# Do you believe it's a sin to smoke weed?



## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 24, 2012)

Now, I must qualify this since many in the reformed camp believe in the divine right of kings.

Do you believe it's a sin to smoke weed ASSUMING it's legal?


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## Pergamum (Mar 24, 2012)

How much weed and how often and how strong?

And how do you think weed is the same/or different from tobacco? Would you classify it as a tobacco-like substance or a cocaine-like substance?

And for what purposes would you smoke it?


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## John Bunyan (Mar 24, 2012)

Being illegal, definitely yes.

Being legalized, I would put it side-by-side with smoking cigarettes, useless and maleficial to one's health (marijuana, however, like alcohol, doesnt help one's cognitive faculties, but the other way around, what makes it's use possibly dangerous to society). Then you should judge it's use like a form of alcohol (which is, however, strongly correlated with dementia).

Wouldn't use it for I appreciate my good old consciousness


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## lynnie (Mar 24, 2012)

I smoked it age 16-18. Definitely used as a sinful escape. Did lead to harder drugs ( hash on occasion). Definitely part of our entire arrogant rebellion. I cannot possibly think of any justification for a Christian to use it apart from the same sorts of medical reasons that justify narcotics.

Being an asthmatic, I also cannot think of any reason to put smoke into your lungs when your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Didn't we have this discussion not long ago here? I remember Jerusalem Blade making a valiant effort to discourage pot smoking.....


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## Miss Marple (Mar 24, 2012)

Assuming it is legal, I'd still say it is a sin, unless you somehow do not get high from it.

Scripture condemns drunkenness; being high on any psychoactive drug, whether marijuana or mushrooms or cocaine, would seem to be in the same category.

Scripture to consider would be

Gen 20 "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. . ." (in this episode Noah's drunkenness is portrayed as a negative and as a shame).

1st Samuel 1 "Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. . . " (in this episode Hannah's apparent drunkenness is condemned)

1st Kings 16 " And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah." (drunkenness making him weak and vulnerable)

Drunkenness condemned in Proverbs quite a bit, for example; lots of drunkenness and drunkards condemned in Isaiah, et. al. There's no need to go on, listing verse upon verse; Scripture is clear, drunkenness is a sin, and getting high on anything is obviously, to my observation, a type of drunkenness.

"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1)

Plenty of Scripture that speaks of wine positively, but never of drunkenness.


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## Jack K (Mar 24, 2012)

The way most people use it, to get high, it's similar to drunkenness. Generally unbecoming a child of God.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Mar 24, 2012)

Yes. 

I know this is unpopular with the Ron Paul folks but there is a substantial difference between pot and booze.


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## forgivenmuch (Mar 25, 2012)

You can drink alcohol and not be drunk. From much personal experience, it's very hard (i.e. impossible) to smoke weed and not be high. Therefore, being controlled/mastered by something other than the Spirit.


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## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 25, 2012)

What about ritalin or other prescription drugs?

Isn't it a little presumptuous to say that weed is the same as alcohol?


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## Pergamum (Mar 25, 2012)

It might be charitable to group weed in with alcohol, since alcohol is socially accepted. The government right now groups it in with meth and cocaine as far as legality.


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## Rufus (Mar 25, 2012)

If you really need it for medical reasons and have a medical card than go ahead. Otherwise (even if legal) I wouldn't and wouldn't recommend it.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Mar 25, 2012)

I would say any recreational drug taken to alter reality would be a sin. It would also depend on how much and the frequency of use.


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## he beholds (Mar 25, 2012)

I doubt I'd use it if it were legal, but I don't think it'd always be a sin. I think a little wine gives a some lawful merriment (not drunk but not like you didn't just drink wine, either) and I think if it's a small enough amount, pot could be similar in affect (though, not to me--it'd make me overthink everything and I already do that so i'd likely pass).


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## Unoriginalname (Mar 25, 2012)

I generally do not trust the intentions medicinal marijuana camp for a few reasons. I know there are properties that have been shown to be beneficial for various diseases, but I do not understand why the push is to then distribute raw marijuana instead of a push for companies to refine those chemicals and distribute them. I would not hand someone foxglove and tell the person to chew on that for heart failure. If we can single out the helpful elements of marijuana why is the lobby pushing for giving out the plant instead of lifting whatever bans that prevent it from being utilized and refined by pharmaceutical companies.
For the record foxglove is what digoxin is derived from in case my analogy is confusing


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## toddpedlar (Mar 25, 2012)

How close to the edge of sin can I go without falling over?


