A Nation Going to Pot


In a 1967 “Dragnet” episode titled “The Big High”, Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon investigate a couple who were regular marijuana users. When the husband suggested the drug would one day become “packaged and taxed and sold right off the shelves”, Gannon replied, “I doubt it.” Back then, the legalization of marijuana seemed unthinkable to many Americans. In recent years, an increasing number of weed dispensaries have opened around the country. At the time of this writing, cannabis is legal in 40 states for medical use. 24 states allow recreational use if purchased from authorized dealers.


While in high school, I heard this saying: “Man made booze, God made grass. Who do you trust? God.” Even some Christians try to justify marijuana usage because of what He said in Genesis 1:29, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.” Keep in mind that the statement was made before the Fall of Man.


Not every plant is beneficial if taken internally. Poison ivy. poison oak and poisonous mushrooms are also plants. The latter is good for breaking down dead wood, but certainly bad for eating. Even cocaine originates from green leaves. Hemp is good for making rope, but contrary to medicinal claims, there are health hazards connected with smoking it, such as brain damage and an increased heart rate. More drivers have been testing positive for marijuana where the drug is legalized. That has contributed to more car accidents.


American Center for Law and Justice founder Jay Sekulow has said, “If anyone tells you that you cannot legislate morality, remember that legislation is morality.” Additional marijuana legalization will result in more people using drugs that they wouldn’t otherwise. As we get closer to the return of Christ, drug addiction will continue to increase. Revelation 9:21 says, “And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” The Greek word for sorceries is pharmakeia. One of its definitions is “the use of or the administering of drugs.”


Some say imprisoning people for drug usage is a waste of taxpayer dollars. I can somewhat agree with that. I believe heavy fines would be a sufficient deterrent. The drug users who really should go to jail are the pushers. Society would benefit if they were off the streets.


Sometimes I’ve been approached by drug dealers while evangelizing. Whenever one asks me, "Hey, man! You straight?” I answer, “Yeah, I’m going straight to heaven. How about you? If you died right now, where would you go? Heaven or hell?” Occasionally, these drug dealers take off running.


One time in Tampa, a woman asked me to sign a petition to legalize the medical use of marijuana in Florida. I replied that Jesus is my healer. This woman got a little persistent until I asked, “Does marijuana raise the dead?” Sylvia soon revealed she was looking for a church and thought being a good person would get her into heaven. Eventually, she prayed with me to get born again.


Tomorrow is April 20th. Marijuana users celebrate that day (written as the code “420”) with annual cannabis-oriented celebrations. They even aim to smoke it at 4:20 p.m. There is a better alternative to drugs: getting high on the Most High God.


“That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.” - Psalm 83:18

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