that would be?
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Yeah, potentially not sinful, I guess. The individual needs to know themselves and know if they’re the type of person to get carried away. And obviously, whether mild intoxication is going to create a danger for themselves or anyone else.

I don’t smoke weed myself, but it doesn’t seem to me like something that is per se sinful (although it could easily become sinful depending on other factors)
 
Since when is getting slightly tipsy on alcohol be a sin? Some people in this thread seem to be taking too hard lined of a stance
 
Melbourne said:
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Le_Crouton:
Caffeine is a drug. So is alcohol. I don’t see how a moderate use of marijuana is so bad
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Caffeine is considered a drug by Western definition. Try telling that to a middle eastern man as he sips his coffee while reading the Tanakh
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Caffeine is a drug by scientific definition.
 
tafan2 said:
People drink all the time without getting the least bit drunk.
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This is only a good argument if it is based on the amount of alcohol consumed diminutively. It could be a result of a person’s tolerance due to habitual abuse, along with the usual health risks, and even perhaps having a blood alcohol beyond the legal limit.
 
s.cono said:
a blood alcohol beyond the legal limit.
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That is sort of a misnomer. There is no legal limit for sitting in your own house or in a bar. There is a legal limit for driving. But, if I’m at a friends house my BAC is not “illegal” no matter what it is (of course, sinful is another subject).
 
I don’t understand your point. You are saying that the intent of getting drunk is not the sole criteria for drinking being sinful? I agree.
But it is a criteria, and I was using it to form a basis as to why marijuana use is sinful most of the time.
 
Sorry, I never meant it in the sense of being in a house or a bar. As an alcoholic I was thinking of the times in the past when I drove home from a friend’s house, or a bar, or went out for more alcohol with what would have had to have been a blood alcohol that was over the legal limit. I never got a DUI. Tolerance from drinking every day. In amounts that would make a lot of people appear tipsy.
 
I was thinking that drinking one drink in an hour is different than someone who has the ability to drink four drinks in an hour (because of tolerance), yet overtly shows the same level of sobriety, all things being equal such as age, weight, general health.
 
I don’t disagree, but how does that change my point about the sinfulness of marijuana use.
 
Oh, I see what your asking. I’m sorry. I was just disagreeing about some people who drink not getting the least bit drunk. There are people who drink above the social level, but don’t appear to be the least bit drunk.

I observed the same thing with marijuana. Though it was never my thing, I was around enough people, coworkers, family members, who were daily users that showed no effects from smoking from the morning until the late night. Tolerance again.

My point? I don’t really have one other than things don’t always seem the way they appear. The person who gets tipsy after one drink is very much akin to the person who gets visibly paranoid and introverted after one small toke.
 
If it’s illegal to do so in your place, then it is obviously a sin. If it’s not, then you will probably have to ask your doctor if it’s safe for you to do such. If it’s not, then it’s probably a sin.
 
The last time I consumed marijuana (a looooong time ago) I ate it. Just as the man who quenched his thirst with a beer I satisfied my appetite with some special peanut brittle.

I guess it’s OK then?
 
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