How to address fellow Christians on the topic of drug legalization?
I am in no way advocating the use of drugs. But legalization of soft drugs (esp. Marijuana) would save the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars a year in drug enforcement costs, as well as lower crime and the number of incarcerations. This will lower police costs and lighten the burden on our police system. Drug laws lead to organized crime and gangs, much like prohibition did for alcohol. Marijuana is safe, and there are much more dangerous drugs (ex. Nutmeg) that is sold in bulk on store shelves.
How should I address this issue to people? What about those who are strongly against such legalization?
I’m sorry I don’t have my sources readily available, but there are thousands of legalization sites online with information.
Tell me what you think.
Oh, in case I didn’t make it 100% clear: I’m talking full legalization (not just for medicinal purposes)
Drugs are bad. So is smoking and drinking. Also eating old food is bad. They should all be outlawed. In Denver Marijuana has been legalized, I guess we’ll see the outcome.
Everytime someones says we need to legalize marijuana I keep point out that they are attempting to motivate a whole class of people who just don’t care.
The best thing about the “legalize pot”crowd, is that they are to lazy to organize.
How on earth a person can grab hold of the name of Christ, and at the same time be a slave to, and a promoter of slavery to drugs, is beyond me.
Just think of the profit to be made by the government if they became the sellers.
Yes, I do think it should be legal.
I have had an 7 year old nephew and his mother killed by a drunk driver who served 3 years in jail.
I think you get more time than that for drugs. Go figure.
By the way, yea, I’m a Christian.
Good luck on that one.
There’s absolutely no reason that marijuana should be outlawed over alcohol. But the most hardcore Christians often want even alcohol outlawed (i.e. prohibition).
Unfortunately, at this time at least, the hardcore ones are the loudest and seem to get their way more than the moderate ones.
They Drink and Smoke and they think those aren’t Drugs. Ha, what a joke.
I’m not going to “advocate” the use either, but I totally agree with you… something as soft as marijuana should quit having such an affect on our legal system……
http://christiansforcannabis.com/e107/news.php
This site has excellent information, and links to other good sites. I hope it helps.
You could start by explaining why it (marijuana) was made illegal in the first place. That is a shocker. Also the harsh punishments for not obeying this prohibition do not fit the crime and destroys families. You could point out all the studies proving it to be harmless and even beneficial for some. Then discuss why the pharmaceutical companies don’t want it legalized, but they are using components of it to create profitable legal drugs. I hate to bring this up for fear of alienating you, but incorporated churches (US) are not allowed to speak out against government policies, or they will lose their tax exempt status. So if the government says it’s bad, then they must also, or say nothing.
It is a matter of principle. As a Christian I would think that would be a concern of yours. I am not for any drug whether it be nicotine, alcohol or hallucinogen. If there is a chemical that can benefit a person more than harm them, fine. Most drugs do not meet that criteria.
Good luck!?
As with most ‘religionists’ Christians believe in the ‘do it our way or else’ approach–or to ‘force’ you to be good–“or else”.
This approach gets applied to just about everything–including drugs, abortion–and coming to a theater near you soon–restrictions based upon the myth of global warming.
Basically they (and many others) simply do not believe that when properly educated, people will (eventually) choose to “do good”–sadly, this bias or preconception stems from a belief (or experience) that they themselves need or needed to be compelled to do good, and therefore, others need to be as well.
Wanna guess who else had the same or similar idea, belief or approach?
If you wanna know, then all you have to do is to study out why and what “the war in heaven” was all about.
Regards,
Marijuana is a long was below alcohol on the list of relative harm for various substances, URL below.
It should also be noted that substances that are officially illegal are usually more harmful than legal ones, simply because their sale and use are illicit and uncontrolled.
The Swedes, for instance – who have heavy official restrictions on alcohol – tend to go a little nuts when given free access to it, and may binge-drink themselves into a coma. A Swede in a duty-free store is like a 14 year-old at a nudist beach. As a result, the country has a massive problem with illicit bathtub gin production, alcoholism and all the associated dangers and harms.
Legalise marijuana/cannabis and its use will become more moderate – as it is in Amsterdam (apart from tourists on binges).
CD
I agree that the medicinal benefits of marijuana should continue to be researched, and I think that it should be legally sold by prescription only.
One of my major problems with legalizing marijuana is that it would be virtually impossible to enforce any kind of traffic laws. Even though breathalizers don’t prevent people from driving while under the influence, it allows police to detect who has been drinking and remove them from the road. How could police make a determination for certain whether a person had been using marijuana before they got behind the wheel?
I realize that these are things that we have to deal with now, but when a substance becomes legalized, it means that the government is sanctioning the sale and use of the product within a certain set of circumstances.
And by the way, I know that I didn’t answer your question but only voiced my own opinions. Maybe this can give you an idea of what people are concerned about.