So, I was in the chat room and someone commented that a person who IM'd them stated they smoked pot. The commentor stated she immediately said goodbye and closed the chat window. I thought the topic was interesting and tried to ask a question, but apparently I offended someone by bringing up the topic.
First let me state, I AM NOT ADVOCATING MARIJUANA USE. I have never done an illegal drug in my life.
For me this is a thought experiment. I am interested in how we come to the views that we do.
With that said, on what basis do you say marijuana use is wrong? Please provide an argument for why it is wrong. Off hand I can not think of a verse that prohibits it.
If it is becuase it is against the law in the US, would it be different with medical marijuana like here in Colorado, or where it is completely legal like in Holland?
If it is wrong because it is mind altering, then how is it different than having a glass of wine or two after work or in the evening while at home?
Do you view it wrong if it is for medical use to allieviate chronic pain? If not, how would that be different than taking vicodin or any kind of narcotic pain killer?
If it is because it is potentially addicting, then what about anything else that is addicting? by that I mean anything that people become to focused on, like playing XBOX, or fixing cars or anything else that becomes an obbession with someone?
If it is becuase it is "bad" for you, then what about anything else that people consume that is bad for you like sugar, caffine, fat, etc?
Again, this is a thought experiement. I like to understand the views we have and possible contradictions.
Medical pot is legal here in CO and in a few other states. It is only illegal because it is on the controlled substance list. Funny though the government doesn't have very much of the substance to control. It is probably part of the plot by the FDA, AMA, CDC, and the pharmaceutical companies to keep beneficial and medicinal herbs away from us since they can't actually profit from them.
If you study something like, say the cure for cancer, you'll find that there are many cures for most kinds of cancer but because they can't be converted from herbs into some kind of chemical the medical regime will not use them and so they have to find a synthetic cure for cancer.
I personally use marijuana to control my pain and help me sleep at night. I am one of those "and he walked away" kind of stories. Over 30 car wrecks, many motorcycle wrecks, hit by cars three times, fell off a cliff, skiing accidents, bicycle racing accidents, and a few other things that really hurt. And I still walk upright and eat with a fork!!!
If I use prescription pain medications I can't function. I am usually not able to drive to work in the morning or I can't function well enough the next day to work if I even get there and otc meds aren't strong enough. I believe pot has it's place and it should be legal but it should be used for medicinal purposes only and if people want to use it to just get high then that would be no different than abusing any other prescription drug.
I don't think the Bible speaks against the use of any drugs and in any case we are to be moderate in our use of anything. If Christians are going to believe that marijuana use is wrong then what do they have to say about the drugs in their medicine cabinet or their purse? We can take opiates all day long and that isn't a problem because a Dr. told us to. Really? Who's the real sorcerer here? The guy that grows and sells pot or the pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists and drs? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
The point of my initial post wasn't about legalizing it. It was questioning why it is wrong and depending on that answer what else follows.
As you may have noticed from my initial comments, I was looking for scripture to support it being wrong.
Regarding the negative effects of to they body, then why not also ban sugar, caffeine and nicotine? Those probably do as much or more damage. Look at the cardiovascular disease and diabetes problem we have in this country as a result of those substances.
As for other negative effects, I do not think legalisation would cause more problems. Look at Holland, it is legal and you certainly do not have more problems there. Again I am not posting an argument to legalize it. I was bringing up the question about how we come to the views we do.That is my main interest, why do we hold the views we do which can be contradictory to other views?
SilverFox, again please understand I am not arguing for marijuana. I am looking at the logic involved in how we think about things. No one yet has addressed the issues I brought up in my initial post.
But to use your rationale about stumbling blocks. What about pain killers like percocet? How many people have become addicted to narcotics because of a very valid initial reason like a broken bone? By your logic we should not allow any pain management for risk of it being a gateway to addiction or other drugs.
