Some of you will recognize this green plant as cannabis, more commonly referred to as marijuana or pot or multiple other drug-ie nicknames. From Wikipedia we get this definition:
Cannabis (/ˈkænəbɪs/; Cán-na-bis) is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative varieties, Cannabis sativa,[1] Cannabis indica,[1] and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia.[2] Cannabis has long been used for fibre (hemp), for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from Cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber. To satisfy the UN Narcotics Convention, some Cannabis strains have been bred to produce minimal levels of THC, the principal psychoactive constituent responsible for the "high" associated with marijuana. Marijuana consists of the dried flowers of Cannabis plants selectively bred to produce high levels of THC and other psychoactive cannabinoids. Various extracts including hashish and hash oil are also produced from the plant.[3]
I live in Washington state where the left (how appropriate) side of the state recently voted to legalize this drug and by so doing has created all sorts of problems for everyone who buys, sells, and/or uses it. People who've never used the drug for any reason fluctuate between wondering why it's a big deal and why it should never be legalized. Others who've experienced the drug are caught between the same opinions. Will it be used at break time on the job? There can be no arguing it affects the mind.
Let me be straight with you. I've smoked the drug, and, yes, I did inhale. Back in the late sixties and early seventies, I gave in to the hip popularity of "smoking dope" amidst a few other indulgences. Suffice it to say, from personal experience I can tell you, regardless of the commonly heard contrary opinion, marijuana is addictive. I knew people who smoked it everyday and wouldn't consider not using it. No longer recreational in their lives, it was a necessary part of their existence. I can tell you that even though these individuals held down jobs and were basically productive young people, marijuana can rob a person of motivation and inspiration. That's what I noticed the most: motivation took a back seat to the "experience" of getting high, the after-effects, the appetite, the laughter, the breaking down and intensifying of music inside the brain. Often combined with alcohol, pot could create a relaxed euphoric journey usually concluding with sleep or passing out after the "enjoyment" of the various symptoms.
Depending on the quality of the injested drug, the trip could last for hours. Or more joints could be passed around to continue the wonder of allowing the mind to drift to various levels of entertainment. The last few times I got stoned, I wished I hadn't smoked the drug. I didn't want the experience anymore, and I regretted consenting to it. The feeling was no longer fun or new or attractive, and I couldn't wait for it to wear off. By this time the Lord was preparing my heart, and I lost all interest in drugs and alcohol, seeing the destruction of using both in friends and feeling the emptiness and meaninglessness of the experiences.
Sometimes certain emotional reactions accompany getting high such as mild to moderate paranoia or fear. Some people don't drive well under the influence of the drug, reactions can be slowed, and others don't act as coherent as they normally would. It all depends on the individual and the severity of the pot.
Medical marijuana seems off the mark to me. Of all the created drugs, it seems whatever the ingredient is in the plant used for relieving eye pain, couldn't it be assimilated into a less mind-altering drug?
Our world is sliding into depravity, and the evidence is all around us. There are all kinds of addictions plaguing the human race. All kinds of sin being accepted and viewed as normal behaviors. The destruction of people escalates as individuals sink into immoral determinations and dismiss godly values as irrelevant and unnecessary.
There is no real value in marijuana, none that sustains a healthy mind. It's just another tool to distract people from their life awareness, their pain, their emptiness. The hole in the heart is never filled by a drug that induces a modicum of pleasure. No matter how much its harmlessness is proclaimed, it's really just another chain of destruction, another void inserted to take the place of a savior. Legalizing it is no solution to the aches or desires of the human heart. Legalizing it only brings the destruction that much closer.
Father, you're the answer. Jesus, you provide hope, forgiveness, peace, and saving grace. Holy Spirit, please help those who are lost and searching. Give them the answer they so desperately need. Just like you did for me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.