If marijuana is legal is it moral?

[Ice_nine]

***I just want to preface this by saying that I agree with Josh that if you think this is a sin, stay away and don't let my argument convince you otherwise! Just try to be a little bit more understanding of people who, perhaps weaker than you, have indulged.***

There is certainly an moral ambiguity with recreational pot smoking even with the legal issue irrelevant. My problem in understanding the morality of it is when it comes to "loss of reason," what that actually means. I've never been drunk so I can't compare, but I've seen people who were drunk and heard stories. I've seen people get aggressive and confrontational, I've obviously heard of sexual escapades that people regret, and then of course people get so black out drunk they don't even remember anything from the night before.

I'm sure people indulge sexual sins when under the use of mj, but perhaps the sexual mores of today have more to do with that than anything else. But I will say that I've never seen any outright personality changes like I've seen with alcohol. In addition the memory loss phenomenon tends to be short term memory. Conversations would frequently be peppered with "what were we just talking about," but conversations tend to run off into tangents anyway. If you really concentrate you might be able to remember at the moment, but usually the day after you can remember most of the things you were talking about (in my experience).

Do some people have the mindset of "yeah I'm gonna get stoned and get laid and just party hard"? Sure, and I'm sure marijuana helps these people indulge in whatever sort of debauchery they're into, but I think if you go into it with the mindset of "I'm just gonna hang out, relax, you know not do anything mortally sinful" I think you can be good. Who knows

[CatherineM]

I wasn't trying to attack anyone. I'm just tired of talking about this topic. I'm the one who normally gets attacked for my views on the subject so it's a raw subject. 

[Winchester]

Then don't click on the link.

[AccountDeleted]

This is entirely my own personal opinion and I am not speaking as a marijuana user, as I don't even smoke cigarettes. I just don't see how this isn't a morally neutral thing, or at least morally ambiguous, depending on a variety of factors. Maybe each person needs to simply make the decision about the morality of marijuana on an individual basis, just as they do for alcohol and cigarettes. Anything can be abused. Loving food can lead to gluttony. Loving relaxation can lead to sloth. A sin is anything that separates us from the love of God, and this is different for each person, isn't it? Anyway, I don't recoil in horror when I hear that someone is smoking marijuana. I would just ensure that there are limits set for it though - just as there are for alcohol. By this, I mean, no driving under the influence, or flying a plane, or performing surgery, etc. Anything that impairs mental function needs restrictions - but that isn't a moral issue, it is a legal one.

Sure, this topic has been debated a lot, but probably because there are so many different opinions about it. That's natural. But no one is going to change anyone else's mind on a forum, so maybe it might be time to put it to bed. Don't know.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

I don't believe it should be legalised, I think it should be decriminalised with certain conditions on how much you can grow or have at one time and it should still be illegal to sell it or even give it away or propagate it in accordance with the catechism of the holy roman catholic church, as should all natural drugs, not including illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine. It's just my opinion it removes a lot of paper work for the police force and court systems and keeps people out of jail that may not actually be criminals.  And also not all things that are legal are moral eg. abortion and pornography. If drugs are decriminalised you don't have to use them, same as you don't have to use alcohol. And it saves tax payers millions of dollars paying for court and jail time of simple drug users and abusers, not that I propagate either drug use or abuse. 

Jesus " All things are lawful but not all things are beneficial."

God is Good, God is LOVE. YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD RISE UP! ALLELUIA HALLELUJAH!

Onward Christian souls.

P.s. Did you know Rastafarians are baptised in the name of the father son and holy ghost and believe. Just a fact you may not know, don't mistake them for hippies.

 

 

[little2add]

Drug  abuse has destroyed millions of lives and families

of course it's immoral, physically and morally  Be the drug be pot, alcohol or pills

[dUSt]

Drug  abuse has destroyed millions of lives and families

of course it's immoral, physically and morally  Be the drug be pot, alcohol or pills

​Agreed. I think the argument here is for people who do not abuse these things.

[little2add]

​Agreed. I think the argument here is for people who do not abuse these things.

Most of the drug abusers I know, and I know a few, refuse to accept the idea that there abusing. (Until it's too late)

so where do you draw the line between fun and danger and is this level the same with everyone?

if you ask my mother she would say any drug  use, other than prescribed by a doctor is abuse.  

Mom is right, most of the time!

[AccountDeleted]

Most of the drug abusers I know, and I know a few, refuse to accept the idea that there abusing. (Until it's too late)

so where do you draw the line between fun and danger and is this level the same with everyone?

if you ask my mother she would say any drug  use, other than prescribed by a doctor is abuse.  

Mom is right, most of the time!

​The abusers make it hard for those who don't abuse - of any drug or any thing. I used to buy Pseudofed over the counter for my hay fever. I was introduced to it by a nun while I was working at a Catholic hospital because I had a cold and it does a great job of stopping runny noses (it also dries up everything and makes one constipated but that's another story). Then the meth labs starting buying up all the Pseudofed for cooking and governments (all over the world) started hiding Pseudofed behind the pharmacy counter and the pharmacists would grill me whenever I wanted a pack. They would try to get me to buy Psdeudofed with pain killers (I didn't have pain) or Pseudofed with medication that helped you sleep (I didn't have trouble sleeping) because they were terrified of selling the plain stuff to a potential drug dealer (it seems the meth labs don't use the stuff with additives). Eventually, after much discussion, the pharmacist would agree to sell it to me, but only if I showed driver's license etc, which I happily did. But the drug itself wasn't the problem - it was those who abuse it, by cooking it into meth. But I am the one who has to put up with a third degree every time I want it. 

Pseudofed and other medications that I have used (like aspirin or paracetamol etc) are not necessarily prescribed by doctors. In the US, omeprazole (for acid reflux) is over the counter (non prescription) but in Australia, it is prescription. In the US, any product with codeine in it is prescription but in the UK and Australia we can buy Codis or Disprin Forte or Panadeine Forte (aspirin and codeine or paracetamol and codeine) over the counter.

It isn't about being prescribed by a doctor or not. It is simply that 'abusers gonna abuse'. There are those who abuse alcohol and others who can enjoy a social drink without ever getting drunk. There are those who can use non-prescription drugs and those who can't. In fact, there is probably more abuse of prescription drugs (because they are usually the more potent or addictive ones) than of non prescription drugs. So although Mom might usually know best, I would say that in this case, she is being a bit radical! There are plenty of non prescription drugs that can alleviate discomfort, pain or minor miseries.  I think anything has the potential to be abused but that doesn't mean we should stop pharmacies from selling all non prescription items, which is what would happen if doctors had to prescribe everything a person used. Overkill. 

So where do you draw the line? You provide education and support and rehab. But you don't ban everything that has the potential for abuse just because some people will. They will just find something else to abuse, or they will manage to obtain a supply of what they want, while the rest of the world's non-abusers go without. I know this thread is about marijuana but somehow we got onto the topic of all non prescription medication!

[Archaeology cat]

Something being prescribed doesn't mean it won't be abused, either. As nunsense said, people addicted to and abusing pain meds is a real problem. But the majority of people aren't going to abuse those, or the OTC meds, or alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the same about marijuana, personally. 

[dUSt]

I've been around lots of people who drink alcohol. I've been around lots of people who smoke weed. I've seen first hand the effects of each. Alcohol, by far (it's not even close), has a more negative effect on one's moral compass than weed does.

Of course, one should never drink or smoke to the point of this happening. It's sinful to do so.

But, I know many more people who drink and/or smoke completely responsibly than do not. Again, we go back to the point of the people who abuse things shed a negative light on it for everyone.

I shouldn't have to feel bad about enjoying a fine IPA or a nice Trappist beer because my idiot neighbor downs a 30 case of Keystone Light every night.

Edited March 10, 2015 by dUSt

[FrMatthewLC]

Thanks for posting my blog. I made a profile just to thank you. I doubt I have time for Phatmass after Twitter, FB, Reddit, a blog, and a real life offline.

[Nihil Obstat]

Fr. Matthew, we meet again. :D Haha.

[Guest]

Father Matthew stick around !

[Lilllabettt]

Pot and alcohol weaken the mind and dull reflexes. Cardinal Ratzinger abstained from drink for that very reason. His work was important enough that he could not afford to be off his game, ever.

Sometimes we have to accept an altered mental state, because we are sick and need to take mental-fog inducing medicine. Or because, you know, we have to sleep.

Why people alter their mental state as a form of "fun" is beyond me. 

While you are enjoying your altered mental state, a sober person with less $$$ and fewer brains may be stealing your promotion and your girlfriend.