I just spent a year working in Kuwait. There all narcotics are prohibited. Broken femur sends you to the ER? Sorry, no morphine for you. Seriously. They do not believe in narcotic pain managment.
I draw the line between recreational use and medicinal use....even in these two areas you can draw a line between use and misuse. I would rather see somebody take marijuana pill than a zolaft pill.
I have to side with what Sparrow said... there are some really dangerous, messed-up things being ADVERTISED on tv that kill people all of the time. Ambien is so good at killing people that it has become a running joke. For myself, I suffered with migraines for most of my youth and was haphazardly put on all different kinds of terrible pain medications, neurological drugs, all kinds of stuff. If the bad outweighed the good, they took me right off and put me on something else, with no withdrawal or recovery period. I am scared to think what that might have done to my poor little brain! I suffered from tremors, hallucinations, fainting spells, sometimes long after being off the drugs.
Just recently I quit taking an anti-depressant with medical supervision, because that is dangerous business. I have since stopped twitching and thrashing involuntarily in my sleep.
In my opinion, pot shouldn't be treated with such taboo as it is. Like others have said, prescription drugs are also abused, so while I don't think making it legal will stop the problem, I don't think it will make it any worse. If anything it will take some of the fun out of it for teenagers who do things just because it's fun to be naughty. Also, it is a plant that grows out of the ground, not some synthetic chemical that doesn't naturally occur and that happens in labs where all kinds of cross-contamination can happen. We are crowding prisons with petty users and dealers while violent criminals wander free. We answer every problem in the world with some kind of unnatural drug, but things that grow out of the ground are dangerous or bad? I dunno... It's just a weird issue.
I have personally seen three lives wasted and destroyed by pot use. It wasn't just the pot use, no. But that was a major contributor. I have also seen a family member use his "medical marijuana" card to justify being constantly high. I could go on and on.
I don't have scripture to back this up. Just common sense and my own experience. I think marijuana is effective for some people to use for medical use. I don't think it should be legalized. We hear quite a lot about it here in California, and I think very few people have any idea of the far-reaching consequences of legalizing it. I know the arguments about other substances such as alcohol, sugar, caffiene, etc. etc. I don't have any answers or long insightful arguments for or against that for you.
I do know we need to be good stewards not only of this earth but also of ourselves. And taking recreational marijuana (legal or not) is, in my opinion, one of the more destructive things you can do to your body. I watched it unfold in front of me to people I know.
And my reading and a bit of studying on Holland is: they have a terrible time getting people to work. That is just one of the far-reaching consequences of their laws. They have been seriously considering repealing the legal use of marijuana.
Alcohol is legal and it is by far the most dangerous/abused substance out there. If we could trade, I'd rather have pot legal and alcohol illegal, even though both are bad. Instead of the huge war against pot, lets have one against alcohol. We'd save a lot more lives.
Scripture does say your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit if I remember right that is the correct quote.
A guy I know smoked marijuana, at his early 50's he had repeated heart attacks because of his use. The doctor told him that.It also causes cancer, it may have cost him all his teeth too. It is believed to have caused his wife to have breast cancer.
He admitted what his doctor said to me. He use to grow it in his bathroom.
His health now is very bad at 64.
Since our boby is the temple of the Holy Spirit should we take something that would harm it?????
thank you for the reply. I'm not an expert on pot, so I can't completely comment to all the health aspects, but having known several people who use, those claims about your friends health seem to be a bit of an anomoly. For certain, the drug that cause tooth decay is meth, that is the only one I have heard of (and having taken classes on illegal street drugs) that causes teeth decay. And that is becuase of the caustic chemicals (like battery acid) that are used to make it.
Now to one of my original points, we say it is bad for us so we shouldn't use it. But like I mentioned earlier, why is it no one has a problem with cigarettes, sugar and caffiene? Those are probably just as bad if not worse.
Again my point is about trying to think about how we think. We something is bad for us, then why not apply that standard to other things that are bad for us?
