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Author Topic: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?  (Read 52879 times)

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Offline Mark 79

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Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
« Reply #480 on: March 03, 2025, 09:25:13 AM »
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  • Phytocanabinoids•THC and other marijuana chemicals

    Our bodies make a variety of marijuana-like chemicals called “endocannabinoids” that activate many brain, pain receptor, and other endocannabinoid receptors distributed throughout the tissues and organs of our bodies. As you would expect, the activation of these endocannabinoid receptors affects and regulates the chemical processes of our bodies—pain, inflammation, immune response, cardiovascular function, gastrointestinal function, etc.
     
    How necessary to our health are these cannabinoid systems? Recall the European diet drug Rimonabant™. Rimonabant blocked endocannabinoid receptors and was a fabulously effective diet drug. Unfortunately, Rimonabant so effectively blocked cannabinoid receptors that it caused such severe depression that patients taking Rimonabant committed ѕυιcιdє and the drug had to be pulled from the market. Activation of cannabinoid receptors is essential to mental health and life itself.

    THC and the other unique chemicals of the marijuana plant, cannabis, are categorized as “phytocannabinoids,” namely, “plant cannabinoids.” THC and other phytocannabinoids mimic our own endocannabinoids because, in three dimensions, the phytocannabinoids are shaped like our endocannabinoids. Because of their similar shape, phytocannabinoids activate our endocannabinoid receptors. It is no surprise then that marijuana’s chemicals cause a multiplicity of pleasant and beneficial effects, enhancing physical and mental health. Recall too that, quite unlike the medical and recreational drugs marijuana replaces, marijuana has never caused a fatality. In a 1997 New England Journal of Medicine article “Reefer Madness–The Federal Response to California's Medical-Marijuana Law” (N Engl J Med. 1997 Aug 7; 337(6): 435-9.), George Annas calculated that one would have to smoke “nearly 1500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response,” a death by asphyxiation, not drug toxicity. Unless a 1-ton bale of marijuana falls on your head, marijuana cannot kill you. You cannot say the same for aspirin, oxycodone, or even alcohol.

    In 1964 THC was the first of marijuana’s unique chemicals to be isolated, but discovery of CBD and numerous other cannabinoids quickly followed. Marijuana has other unique cannabinoids, “terpenophenolic” chemicals that, besides giving marijuana strains their unique scent and flavor properties, are being discovered to have medical benefits. Let’s focus on the two most-studied cannabinoids, THC and CBD.

    THC

    THC, short for ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol, read “delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol,” is marketed commercially as “dronabinol” or Marinol™ and is the most psychoactive of marijuana’s chemicals. THC partially activates CB1 and CB2 receptors about equally (see https://www.cathinfo.com/health-and-nutrition/the-endocannabinoid-systemwhazzat/). THC mimics the endocannabinoid anandamide and so eases pain and is thought to account for the neuroprotective effects of marijuana (e.g., the decreases in the damaging demyelination of multiple sclerosis, amyloid deposition and neurofibrillatory tangles of Alzheimer’s Disease, and even regression of the aggressive “GBM” brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme).

    THC and other cannabinoids dissolve poorly in water, but dissolve well in fats, glycerine, and alcohol. Their relative insolubility in water explains why the cannabinoids resin-making cells of marijuana, the “trichomes,” can be separated by cold-water extraction methods to make bubble hash without the trichomes’ active ingredients simply dissolving into a soupy tea in your hash bags. Because some of the characteristic chemicals of marijuana do dissolve in water, some compounds are washed away by the cold-water method and so connoisseurs do note a blandness of bubble hash in comparison with hash made by traditional methods. On the other hand, the non-traditional methods of extraction do provide the “full melt” characteristic that lends so well to vaporization. Qualified patients who wish to study these methods in depth should consult the 2010 second edition of Robert Connell Clarke’s book Hashish.

    Too, THC’s excellent solubility in fats, glycerine, and alcohol explains why butter, oils, glycerine, and liquor make such effective extracts and tinctures.

    CBD

    CBD, short for “cannabidiol,” acts by influencing endocannabinoids, phytocannabinoids, and serotonin. While there is evidence that CBD directly activates CB1 or CB2 receptors, CBD’s indirect actions chemically competing with THC and other cannabinoids may also be important. CBD has also been shown to activate a certain subset of serotonin receptors, the 5-HT1A receptors (receptors related to commonly prescribed anti-depressants such as Prozac and Zoloft).

