Is smoking marijuana a sin?

revybub

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I would say if your using it as a medicine. No. But if your using it just to get "high* . I would say probably. Anything you do in over abundance and is harming you is a sin. Over eating "gluttony" is wrong too. And so on
 
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Jamdoc

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Luke 7:33-35
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.’​

I have heard medical people argue that cannabis can be very helpful in the management of a number of conditions, and may indeed to preferable to some of the common things used for long term chronic pain and the like.

In general I try to avoid things that mean I am not in control, however there is a question of context, purpose and intent. I have smelled cannabis being smoked and I didn't like the smell, however as I have never smoked it, so it is way outside of any realm of experience.

I guess the 'WHY?' questions are:
  • Why does a person smoke/want to smoke Marijuana - for the person contemplating the act
  • Why is it a sin - for those who would want to condemn the act
The questions of context, purpose and intent may of course end up without a one size fits all answer for the question posed in the op.

Cannabis let me drop opioids, and I'm a lot clearer headed especially since I don't have to use it round the clock like I did with opioids (which started out as half a vicodin, then a full vicodin, and then it was creeping up in dose, 2 vicodin.. .. just to sleep) the relief doesn't come from the immediate psychoactive effects but more of a longer term antiinflammatory effect.
When I was on the opioids for pain management I'd take the pill(s), feel chipper for an hour or so, and then feel incredibly sleepy, nodding off while sitting up and zonked out for 6 hours, usually go to sleep, then wake up in pain and have to take more.
With cannabis.. I vape a bit, and it's a bit of a buzz but not overwhelming, mostly just a bit of a smile on my face for an hour or two, and the pain I might be experiencing is subdued, still noticable however, then I feel a bit sleepy, but not to the point of nodding off, I'm able to.. read 10-20 chapters of the bible if I want before going to bed, pray, sleep, I still may notice some pain when laying down to sleep... 7-8 hours later wake up.. and.. I feel sober, and the pain is just gone, or at least so significantly reduced that I can walk unassisted on the joint, instead of hobbling around limping on crutches. Vicodin, Oxycodone, and Morphine Sulfate Contin never afforded me that luxury. They doped me up so much that I wasn't able to do much except be sleepy, and it still hurt a lot to put weight on that joint.
Best part is.. I don't have to use cannabis again for days after.
That's why I much prefer it. Not for the hour or two that I get a slight smile on my face.. but for the mornings where I wake up, and I'm not in pain for days, totally sober.
 
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BNR32FAN

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No doctor in any place would say "Smoking in moderation is fine"
A Macca's french fry may be moreish but it is not an addictive substance and as far as I know does not cause lung cancer.

Marijuana is not addictive and enough french fries over a few decades will cause high cholesterol which is about how long it takes to develop lung cancer from smoking marijuana. My grandfather smoked it for I don’t know how many decades and died from diabetes. My grandmother smoked it for I don’t know how many decades and died of a heart attack. My mom smoked it for about 40 years and died from a lithium overdose. My dad smoked it for about 35 years and died from pancreatic cancer. I smoked it for 23 years and quit about 9 years ago when I came to Christ and have no effects from it. My brother & sister have been smoking it for about 30 years and have no health issues. Not to mention too many friends & family smoked it for decades and had either no health issues or died from other causes. The issue here isn’t whether or not marijuana will eventually cause a person to die that’s irrelevant. The fact is that amount of time it takes to kill a person is so long that they’re more likely to die from something else than marijuana use. So yeah eat your french fries 4-6 times a day every day for 40 years and see if they don’t clog your arteries causing a heart attack. I’ve been around it all my life and the only person I know who has died from lung cancer was my grandmother from my mom’s side of the family from smoking cigarettes and she never once used marijuana. I’m able to see thru all the propaganda from first hand experience. I know literally hundreds of marijuana users none of which have contracted lung cancer or any other health or mental illnesses from marijuana use. That’s why marijuana was legalized for recreational use in the first place because it is at least 10 times safer and healthier than alcohol. People finally started admitting that the dangers of marijuana were greatly exaggerated and more and more studies were proving it. Why do you think so many states are pushing to legalize it for recreational use now? First it started with Washington & Colorado and now California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Nevada are also pushing to legalize it as well. I don’t do it anymore because I have convictions about doing it. It’s a part of my old life that I don’t want any part of anymore. When I came to Christ I wanted to become a new creation and marijuana was a huge part of my old life. I drink occasionally. I think my wife & I drank a bottle of champagne this year around February. Last year we drank 2 bottles. Neither of us got drunk each bottle was consumed over a period of a few days. I don’t think that’s excessive. We have kids and we want to be a positive role model for them. We know that what they see they will emulate so we teach them that drinking in moderation is fine but getting drunk is not acceptable behavior to the Lord. As for marijuana I’ve told my 15 year old daughter the truth about marijuana but because it’s illegal where we live it is not acceptable to God. So you can quote websites from the internet but they don’t line up with what I’ve witnessed in real life. According to my high school counselor I should be a dead or imprisoned heroine or crack addict by now. Never happened never even thought about touching that garbage. Yeah I know one person that actually ended up that way out of all the hundreds of marijuana users I know. Not all marijuana users are like what you see in the movies.
 
