Legalize Pot?

[Richard Myers]

Gov Arnold wants to "debate" legalizing pot. Will he be impeached?  In California? He is the great leader of taxing our use of electricity and gas. He wants us to live in the cities so we don't need to drive our cars. Yes, he is the one who flies to work (on his private jet) and drives a hummer.

[Mimi]

It will happen, IMO. I know other states that are very close to legalizing it. It gives pot growers an excuse to continue their illegal activities, "because it is almost a done deal."

[Richard Sherwin]

If cannabis is made legal will the use of it go up or down? Will violence along our Southern Border go up or down? Is it a good thing that there are so many people in our jails because of pot? Is the use of pot different than the use of alcohol? These are some of the issues I've heard in discussions about the legalization of pot, among our church members.

 

[Immanuel]

If cannabis is made legal will the use of it go up or down? Will violence along our Southern Border go up or down? Is it a good thing that there are so many people in our jails because of pot? Is the use of pot different than the use of alcohol? These are some of the issues I've heard in discussions about the legalization of pot, among our church members.

 

Perhaps it would be good to study the testimonies we have regarding prohibition.

[Immanuel]

The advocates of temperance fail to do their whole duty unless they exert their influence by precept and example--by voice and pen and vote-- in favor of prohibition and total abstinence. We need not expect that God will work a miracle to bring about this reform, and thus remove the necessity for our exertion. We ourselves must grapple with this giant foe, our motto, No compromise and no cessation of our efforts till the victory is gained. . . .
     What can be done to press back the inflowing tide of evil? Let laws be enacted and rigidly enforced prohibiting the sale and the use of ardent spirits as a beverage. Let every effort be made to encourage the inebriate's return to temperance and virtue. But even more than this is needed to banish the curse of inebriety from our land. Let the appetite for intoxicating liquors be removed, and their use and sale is at an end. This work must to a great degree devolve upon parents. Let them, by observing strict temperance themselves, give the right stamp of character to their children, and then educate and train these children, in the fear of God, to habits of self-denial and self-control. Youth who have been thus trained will have moral stamina to resist temptation, and to control appetite and passion. They will stand unmoved by the folly and dissipation that are corrupting society. - Gospel Workers p. 387, 388

It seems reasonable to me that the same principles apply to legalization of marijuana.

[Mimi]

Amen - it can apply to this as well.

[JimB]

I don't know if it's law yet or not but in Michigan last november it was voted to make marijuana legal for medical purposes. To legalize it totally will just put that many more buzzed drivers on the road.

This proposal is all done for the almighty dollar. Once it's legal they can tax it like they do alcohol and tobacco.

I agree with Immanuel and Sybil that this should be fought just like the legalization of alcohol.

[Richard Myers]

Just like the legalization of alcohol, tobacco, and gambling! A corrupt society points to the soon coming of our Lord!

[Wally]

I don't know if it's law yet or not but in Michigan last november it was voted to make marijuana legal for medical purposes. To legalize it totally will just put that many more buzzed drivers on the road.

This proposal is all done for the almighty dollar. Once it's legal they can tax it like they do alcohol and tobacco.

I agree with Immanuel and Sybil that this should be fought just like the legalization of alcohol.

Maine legalized it several years ago.  This is so transparent as to be laughable, if it weren't so dangereous.  If THC is a legitimate medicine (and I'm not saying that it is), then smoking it is about the worst way to administer it.  I agree that we should take a stand against it if it looks like there's a chance that it could be legalized nationwide.  It is certainly no less harmful than alcohol, and we know what the SOP counseled us to do in terms of prohibiton.

We have customers who have used marijuana and alcohol most of their lives.  There is one word that describes their apperance:  wasted, not to mention aged beyond their years.  Why anyone in their right minds would be in favor of making this stuff legal is beyond me.

If alcohol, tobacco, and some of these other so-called "harmless" substances were just now discovered, they would never pass FDA scrutiny, and so would never be legalized.  But, because they've been used for centuries, they have been "grandfathered," and we tolerate them.  This is insanity, pure and simple.

[Richard Sherwin]

Wally I've heard it said that even caffeine would be banned or a prescribed drug if it were just now to be discovered.

I think a lot of the people pushing for it to be legalized are thinking that it is a lesser evil to legalize, regulate and tax it rather than have countless thousands in jail and have all the violence associated with keeping it illegal. While they may have a point it is not a harmless drug by any means. We don't need legal pot heads out driving on the streets, going to our nations schools or raising families.

[Immanuel]

I think a lot of the people pushing for it to be legalized are thinking that it is a lesser evil to legalize, regulate and tax it rather than have countless thousands in jail and have all the violence associated with keeping it illegal.

From a worldly perspective, they have a point. The same point could be (and has been) made about many things such as prostitution, gambling, and a variety of other things. Even gay marriage proponents have argued that allowing gay marriage will lead to a safer, healthier society. What they fail to recognize is that legalization of something is taken by many as an implied endorsement. I have had friends who had no problem drinking, but wouldn't touch marijuana because it is illegal. And the legalization of alcohol has not made it safer. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, alcohol consumption is #3 on the list of actual causes of death. This does not include the countless lives that have been broken because of the disease of alcoholism.

Of course, the most important thing for Christians to recognize is that the point that is made in favor of legalization is in contradiction to the counsel that we have.