    It is often, but inaccurately, said that CBD is not psychoactive. CBD does moderate the cerebral “high” of THC. Strains of marijuana high in CBD are less psychoactive than the percentage of THC would otherwise suggest, but CBD does display its own subtle psychoactivity. Paradoxically, some CBD research has shown that CBD can be sedating while other research shows CBD increases alertness. Interest in CBD, however, does not center on its subtle psychoactive properties. Instead CBD is receiving increasing attention for its remarkable anti-epilepsy, anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, anti-nausea, and even anti-cancer benefits. CBD inhibits cancer cell growth through a combination of actions (CB2 receptor, TrpV1 capsaicin-receptor, down-regulation of the ID1 oncogene, and induction of oxidative stress) that force “apoptosis,” forcing the programmed cell death from which cancers escape.

    To reap these benefits of CBD, breeders have developed high-CBD strains of marijuana. Currently the Society of Cannabis Clinicians defines high-CBD strains as those with greater than 4% CBD by weight or greater than 2.5% CBD if CBD exceeds THC content. Typical medical grade cannabis may have only 0.5-1% CBD, but 14-18% THC. Among the better known high-CBD strains (percentages vary greatly depending on drying, curing and storage, but are reported here as tested by Steep Hill Lab, Oakland CA): Cannatonic 6% CBD/6% THC (Resin Seeds, Barcelona, Spain), Harlequin 8-9% CBD/5.5-6% THC (Cornerstone Research Collective, Los Angeles CA), Women’s Collective Stinky Purple 9.7% CBD/1.2% THC, and the champion, outdoor-grown “True Blueberry x OG Kush” 13.9% CBD/6-7% THC (Full Spectrum Genetics, Yreka CA).

    Patient preferences and needs vary. Some prefer and need more THC; others prefer and need more CBD. Besides choice of strains, patients have another method to adjust their relative THC and CBD dosages, vaporizing their medicine. Vaporizing or “vaping” involves heating the medicine to a temperature below the combustion temperature, the temperature at which the marijuana actually burns, approximately 200°C. (392°F.). This allows the inhalation of the vaporized medicine without inhaling actual smoke.

    THC and CBD vaporize (turn from a solid into a gas) at different temperatures. THC vaporizes at 157°C. (315°F.) and CBD at 188°C. (370°F.). By adjusting the temperature of a quality vaporizer like the Storz and Bickel Volcano® (http://www.storz-bickel.com), patients may selectively inhale medicine that is THC-rich or CBD-rich.

    To obtain THC-rich medicine, simply set the vaporizer for 160°C. and titrate your inhalation of the collected vapor.

    To obtain CBD-rich medicine, set the vaporizer for 160°C., allow all the THC to be vaporized without collecting it (or collect it to be used by another patient that prefers the THC-rich fraction). After all the THC has vaporized, turn up the vaporizer temperature to 190°C. and titrate your inhalation of the now CBD-enriched vapor.

    For the history and to follow promising developments in the study of CBD, I refer readers to http://www.projectCBD.com.

    “Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera”

    This is, of course, a short and simplified overview. Approximately 100 phytocannabinoids have been isolated from marijuana, so stay tuned. Much more remains to be known about other common cannabinoids: CBG (Cannabigerol), CBC (Cannabichromene), CBL (Cannabicyclol), CBV (Cannabivarin), THCV (Tetrahydrocannabivarin), CBDV (Cannabidivarin), CBCV (Cannabichromevarin), CBGV (Cannabigerovarin), and CBGM (Cannabigerol Monoethyl Ether).



    pharmacologic effects of phytocannabinoids

    In 2003 the US government awarded itself US patent #6630507 for cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. No, you are not confused; that is the same federal government that classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug because it supposedly has no medical usefulness. Go figure.

    Underscoring “our” government’s hypocrisy regarding inexpensive and easily-grown marijuana is the recognition that besides endocannabinoids and phytocannabinoids, there is a third class of cannabinoids, synthetic cannabinoids, the drugs that Big Pharma is patenting to sell you. Wanna bet whether the feds will classify those expensive synthetic drugs as Schedule 1 having “no medical benefit”? Follow the money.


    Offline Meg

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #481 on: March 03, 2025, 09:42:47 AM »
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  • What do we learn from these observations? Endocannabinoids maintain our physical health and mental stability. Yes, Divine Providence at work—happy minds and healthy bodies require marijuana-like chemicals!

    If happy minds and healthy bodies require marijuana-like chemicals, which you say is Divine Providence at work, then surely this will have been stated somewhere in Sacred Scripture or Tradition. Can you point out where in Scripture or Tradition that this is stated? 
    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29


    Offline Soubirous

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #482 on: March 03, 2025, 10:32:06 AM »
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  • If happy minds and healthy bodies require marijuana-like chemicals, which you say is Divine Providence at work, then surely this will have been stated somewhere in Sacred Scripture or Tradition. Can you point out where in Scripture or Tradition that this is stated?

