Apart from the legal aspect, which is a drag, if it helps, I say go for it!
Medical marijuana...it's becoming accepted by old and young?
- Thread starter Heart2Soul
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I became a recreational user as a teenager and just enjoyed the experience, but realized much later that I was self medicating for a combination of physical ailments and psychological problems.
I managed to breeze through University even though smoking pretty much nonstop for the last two years before graduating, and I'll confess that part of my self justification was the desire to slow down my mind and have conversations on a common ground with my peers.
The drug is not hallucinogenic, but a euphoric and leaves you feeling good in the worst of circumstances. It helps with pain and anxiety, relieves stress and minimizes the negative physical impact of stress, but there are a lot of negatives associated with it.
As a euphoric, it enhances pleasant physical sensation, something prone to appeal to fleshly desires and the associated sins. For similar reasons it helps reduce or eliminate emotional pains far more effectively than alcohol without the damage done by the same, but that reduction in emotional pain is like turning a deaf ear to relationship problems and leads to unresolved conflicts. That's a real problem for Christians as the Lord would have us resolve conflicts quickly in order to maintain a "right relationship " with Him.
Christianity without fellowship with each other doesn't promote fellowship with God, and unforgiven transgressions against others inevitably leads to divine discipline.
Then there's the area of legality. In some states medicinal and even recreational cannabis are entirely legal to possess and use, but those state laws run contrary to federal law. The Lord would have us obey all laws and be obedient to authority. I've always found that difficult for a number of reasons, but even our observance of laws varies greatly to the degree that they conflict with our freedom, our liberty in Christ.
I don't mean to simply excuse myself of sin, my sins are many. However, I trust in the providence of God and the intent of my heart was never to seek out sin. Sin is just really good at finding me, and for the better part of my life, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.
There is another side effect to cannabis that I actually appreciate. The drug tends to suppress dreams. I commonly have dreams about ordinary events in my life that occur at some time after the dream. Most are mundane, but some are disturbing on a number of levels. I went to some effort to learn lucid dreaming and gain some control over their content, but all things considered I prefer not dreaming to glimpsing bits of a future that I have no power to change.
The dreams themselves are not caused by the drug because I recall them from about a decade before even hearing about cannabis.
I don't know if any studies have been done on the last aspect of cannabis use, but REM sleep deprivation is reported to cause psychosis, and I may have experienced a break on October 13th, 2017. That was beyond a doubt the weirdest day of my life ( and I've experienced a lot of strange events), but a combination of sleep deprivation and intermittent fasting over the course of the feast of Tabernacles left me in a waking state that was very dream like and with auditory hallucinations. I'd never experienced anything like that before or since, but I'd also decided to fast from a long period of regular cannabis use during the 8 day feast, so there might have been some biochemical withdrawal involved in the incident. The spiritual experiences of that Friday the 13th seemed real enough, but those included things I'm not supposed to share with anyone and have made me question my perception of reality.
Wow thanks for sharing and being so open and honest about it....very insightful and informative.
God Bless
@Heart2Soul Sometimes I guess it can make a difference how one reacts depending on the stage of life (youngsters versus mature adults) and circumstances under which it was tried (whether smoked or ingested in cookies), etc.
Cristo Rei
Well-Known Member
Well look at opium... It is used in morphine and several other pain killers that help so many people deal with pain.
On the other hand its is one of the dirtiest street drugs. Heroin. Its much worse than marijuana...
The same with amphetamines. It has medical applications as well as being abused on the street also...
Narcotics the same thing... Medical applications
At the end of the day its comes from a plant, God given, and if people can use that to cure or treat illness then praise be.
@Heart2Soul So with the balance of the different thread discussions, do you reckon you are currently leaning towards skepticism or acceptance?
quietthinker
Well-Known Member
Medical marijuana...it's becoming accepted by old and young?
ahhhhhh, what a metaphor!
'He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.'
Revelation 13:15-17
ahhhhhh, what a metaphor!
'He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.'
Revelation 13:15-17
@Heart2Soul So you found all the various reflective comments from different viewpoints helpful in coming to your conclusion, then?
That and I did my own research...
Impact On Lungs Of One Cannabis Joint Equal To Up To Five Cigarettes
A single cannabis joint has the same effect on the lungs as smoking up to five cigarettes in one go, indicates new research. Cannabis smokers complained of wheeze, cough, chest tightness and phlegm. But emphysema, the progressive and crippling lung disease, was only seen in those who smoked tobacco, either alone or in combination. But cannabis still damaged the lungs and stopped them from working properly.
PS:
@Heart2Soul The other day you also said this; so do you think on reflection that it still has some uses, in certain, careful circumstances?
Mantis
Well-Known Member
I find it interesting that you can go to the store and buy alcohol and cigarettes and people have a problem with marijuana.
BarneyFife
Well-Known Member
Even if those same people object to alcohol and cigarettes?
Some of what the grocery stores call food should perhaps be looked at, too. Why should big corporations be allowed to poison us with their cheap but highly profitable synthetic junk?
Many of us seem to think that murder is only murderous if it happens quickly.
It might be okay for non-believers to commit suicide on the installment plan, but aren't Christians given plenty of information in the Bible about our obligations to God with regard to health?
Or are our civil rights more important to us than the divine blood shed by our Saviour to allow our very existence?
Has God no claims upon the stewardship of our bodies?
Am I being unreasonable?
DuckieLady
Well-Known Member
1. 1 Timothy, drink some wine for your stomach thing
2. The Bible doesn't say not to use medicine for pain/illness and the conviction/guilt thing probably came more from the government. Had been used for thousands of years.
3. Its medicine and if lots of crazy people abused that medicine (can do the same with any pain medication, only this one won't kill you) that doesn't make it less effective.
4. It is so effective for so many things that a doctor will prescribe it to you- as medicine.
DuckieLady
Well-Known Member
Btw @Heart2Soul with my last comment I should mention I don't use medical marijuana- because I don't require it, but I don't condemn anyone who uses it responsibly, just like everything else in this world.
It can slow down MS, take away pain, gets cancer patients to eat, helps with the things you said, etc.
"More than 70,000 Americans died from drug-involved overdose in 2019, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids."
Overdose Death Rates | National Institute on Drug Abuse
We shouldn't come up with the notion that a medicine God created (that is not fatal) is more harmful than the ones humans made - that clearly has not been the safe way to go.
It can slow down MS, take away pain, gets cancer patients to eat, helps with the things you said, etc.
"More than 70,000 Americans died from drug-involved overdose in 2019, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids."
Overdose Death Rates | National Institute on Drug Abuse
We shouldn't come up with the notion that a medicine God created (that is not fatal) is more harmful than the ones humans made - that clearly has not been the safe way to go.
I don't judge anyone that uses it medicinally either....and I am happy people are experiencing positive outcomes from it.
Mantis
Well-Known Member
Well said. I think God made medicine for all of the problems we face in plants. I don’t think we have discovered all of the medicinal properties of plants yet. But I truly think our God foresaw all of the problems we face and made things to help with those problems. Even some things that can kill you that grow on Earth have tremendous medicinal value.
@Heart2Soul The fact that pharmaceutical companies can make such huge amounts of money via conventional meds might go a way to explain why they have a vested interest in not doing more research into possible medical benefits -under a safe and legal framework - of marijuana.
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