Getting High Is (Increasingly) Lawful. Is It Ever Beneficial?

In a manner of speaking, we ought to be glad we can no longer say “it’s against the law” and then go to the Biblical category of intoxication. It forces us to be more Biblical.

The answer is simple. Marijuana is not OK, whether legal or not. Stay away from recreational, mind-altering drugs. Be sober, as the Bible says.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. -1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

Also: 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; 2:2,6; 1 Peter 1:13 NKJV.

David R. Brumbelow

My comment above was concerning recreational use of marijuana. I continue to stand by it.

As to medical use of marijuana:

1. Most of the clamor for medical marijuana is simply to get it legalized so people can get high. Legalization of medical marijuana is mostly a stepping stone for the legalization of all marijuana.

2. It seems most people concerned with medical marijuana insist on having the ingredient that gets you high (THC).

3. Medical marijuana, that does not get you high, is legal and available (Marinol, CBD, etc.).

4. A strange thing has occurred in recent years. Smoking tobacco is bad for your health and socially unacceptable. But if you smoke marijuana, you’re a hero.

5. Those against drinking acknowledge there may be medicinal uses of alcohol. That’s why they sometimes use the phrase “beverage alcohol” (recreational alcohol). But there are better drugs today than alcohol; and alcohol has serious side effects. The same is true of medical marijuana. Do you really, absolutely have to use the THC marijuana that gets you high? Aren’t there other drugs, that don’t get you high, that can help?

6. Another consideration is the bad influence you can have on others. Others my justify their marijuana use because you use it.

7. Often people use a rare, extreme case, to get all marijuana legalized.

7. Marijuana is considered a gateway drug. That has been demonstrated in the lives of many. And, it has many harmful side effects.

8. We should only use prescription drugs with a good, competent medical doctor’s direction. And yes, there many doctors who are way too free with prescribing dangerous drugs. In general, we should be very cautious, and afraid of, drugs.

http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2014/01/gleanings-on-damaging-effec…

http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2014/01/why-marijuana-should-remain…

David R. Brumbelow

My previous points should number 1 through 9, and not have two sevens. I can usually count, at least to 9 or 10 :-).

David R. Brumbelow

The last I checked, Mayo was saying that the evidence for medical marijuana was not conclusive yet—part of this is because research has been hamstrung by the federal government. But that said, marijuana is not one of the more strongly addictive substances, being far less habit forming than opiods, or even alcohol or nicotine. So inasmuch as we have evidence that the use of marijuana reduces the need for harder drugs, we ought to endorse its use enthusiastically. There are side effects and risks, yes, but 25% of Americans use it, and the death toll is nowhere near what it is for painkillers/opiods and such.

We might also note that there are times in the Old Testament where, without condemnation, people are described as “merry” with wine (Boaz, the wedding party at Cana, etc..), while “drunkenness” is described in terms of (Proverbs 23) serious debilitation, symptoms that are associated with ~0.15-0.2% BAC or higher—about twice the legal limit. We would infer that there is a range of “dosages” for wine—by similarity other drugs—which is Biblically permissible and even commendable.

Really, what I’ve seen far too often is cases where intoxicants are involved is an almost instinctive judging of people where we really ought to be trying to understand where they are and their pain. It’s like culturally speaking, we’ve effectively written Proverbs 31:6 out of the Bible, or (I’ve heard this from the pulpit a time or two) we’re arguing that Christians ought never be “perishing”, as if we don’t have people dying from cancer in our midst, and as if we have nobody in our midst with serious back problems and the like.

My comment above was concerning recreational use of marijuana. I continue to stand by it.

As to medical use of marijuana:

1. Most of the clamor for medical marijuana is simply to get it legalized so people can get high. Legalization of medical marijuana is mostly a stepping stone for the legalization of all marijuana.

If it’s not a huge risk, why do we care?

2. It seems most people concerned with medical marijuana insist on having the ingredient that gets you high (THC).

Absolutely false. The hottest thing in medical use of marijuana is CBD (cannabinodol), which does not contain THC.

3. Medical marijuana, that does not get you high, is legal and available (Marinol, CBD, etc.).

Absolutely false. Marinol is a synthetic THC and contributes to the “chemo fog” that friends of cancer patients know well. Also, many chronic pain/cancer patients find relief with “the real thing” but not the synthetic. Let’s not discount their experience, David.

4. A strange thing has occurred in recent years. Smoking tobacco is bad for your health and socially unacceptable. But if you smoke marijuana, you’re a hero.

No doubt that tobacco is increasingly proscribed—since it kills about half a million people annually, it probably should be. Have yet to hear of dopers being seen as heroes, though.

5. Those against drinking acknowledge there may be medicinal uses of alcohol. That’s why they sometimes use the phrase “beverage alcohol” (recreational alcohol). But there are better drugs today than alcohol; and alcohol has serious side effects. The same is true of medical marijuana. Do you really, absolutely have to use the THC marijuana that gets you high? Aren’t there other drugs, that don’t get you high, that can help?

We can make about the same argument for anything that people enjoy. Do you really need that BBQ, fried chicken, or pecan pie, David? There are healthier ways to get your protein that do not have carcinogens from hickory and mesquite smoke. Do we really need that bacon? Cured meats kill tens of thousands of people annually.

6. Another consideration is the bad influence you can have on others. Others my justify their marijuana use because you use it.

This argument applies equally to foods, and the overindulgence in food (combined with lack of exercise) kills about eight times more people than alcohol does, and hundreds of times more people than does marijuana. So do you need to give up tasty foods because I might overindulge?

7. Often people use a rare, extreme case, to get all marijuana legalized.

Severe back pain is rare? Cancer, which kills hundreds of thousands of people annually, is rare?

8. Marijuana is considered a gateway drug. That has been demonstrated in the lives of many. And, it has many harmful side effects.

Bacon is considered a gateway drug to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, and this has been demonstrated in the lives of many. It kills hundreds of times more people than does marijuana. So are BBQ, pecan pie, and fried chicken.

9. We should only use prescription drugs with a good, competent medical doctor’s direction. And yes, there many doctors who are way too free with prescribing dangerous drugs. In general, we should be very cautious, and afraid of, drugs.

http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2014/01/gleanings-on-damaging-effect…

This isn’t what the Bible tells us. Besides, we have entire classes of non-prescription drugs whose use is very common in fundamental circles, many of which (e.g. Claritin, Allegra) used to be prescription drugs. Good doctors can be incredibly helpful, but the Bible does not proscribe, nor does our law proscribe, a portion of self-medication.