    The prefix "endo" means internal, within. Thus endocannabinoids are intrinsic to our bodies. (Similarly: endorphins are our internal form of morphine, with the etymological root orph from the soothing effects told of in the Greek fable of Orpheus. Other uses of "endo" appear in endoscopic, endoplasmic, endodontic, etc.)

    Turning to Scripture, one such citation would be from 1 Corinthians 10:13, "And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it."

    Therefore, at issue is not so much the chemical structures per se but rather the circuмstances that lead a person to seek out external sources to supplement/replace these chemicals: conditions where the body is either prevented by some illness from producing normal maintenance levels or where those normal levels don't serve to alleviate sufficiently the presenting pain. If that pain has a primarily physical source, then the discussion turns to THC, etc. If that pain has a primarily spiritual source, then that's a separate discussion entirely (see: Job). 

    The crossover cases (whether spiritual pain due to physical pain, or physical pain due to spiritual pain, or worse yet a reciprocal spiral) become a matter of carrying one's cross, or not, as it were. The distinctions matter for clarity of understanding yet can't always be discerned so easily. Sometimes we pray, wait, and leave the rest to God. 
    Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices. - St. Teresa of Jesus

    Offline Mark 79

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #483 on: March 03, 2025, 10:34:28 AM »
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  • If happy minds and healthy bodies require marijuana-like chemicals, which you say is Divine Providence at work, then surely this will have been stated somewhere in Sacred Scripture or Tradition. Can you point out where in Scripture or Tradition that this is stated?
    What Catholic needs explicit approval in a Bible verse to take any medicine?  Have you become a Christian Scientist?

    Are you so ignorant of Scripture that you do not know the general principle of using herbs and fermented beverages is in Scripture?

    Quote
    And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.… And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat  Genesis 1:12-29

    Some argue that the "bud of renown" in Ezekiel 34:29 refers to marijuana, indigenous to the Holy Land and used there for millennia.

    I also recall that Jesus turned water into wine at Cana for a wedding feast that lasted for days. Who here can accuse Jesus of abetting drunkenness? Who here can accuse Jesus of a puritanical rejection of revelry?


    Offline Mark 79

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #484 on: March 03, 2025, 10:41:09 AM »
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  • The prefix "endo" means internal, within. Thus endocannabinoids are intrinsic to our bodies. (Similarly: endorphins are our internal form of morphine, with the etymological root orph from the soothing effects told of in the Greek fable of Orpheus. Other uses of "endo" appear in endoscopic, endoplasmic, endodontic, etc.)

    Turning to Scripture, one such citation would be from 1 Corinthians 10:13, "And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it."

    Therefore, at issue is not so much the chemical structures per se but rather the circuмstances that lead a person to seek out external sources to supplement/replace these chemicals: conditions where the body is either prevented by some illness from producing normal maintenance levels or where those normal levels don't serve to alleviate sufficiently the presenting pain. If that pain has a primarily physical source, then the discussion turns to THC, etc. If that pain has a primarily spiritual source, then that's a separate discussion entirely (see: Job).

    The crossover cases (whether spiritual pain due to physical pain, or physical pain due to spiritual pain, or worse yet a reciprocal spiral) become a matter of carrying one's cross, or not, as it were. The distinctions matter for clarity of understanding yet can't always be discerned so easily. Sometimes we pray, wait, and leave the rest to God.
    Important distinctions well stated!


    Offline Meg

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #485 on: March 03, 2025, 10:44:25 AM »
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  • What Catholic needs explicit approval in a Bible verse to take any medicine?  Have you become a Christian Scientist?

    Are you so ignorant of Scripture that you do not know the general principle of using herbs and fermented beverages is in Scripture?

    Some argue that the "bud of renown" in Ezekiel 34:29 refers to marijuana, indigenous to the Holy Land and used there for millennia.

    I also recall that Jesus turned water into wine at Cana for a wedding feast that lasted for days. Who here can accuse Jesus of abetting drunkenness? who here can accuse Jesus of a puritanical rejection of revelry?

    You said that marijuana-like substances are required for a happy mind and healthy body. You haven't actually addressed my concern about this at all.

    For you, marijuana has become an idol that replaces God. It is marijuana that makes a person happy and healthy - not the Catholic Church, and by extension, love and devotion to our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

    We are to love God with all of our mind, soul and body. Marijuana seems to have replaced that, for you.
    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29

    Offline Mithrandylan

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #486 on: March 03, 2025, 11:06:32 AM »
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  • "Blessed be God, who giveth wine to cheer the heart of man."

