It's often remarked by Catholics that our country has a puritanical heritage. Usually, the heritage of American puritanism is seen simply as a rigid and principled rejection of certain pleasures, especially intoxicants.
I don't think that's actually the heritage of American puritanism, though. I think the real heritage of American puritanism is the idea that intoxicants are for "getting messed up." This attitude is something that almost all Americans share, they just differ in judging "getting messed up" to be a good or bad thing. In general, irreligious people think that getting messed up is good, whilst religious people think it's bad.
In Europe, I am told, there is a much healthier attitude toward intoxicants (alcohol especially). Taking alcohol as an example, it is a cultural staple and even children are given it. Alcohol is to Europe what guns are to America: early exposure and normalization helps provide for a much more moderate and responsible use. This isn't to suggest or imply that we should give children cannabis just for the sake of getting them used to it. Cannabis is psychoactive, so I would favor age restrictions on it since regular use can be detrimental to cognitive development. No, the reason I bring it up is to show how very cultural the evaluation LT offers (and others who argue like him) actually is. And as is the case with many things that are cultural, it's just about impossible to imagine it being any other way.
Topic: What's the purpose of smoking marijuana for Recreation? (Read 28247 times)