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## earl40 (Mar 25, 2012)

toddpedlar said:


> How close to the edge of sin can I go without falling over?



Good question.....how much wine is enough? Personally 2 glasses makes my heart grow fond on an empty stomach, and I can drink three and a half with food.


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## toddpedlar (Mar 25, 2012)

I'm not asking the question seriously, Earl... just indicating that this and other similar discussions amount to such a question, which, really, we have no business asking.


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## he beholds (Mar 25, 2012)

toddpedlar said:


> How close to the edge of sin can I go without falling over?



I think that's a bad way to look at something, though that is the way the pharisees did it and I do see why and how it could seem to help.


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## rbcbob (Mar 25, 2012)

he beholds said:


> toddpedlar said:
> 
> 
> > How close to the edge of sin can I go without falling over?
> ...



If I am not mistaken, and Todd may correct me, he is asking a rhetorical question which is intended to expose how the OP represents a disposition in some Christians who want to know how much they can get away with and still go to heaven.


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## Gord (Mar 25, 2012)

Smoking is a sin period, weed or tobacco or dandelion leaves you are inhaling toxins to the Holy Spirit in you.


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## thbslawson (Mar 25, 2012)

Even if it were legal I'd consider it a sinful habit with the possible exception of it being prescribed by a medical doctor for pain or treatment. Here would be my reasons.

1. While many have lumped it in the same category as alcohol, there's one glaring difference, in that the Bible actually gives us examples of people not merely using alcohol responsibly, but also being commanded to. While it is possible to drink in moderation so that it does not affect your cognitive abilities, I've never heard of anyone "smoking weed in moderation." 

2. The whole purpose of smoking marijuana, as far as I understand it, is to get high. I would argue that using any kind of substance to purposefully and willingly alter your state of consciousness, hinder your cognitive abilities, or achieve some kind of pleasure that is derived from being "out of control" of one's faculties goes against Biblical principles.

3. Inhaled smoke is intentionally damaging to the body and I would argue that doing thus would not be good stewardship of the bodies we've been given. 

I suppose the overall question to ask someone would be "Why do you want to smoke it?"


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## he beholds (Mar 25, 2012)

rbcbob said:


> he beholds said:
> 
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> > toddpedlar said:
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I think you are correct, but I disagree with that rhetorical question. Why shouldn't we understand how big our liberty is? The pharisees would've also set out to say, I think, that doing something that is close to sinful is bad because of its nearness to sin. But if it is close to sin (whatever that means), it is thus _not_ sin, or else it'd not be close, but be sin. If you see what I mean. And if it is NOT sin, then we have the liberty to consider if we might glorify the Lord in our use of that thing.


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## PuritanCovenanter (Mar 25, 2012)

It feeds the carnal nature. People should stop smoking it and start feeding there soul on the Word of God. Man shall live by the Word of God. Marijuana lends no benefit to the feeding of the soul. It is nothing like alcohol either. It is a very different substance and does different things to the mind and soul than alcohol does.


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## he beholds (Mar 25, 2012)

thbslawson said:


> Even if it were legal I'd consider it a sinful habit with the possible exception of it being prescribed by a medical doctor for pain or treatment. Here would be my reasons.
> 
> 1. While many have lumped it in the same category as alcohol, there's one glaring difference, in that the Bible actually gives us examples of people not merely using alcohol responsibly, but also being commanded to. While it is possible to drink in moderation so that it does not affect your cognitive abilities, I've never heard of anyone "smoking weed in moderation."
> 
> ...



What about if you cook it?


> Genesis 1:29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.


Also, as I said above, I don't think alcohol has to be consumed in such a way as to get no effects from it, as if you were drinking juice or water. I believe that the good feeling that you get from just enough alcohol is a blessing of it, so I could see the same being if you ate just enough pot. This is making me thirsty for some wine.

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PuritanCovenanter said:


> It feeds the carnal nature. People should stop smoking it and start feeding there soul on the Word of God. Man shall live by the Word of God. Marijuana lends no benefit to the feeding of the soul. It is nothing like alcohol either. It is a very different substance and does different things to the mind and soul than alcohol does.



Is this a fact or opinion--that it does something different to your mind and soul?