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revybub

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Marijuana is not addictive and enough french fries over a few decades will cause high cholesterol which is about how long it takes to develop lung cancer from smoking marijuana. My grandfather smoked it for I don’t know how many decades and died from diabetes. My grandmother smoked it for I don’t know how many decades and died of a heart attack. My mom smoked it for about 40 years and died from a lithium overdose. My dad smoked it for about 35 years and died from pancreatic cancer. I smoked it for 23 years and quit about 9 years ago when I came to Christ and have no effects from it. My brother & sister have been smoking it for about 30 years and have no health issues. Not to mention too many friends & family smoked it for decades and had either no health issues or died from other causes. The issue here isn’t whether or not marijuana will eventually cause a person to die that’s irrelevant. The fact is that amount of time it takes to kill a person is so long that they’re more likely to die from something else than marijuana use. So yeah eat your french fries 4-6 times a day every day for 40 years and see if they don’t clog your arteries causing a heart attack. I’ve been around it all my life and the only person I know who has died from lung cancer was my grandmother from my mom’s side of the family from smoking cigarettes and she never once used marijuana. I’m able to see thru all the propaganda from first hand experience. I know literally hundreds of marijuana users none of which have contracted lung cancer or any other health or mental illnesses from marijuana use. That’s why marijuana was legalized for recreational use in the first place because it is at least 10 times safer and healthier than alcohol. People finally started admitting that the dangers of marijuana were greatly exaggerated and more and more studies were proving it. Why do you think so many states are pushing to legalize it for recreational use now? First it started with Washington & Colorado and now California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Nevada are also pushing to legalize it as well. I don’t do it anymore because I have convictions about doing it. It’s a part of my old life that I don’t want any part of anymore. When I came to Christ I wanted to become a new creation and marijuana was a huge part of my old life. I drink occasionally. I think my wife & I drank a bottle of champagne this year around February. Last year we drank 2 bottles. Neither of us got drunk each bottle was consumed over a period of a few days. I don’t think that’s excessive. We have kids and we want to be a positive role model for them. We know that what they see they will emulate so we teach them that drinking in moderation is fine but getting drunk is not acceptable behavior to the Lord. As for marijuana I’ve told my 15 year old daughter the truth about marijuana but because it’s illegal where we live it is not acceptable to God. So you can quote websites from the internet but they don’t line up with what I’ve witnessed in real life. According to my high school counselor I should be a dead or imprisoned heroine or crack addict by now. Never happened never even thought about touching that garbage. Yeah I know one person that actually ended up that way out of all the hundreds of marijuana users I know. Not all marijuana users are like what you see in the movies.
How can you say it is not addictive? There are many who have been addicted to it and have had a hard time quitting it.
 
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GraceBro

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So... Since Kidney Dialysis is not of faith, and people who are on it, are dependent on it, rather than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to treat their Kidney failure, then Dialysis is a Sin.

Sounds Legit.
Do you really think that is what I meant? LOL. We have different definitions of faith. Besides, I didn't say it, Paul did. "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23)." Is that legit enough for you?
 
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Jamdoc

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Who is arguing that?
You're arguing you can't use cannabis without getting high. I'm saying you can, because there are low THC strains of cannabis used for medical purposes. THC isn't LSD where the threshold dose is measured in micrograms and even touching a piece smaller than a grain of sand is enough to make you lose your mind for 8 hours, you need a solid dose. The "one hitter quitter" thing is kind of a myth, really only happening when you're talking about people using 90% THC concentrates.
Most even recreational marijuana is comparable strength to liquor when it comes down to it, yeah, you might FEEL 1 puff but it's comparable to feeling a little bit warm and light hearted after having a glass of wine.
The problems are that people use in excess... that is once they light that joint or pipe, they feel the need to consume the whole thing in one go. That's like opening one beer in a 12 pack and deciding you have to drink every can in the whole pack in under an hour.
There is also the excess in which because of making marijuana illegal, and it became higher demand to smuggle in higher potency marijuana (to get the effect of the THC in lower volume, just like in the prohibition days people switched from beer and wine to whiskey).. the market demanded.. the black market delivered. Man took a plant that God designed to have small amounts of THC, with higher amounts of CBD, and manipulated it to have high thc and almost non existent CBD. Seriously if medical marijuana initiatives hadn't started happening we were in danger of breeding CBD completely out of the cannabis genome. The medicine would have just been lost, because for drug use for intoxication, CBD counteracts THC and that was seen as undesirable.

So people made more potent than God intended Cannabis, and use too much of it at once.
The problem isn't the plant the problem is people's sinful condition and abuse of something God made.
 
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BNR32FAN

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maybe if eaten but if smoked or vaporized the psychological effects last maybe 2 hours.
.. thankfully the antiinflammatory effects last much longer for me.

Well I said 4-6 hours considering the residual effects. Of course that will differ depending on a person’s tolerance but I think it’s safe to say that a person with a very low tolerance may feel a little grogginess up to 4-6 hours later. But yes I agree for most normal users 2 hours is a typically how long the effects last.
 
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BNR32FAN

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How can you say it is not addictive? There are many who have been addicted to it and have had a hard time quitting it.

Because there are no physical or mental effects as a result of quitting. Addiction is not someone simply liking something it’s having a physical or mental reaction as a result of being deprived of a particular substance. I love cereal, but hopefully no one would say that I’m addicted to it even tho I keep eating it every morning. I quit smoking marijuana several times for my job. Some employers required a drug test and some didn’t. When I had to quit for a job, I quit. When I didn’t have to, I didn’t.
 
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chad kincham

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If it’s illegal where you live it’s a sin. Also if it causes you to sin when your under the influence of it then it’s a sin. Other than that if used in moderation in a place where it is legal there’s nothing in the Bible against it.

El wrongo.

Getting high and getting drunk is the same principle of altering your perception of reality, that scripture calls a sin that will keep believers out of heaven if you do it regularly without repentance.
 
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Kenny'sID

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You're arguing you can't use cannabis without getting high. I'm saying you can, because there are low THC strains of cannabis used for medical purposes.

Go back and find my post that states there is low grade canibus for making hemp that one cannot get high on. So, no, not arguing that.

My argument was, cbc, and thc is not canibus so unless you just like to argue or you disagree with that, you got no argument with me.
 
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Jamdoc

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Go back and find my post that states there is low grade canibus for making hemp that one cannot get high on. So, no, not arguing that.

My argument was, cbc, and thc is not canibus so unless you just like to argue or you disagree with that, you got no argument with me.

Your initial argument was you can't smoke marijuana without getting high.
 
