What has grass to do with the gospel?
My father, a pharmacist, was convinced that smoking pot meant going to pot. I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s with the impression that even a casual flirtation with Mary Jane would be my ruin. Consequently, I have no personal knowledge on which to draw to address what for many Americans has become, or is becoming, the new normal: the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Where does recreational use of legalized marijuana fit into Christian ethics and living? Jesus says his yoke is easy (Matt. 11:30), but a toke is easier still. What, if anything, should pastors say? May disciples light up as they take up Christ’s cross? Read More
I was a university student in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A large segment of the young adult population experimented with the use of marijuana for recreational purposes despite the scare tactics of movies like "Reefer Madness," which warned against the devastating effects of marijuana use on teens and which actually became something of a cult movie among marijuana users. Marijuana did not have as devastating effects upon this segment of the young adult population as "Reefer Madness" portrayed. However, it did have some detrimental effects like the well-documented "amotivational syndrome." Heavy marijuana users tended to loose their motivation.
Most of the marijuana trafficking at the local level was not by "pushers" but by other marijuana users. This, however, did not mean that a criminal element was not involved at some point in the supply chain. While marijuana was imported illegally from outside of the United States, it was also grown in the United States, often locally by marijuana users themselves. Marijuana was grown in a number of rural areas surrounding the Louisiana town where my university was located. I recall vacationing in Kentucky and seeing in the post offices large posters urging residents of the commonwealth and visitors to the state to report to the authorities any marijuana plants that they came across.
While marijuana was claimed to be a gateway drug that led to the use of other drugs, this claim did not hold true except in a small number of cases in proportion to the number of young adults experimenting with marijuana. The personality of the marijuana user, his psychological makeup, and his life circumstances were and still are major determining factors in whether that individual might experiment with hard drugs like cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine, oxycotin, and other opoids.
What is not mentioned in the article is that smoking marijuana is a sacrament in certain religious cults. Its use along with the use of LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, and other hallucinogens was also idolized in the 1960s-1970s drug subculture.
As far as the recreational use of marijuana by Christians is concerned, I believe that Paul's advice is applicable. Just because doing something is lawful is not sufficient reason to do it. We should consider the effects upon others of what we do as well as its effects upon ourselves. Using marijuana for recreational purposes may not harm us but it may harm others. Based on our limited knowledge of the effects of marijuana, its use in religious cults, and its idolization in the 1960s-1970s drug subculture, the wisest choice is to abstain from its use. In the 21st century technology is also having an opiate-like effect upon the general population and we do not know what the long-term effects of this addiction will be. Christians need clear minds and a high level of motivation if they are to fulfill the Great Commission in this century.
I am not, however, suggesting that we adopt a hostile, critical attitude towards those who use marijuana for recreational purposes. To adopt such an attitude would create unnecessary barriers to the gospel. I do believe that we need to be clear about why we have chosen not to take advantage of the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. At the same time I believe that it is important to do so in loving, non-threatening way.
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