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## Rich Koster (Mar 25, 2012)

I do not consider it a sin to enjoy tobacco. An occasional smoke is pleasant, much like a snack or a favorite dessert. If it was sinful, the Puritan Pub would not be on this website. However, to have an addiction to tobacco is sinful. Now, to the next point. I don't know of anyone who smokes tobacco for the taste, who would say cannabis tastes better. In my experience, people who smoke cannabis smoke it to get high. I have smoked it. After one deliberate inhalation, you are high.......aka mastered. Scripture teaches us to be mastered by nothing. There is no chapter and verse that says thou shalt not smoke cannabis. However, let's not fool ourselves with hollow arguments and use our liberty to enjoy the creation, to promote chemically altered states of mind for recreation purposes.


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## he beholds (Mar 25, 2012)

Rich Koster said:


> I do not consider it a sin to enjoy tobacco. An occasional smoke is pleasant, much like a snack or a favorite dessert. If it was sinful, the Puritan Pub would not be on this website. However, to have an addiction to tobacco is sinful. Now, to the next point. I don't know of anyone who smokes tobacco for the taste, who would say cannabis tastes better. In my experience, people who smoke cannabis smoke it to get high. I have smoked it. After one deliberate inhalation, you are high.......aka mastered. Scripture teaches us to be mastered by nothing. There is no chapter and verse that says thou shalt not smoke cannabis. However, let's not fool ourselves with hollow arguments and use our liberty to enjoy the creation, to promote chemically altered states of mind for recreation purposes.


I feel like I need to stress that pot is not for me since I am arguing for its lawfulness : )

But, would you say the same about alcohol, then? That if you drink enough to have an altered state of mind for recreation purposes, it's a sin? So basically, it's good for communion and that's about it? If you feel at all happy from drinking it, you've had too much?


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## rbcbob (Mar 25, 2012)

he beholds said:


> And if it is NOT sin, then we have the liberty to consider if we might glorify the Lord in our use of that thing.



There are a good many things that are not sin which, nonetheless, are not wise or prudent for one professing godliness.


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## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 25, 2012)

Being high is not the same as being drunk.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Mar 25, 2012)

he beholds said:


> That if you drink enough to have an altered state of mind for recreation purposes, it's a sin? So basically, it's good for communion and that's about it? If you feel at all happy from drinking it, you've had too much?



Well to define 'altered state of mind' better, I would define it as drinking so that your sense of judgment is impaired. I think that would be around .08 BAC, which comes to around 4 bottles of beer for the average human. This would also be the time when your driving ability is impaired and driving would be considered illegal. The reason I say this is because of the impaired judgment aspect to it. 

Smoking weed for recreational use always would be a sin in my opinion because your judgment is altered after the first hit.


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## toddpedlar (Mar 25, 2012)

rbcbob said:


> he beholds said:
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> > toddpedlar said:
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Yes, that's just about right (though in this particular case it's how much could I get away with without sinning).


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## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 25, 2012)

sometimed I feel high from going on a run and soaking in the sunshine. 

I guess we shouldn't do that, because that changes our "state of mind".


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## RobertPGH1981 (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> sometimed I feel high from going on a run and soaking in the sunshine.
> 
> I guess we shouldn't do that, because that changes our "state of mind".



I suppose that your ability to drive a vehicle can be impaired, or perhaps your ability to make rational decisions while soaking up the sun.


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## Rich Koster (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> sometimed I feel high from going on a run and soaking in the sunshine.
> 
> I guess we shouldn't do that, because that changes our "state of mind".



If you are using this as rhetoric to support cannabis smoking, try again.


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## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 25, 2012)

Coffee also changed your state of mind, in a similar way to cocaine.

Can we all at least agree that throwing people in a cage to be raped and humiliated is not an appropriate response to smoking a plant? We don't throw people in rape cages for overeating.


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## Rich Koster (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> Being high is not the same as being drunk.



Yes. Being high on cannabis is a willful act to escape reality. Someone may become "drunk" by carelessness. For example: You normally drink a red wine that is 8% ABV. You know that 2 glasses, with dinner is your limit. One day you go to a friends home and drink 2 glasses of red wine with dinner. What you didn't know was your friends wine contained 14.5%ABV, and you unintentionally crossed over your limit.


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## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 25, 2012)

toddpedlar said:


> How close to the edge of sin can I go without falling over?



You're right, we shouldn't ask questions ever. That would be a heinous sin. To contemplate God's word and know his will is unthinkable and a damnable heresy.


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## Rich Koster (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> Coffee also changed your state of mind, in a similar way to cocaine.
> 
> Can we all at least agree that throwing people in a cage to be raped and humiliated is not an appropriate response to smoking a plant? We don't throw people in rape cages for overeating.



If the law of the land says that smoking a plant is ILLEGAL, being arrested is appropriate. I thought the OP assumed it was legal and we weren't discussing the legality of cannabis. We are discussing if it is sinful and why.


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## rbcbob (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> toddpedlar said:
> 
> 
> > How close to the edge of sin can I go without falling over?
> ...



MODERATOR WARNING!! Your intemperate and combative rhetoric will not be tolerated.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> Coffee also changed your state of mind, in a similar way to cocaine.
> 
> Can we all at least agree that throwing people in a cage to be raped and humiliated is not an appropriate response to smoking a plant? We don't throw people in rape cages for overeating.



It is similar but not the same thing. Coffee will make you feel anxious and may cause you to be slightly paranoid. Cocaine makes you feel really good, impairs your judgment and it will make you crave more and more. It will also make you 1000x more paranoid than coffee will ever do. You are comparing apples to oranges when you compare coffee to cocaine, or smoking weed to soaking up the sun.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/cocaine-use-and-its-effects


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## Unoriginalname (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> Coffee also changed your state of mind, in a similar way to cocaine.
> 
> Can we all at least agree that throwing people in a cage to be raped and humiliated is not an appropriate response to smoking a plant? We don't throw people in rape cages for overeating.


The problem is states caused by the sun or coffee or nicotine would not be considered intoxication by any reasonable person. With weed we are we asking if it is lawful to willingly enter into a inebriated. 
As far as your remark about rape cages you have the Quakers to thank for that since they really influenced our modern penal system. That remark is also a red herring since the we are not asking if the way the government handles it is fair but if it is sin to partake.


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## Handsomegeneralstabbyeyes (Mar 25, 2012)

rbcbob said:


> Grand Theft Pants said:
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> 
> > toddpedlar said:
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Don't hate, mod. I can't address someone who is accusing me of something as scandalous as asking what is and what is not a sin?

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Rich Koster said:


> Grand Theft Pants said:
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> 
> > Coffee also changed your state of mind, in a similar way to cocaine.
> ...




You're right, I was trying to come to some kind of truce.

As far as it being the "law of the land". I can't agree with that. That idea is essentially the Divine Right of Kings argument. It is antinomian. 

Civil Government is subject to God's Law, they don't get to make their own.


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## athanatos (Mar 25, 2012)

Gord said:


> Smoking is a sin period, weed or tobacco or dandelion leaves you are inhaling toxins to the Holy Spirit in you.



 ... I am not sure this could be defended Biblically or "scientifically" ... Cigars a sin? Weed for medicinal purposes? (not sure how sharp of a contrast can be made with "recreational", I admit). Isn't this a far leap from the Temple of the Holy Spirit passage?


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## M_Scott (Mar 25, 2012)

Did John Stossel start this thread 

Is there any good that comes from smoking dope, kills brain cells, makes you stupid while your on it, and you over eat, any other benefits?


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## RobertPGH1981 (Mar 25, 2012)

athanatos said:


> ... I am not sure this could be defended Biblically or "scientifically" ... Cigars a sin? Weed for medicinal purposes? (not sure how sharp of a contrast can be made with "recreational", I admit). Isn't this a far leap from the Temple of the Holy Spirit passage?



I wouldn't go so far to say that drugs for medicinal purposes would be sin. I would say that drugs used in recreation would be sinful since it alters your state of judgment/reality.


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## Unoriginalname (Mar 25, 2012)

Grand Theft Pants said:


> As far as it being the "law of the land". I can't agree with that. That idea is essentially the Divine Right of Kings argument. It is antinomian.


It is far more antimonian and antithetical to Westminster XXIII sections 2 and 4 to believe that the Magistrate has no ability to make civil laws that keep the peace. Have we already assumed that weed is ethically neutral and is now a matter of civil law? It is not up to us to arbitrarily decide which laws to follow based off whether or not they are warranted, unless it conflicts with some moral issue.

Also in the 36th chapter of the Belgic Confession I think my point is summed up nicely:


> Moreover, it is the bounded duty of everyone, of what state, quality or condition soever he may be to subject himself to the magistrates, pay tribute, to show due honor and respect them and to obey them in all things which are not repugnant to the Word of God; to supplicate for them in their prayers that God may rule and guide them in all their ways and we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty


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