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ViaCrucis

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There's no command in Scripture against the use of cannabis, so the only real way to use Scripture here is by comparison to alcohol. Is the drinking of alcohol a sin? No. However when alcohol becomes a problem, then that's when sin enters the picture. It's not the drinking of alcohol, but rather our own thoughts, behaviors, words, our habits all associated with the consumption of alcohol that ends up being an issue. And so, on some level, this boils down a lot to individuals--if you can drink responsibly then there's no problem, if you can't drink responsibly, then that is a problem.

On top of this, there is the question of civil law. While where I live marijuana is completely legal, in most places around the world cannabis usage is against local laws. As Christians we should be respectful of the laws of where we live (obviously, there's an asterisk next to this, because not all laws should be treated equally; as St. Augustine says, an unjust law is no law at all).

Which is all to say, it might be sinful for one person to smoke cannabis, but not for another person. In the same way it might be sinful for one person to drink alcohol, but not for another.

Beyond the moral question, it's worth also evaluating the question of wisdom. After all, "All things are lawful to me, not all things are profitable to me" as the Apostle St. Paul says. Whether something is sinful or not doesn't necessarily translate to whether something is wise or not. There is, after all, nothing sinful about drinking two gallons of soda every day, but that doesn't make it a wise thing to do. And in this case, it becomes a matter of discernment for oneself.

Speaking personally, I do occasionally partake of cannabis, almost always a small amount just before I lay down to sleep. I find that it helps me sleep better and helps with some of my chronic back pain that flares up at night. I'm not getting baked though, and that's chiefly because I have on a couple occasions gotten pretty high and I didn't care for it, I wasn't prepared for it and it caused my anxiety to jump through the roof. So I try to be more responsible for myself.

As such, ask yourself if you can legally consume cannabis, and if it is, the only one who can really decide if it's okay or not for you is you. Now, that doesn't mean ignore the advice and wisdom of friends and family or anything; only that there is no commandment on this, and that makes it a matter of your own conscience and discernment. See what the Apostle says in, e.g., Romans ch. 14.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Fantine

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Smoking anything is a sin because it's both addictive which is a form of slavery of the flesh and it is destructive to health.

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Marijuana is additionally sinful because it's illegal -unless it isn't where you are from.


Romans 13:1
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Can't the same be said of coffee? Caffeine can be psychologically addictive and unhealthy.
 
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coffee4u

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Can't the same be said of coffee? Caffeine can be psychologically addictive and unhealthy.

I don't see coffee being illegal, giving lung cancer to both the person smoking and the people forced to live with them, nor are there commercials about patches and gum to help you give up caffeine, so no I don't.

Is marijuana addictive? | National Institute on Drug Abuse

As a coffee drinker I had to cut way back because of GERD. I didn't need any help. Caffeine and sugar are not the same thing as smokers addiction at all. Nicotine is more addictive than marijuana and IMO would also be illegal if I had my way. Thank God people can't smoke inside shops or near eating places here. Caffine has health benefits, nicotine has none. 13 Health Benefits of Coffee, Based on Science
 
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ViaCrucis

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I don't see coffee being illegal, giving lung cancer to both the person smoking and the people forced to live with them, nor are there commercials about patches and gum to help you give up caffeine, so no I don't.

Is marijuana addictive? | National Institute on Drug Abuse

As a coffee drinker I had to cut way back because of GERD. I didn't need any help. Caffeine and sugar are not the same thing as smokers addiction at all. Nicotine is more addictive than marijuana and IMO would also be illegal if I had my way. Thank God people can't smoke inside shops or near eating places here. Caffine has health benefits, nicotine has none. 13 Health Benefits of Coffee, Based on Science

So addictive substances are sinful, but not all addictive substances, only certain ones. If this is a matter of objective sin or not, we need an objective measurement, not a purely subjective and arbitrary one. Otherwise this is not a matter of "is it a sin or not?" but rather a matter of conscience and the use of wisdom.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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