    The fruits of the earth are available for our temperate use for the sake of "cheering the heart."
    "Be kind; do not seek the malicious satisfaction of having discovered an additional enemy to the Church... And, above all, be scrupulously truthful. To all, friends and foes alike, give that serious attention which does not misrepresent any opinion, does not distort any statement, does not mutilate any quotation. We need not fear to serve the cause of Christ less efficiently by putting on His spirit". (Vermeersch, 1913).

    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #487 on: March 03, 2025, 11:36:45 AM »
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  • For you, marijuana has become an idol that replaces God. It is marijuana that makes a person happy and healthy - not the Catholic Church, and by extension, love and devotion to our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

    How does this follow even remotely from his merely having defended the liceity of using the substsance?  He now has turned it into "an idol that replaces God"?  Are you serious?


    Offline Meg

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #488 on: March 03, 2025, 11:38:43 AM »
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  • "Blessed be God, who giveth wine to cheer the heart of man."

    The fruits of the earth are available for our temperate use for the sake of "cheering the heart."

    I agree with that quote from scripture. Has it been interpreted (by the Church Fathers) to also mean that wine is required for a happy mind and healthy body? 
    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29

    Offline Meg

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #489 on: March 03, 2025, 11:39:29 AM »
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  • How does this follow even remotely from his merely having defended the liceity of using the substsance?  He now has turned it into "an idol that replaces God"?  Are you serious?

    If you go back and read what I wrote, you'll have an answer, rather than just reacting. Next you'll be calling me names, because I won't agree with you. Go ahead and do so.
    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29

    Online WorldsAway

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #490 on: March 03, 2025, 11:56:41 AM »
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  • If you go back and read what I wrote, you'll have an answer, rather than just reacting. Next you'll be calling me names, because I won't agree with you. Go ahead and do so.
    Mark79 (my emphasis):

    Quote
    Endocannabinoids maintain our physical health and mental stability. Yes, Divine Providence at work—happy minds and healthy bodies require marijuana-like chemicals!

    You:
    Quote
    For you, marijuana has become an idol that replaces God. 

    You are delusional and, once again, judging the interior forum
    If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you [John 15:108


    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #491 on: March 03, 2025, 12:22:05 PM »
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  • If you go back and read what I wrote, you'll have an answer, rather than just reacting. Next you'll be calling me names, because I won't agree with you. Go ahead and do so.

    Your words are right there where you're accusing him of replacing God with the idol of marijuana.  That's your conclusion, your attempted justification for it notwithstanding ... as you utterly fail to distinguish between natural happiness and the supernatural happiness that can be found in God alone.  Our Lady told St. Bernadette that she would not be promised happiness "in this life", meaning natural happiness, but in the next.  Some people due to physiological reasons can spend the vast majority of their lives "depressed" and unhappy "in this life".

    Offline Mark 79

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #492 on: March 03, 2025, 01:31:39 PM »
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  • You said that marijuana-like substances are required for a happy mind and healthy body. You haven't actually addressed my concern about this at all.

    Perhaps re-reading ENDOcannabinoids ("marijuana-like substances" that occur naturally in our bodies) will assist your impaired comprehension… but perhaps not.



    For you, marijuana has become an idol that replaces God. It is marijuana that makes a person happy and healthy…


    I have said nothing remotely suggesting that MJ replaces God for me or anyone else.


    Offline Cera

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #493 on: March 03, 2025, 03:44:05 PM »
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  • Lunar Module is a Meth Heads Tree Fort

     LOL :laugh1:

    2min 15sec
    https://www.bitchute.com/video/QQgIoNtjQzSH/

    I have to say, and this is not to brag because I am a clueless numbscull in so many ways, but I was young enough to not be afraid to ask questions during the 70's about this.

    When watching the footage on tv I kept asking my Dad, "Who is filming them while they are landing on the moon?"

    and

    "How do they get enough power to get back to earth when they needed a huge blast to get to the moon?"

    and

    "Why is the rocket taking off from earth curving?  How will that get them to the moon.  Shouldn't they be going straight up?"

    and on and on...

    My Dad was suspicious and said that I'm asking all the right questions...

    but there was no internet then to do any research into this and meet like minded people who were asking the same questions.

    From what I hear, kids these days aren't buying it.

    Millennials have grown up with far better CGI!
    Great post Miser! I too wondered who was filming them landing on the "moon."
    Pray for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

    Offline Mark 79

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    Re: Marijuana use sinful for Catholics?
    « Reply #494 on: March 03, 2025, 09:03:28 PM »
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  • Great post Miser! I too wondered who was filming them landing on the "moon."
    It seems… misplaced. :laugh1: