What is the Church's stand on marijuana; and based on what the Bible says, how can it be bad?
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Doesn't the Bible also say it was okay
to partake of any seed bearing plant?
How could it be bad?
I am constantly confused about it and was
wondering if you would be able to help me
resolve this conflict.
Thanks for your time.
Adam
{
What is the Church's
stand on marijuana; and based on what the Bible says, how can it be bad? }
Mary
Ann replied:
Hi, Adam —
The Catholic Church teaches that
we have the obligation to obey the
just laws of our nation.
It further teaches that we must not:
intentionally harm our bodies or
our minds, or
purposefully lose our
rational faculty or self-control
by drunkenness of any kind.
These teachings are applied to any
circumstance.
In this case, the teaching
about obeying the law would apply.
If there were no law against marijuana,
then a prudential
decision would be made that would depend on the
effects and the intention.
Mary Ann
Mike
replied:
Hi, Adam —
Your questions tend to have a personal bias toward accepting marijuana use. Marijuana, or its use, should never be rationalized as being good because it has damaging effects on our minds. Any effective, efficient and capable medical doctor will confirm this.
To add to Mary Ann's answer, this
is what the Catechism tells Catholics:
2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by
God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the
needs of others and the common good.
Concern for the healthof its citizens requires that society help in
the attainment of living conditions that allow them to grow and reach
maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education,
employment, and social assistance.
2289 If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does
not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends
to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for it's sake,
to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. By its selective
preference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can lead
to the perversion of human relationships.
2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess:
the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave
guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and
others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.
2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and
life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave
offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous
practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they
encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.
