Denver’s marijuana dispensaries saw their highest single day of sales on March 23, 2020. That was when Denver Mayor Michael Hancock declared a stay-at-home order for the city starting the next day. The order included the closure of nonessential businesses, which meant, at the time, recreational marijuana shops would have to shutter until at least April 10.

Not wanting to be without what they consider essential, Denver residents flocked to the dispensaries, forming lines that spanned multiple city blocks. Within a few hours the Mayor clarified his order and said pot shops may stay open, so long as the stores practice extreme social distancing.

Crisis averted.

As many as 20–30 percent of Colorado adults already use it,[1] so it’s reasonable to assume a fraction of churchgoers are using it regularly. Pastors and lay leaders in Colorado and other states where recreational marijuana is legal must stand ready to give an answer to the question, “Is it okay for me to use marijuana?”

But before we can answer the question, we have to understand the culture.

CANNABIS CULTURE

April 20, or 4/20, is an unofficial holiday here in my home state of Colorado. Denver, the Mile High city, is home to the world’s largest rally-turned-festival celebrating cannabis culture. Marijuana enthusiasts have shown up for over twenty years in Denver’s Civic Center Park to collectively smoke pot on 4/20. Last year’s attendance was 50,000 strong.

While this year’s festival was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Coloradans will likely still celebrate at home. After all, the culture here is robust. Our state, along with Washington, was the first to legalize the use of recreational marijuana in 2012. Now we use marijuana at three times the rate of states where it’s illegal[2], and we use it twice as much as the entire country combined.[3]

Though marijuana culture permeates many counties in Colorado—quite literally in some, where grow-houses emanate a dank smell over entire neighborhoods—citizens across the state have mixed feelings eight years in. About seventy municipalities across the state welcome pot shops (these are found primarily in urban centers and mountain tourist towns) while nearly 200 municipalities in more rural and conservative areas have banned marijuana dispensaries altogether, though they can’t ban possession.[4]

THE MERITS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Colorado is a physically fit state and marijuana has been widely marketed here as a feel-good, medical pick-me-up—a wise choice for health-conscience consumers. Decades of cannabis lobbying have made an impact. Positive research anecdotes on the drug abound, praising its ability to calm nerves, cure nausea, and relieve pain.

While rigorous studies and scientific evidence on the drug’s effects are lacking, many doctors agree that carefully administered medical marijuana is worthwhile. Medical marijuana has been a way of life here in Colorado for two decades.

The drug is most commonly prescribed for chronic pain and to alleviate pain from multiple sclerosis. It’s also prescribed to lessen tremors related to Parkinson’s disease, manage nausea and the affects of chemotherapy, and lessen the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in veterans.[5]

But for all the reported good news, there’s plenty of well-documented bad news to go around.

THE PERILS OF POT CULTURE

Beyond the obvious mental impairment caused by the drug, daily marijuana smokers are three times more likely to suffer psychosis such as schizophrenia—up to five times more likely if the pot they use is highly potent.[6] Reports here in Colorado reveal that the legalization of marijuana has led to an increase in hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and poison control center calls linked to marijuana exposure.[7]

Teens who smoke marijuana are more likely to suffer depression and suicidal thoughts and are more than three times as likely to attempt suicide between the ages of eighteen and thirty-two.[8] Across the nation, 20 percent of teens currently use marijuana[9]. But it’s important to note that this is not their parents’ drug. The marijuana smoked in my high school bathrooms contained less than 5 percent THC (the chemical that causes users to get high). The marijuana sold at recreational dispensaries today often contains 25 percent THC,[10] sometimes even 30 percent here in Colorado.[11]

The bad news goes beyond physical and mental health. Because of the aforementioned rise in psychosis, we’ve seen an increase in violent crime. The first four states to legalize marijuana “have seen sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults since 2014, according to reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police reports and news articles show a clear link to cannabis in many cases.”[12] Additionally, those who use marijuana are more likely to use opioids later.[13]

Marijuana proponents note that Colorado’s industry nets $1.5 billion in yearly sales. While that translates into helpful tax revenue, it also results in black market growth. Growers in Colorado can connect with buyers in states where marijuana remains illegal and sell the drug for three or four times the market value. Growers raise their plants in secret and ship the drug across state lines via illegal cartels. This kind of activity frequently goes hand in hand with darker crimes, like human trafficking.

CAN YOU SMOKE POT IF IT’S LEGAL?

There’s a distinction to be made here between recreational and medical marijuana. The use of medical marijuana, as prescribed and overseen by a doctor to help with real medical needs, can be considered a gift of grace for today’s Christian. Nothing in the Bible prevents the believer from receiving the aforementioned benefits of the drug for various and difficult diagnoses.

While it’s true that many medical marijuana users are likely fraudulent, there is room for the real sufferer to receive real benefits, so Christ followers shouldn’t reject medical marijuana across the board.

But what about recreational use? With recreational marijuana dispensaries now legal in eleven states (it’s medically legal in thirty-three states), should Christians partake? For the believer in states like Colorado, it’s no longer a question of legality but of wisdom: Is it wise to use marijuana? Is it beneficial? Does it help you keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), who lives in you?

FIVE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE RECREATIONAL USE OF MARIJUANA

We should take our cues here from the Apostle Paul, who once wrote, “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful” (1 Cor. 6:12). The recreational use of marijuana may be legal where you live, but that doesn’t make it helpful.

First, the Christian does not belong to his or herself. We are not our own, we were bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20). Our bodies are now holy, set apart, temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). We are called, therefore, to glorify God with our bodies. He made them and lives in them. We are mere stewards. So we must consider God’s will regarding, for example, diet, sleep, exercise, what we watch and listen to, how we treat ourselves and others. These bodies aren’t our domain.

Secondly, we are commanded in both the Old and New Testaments to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). This greatest command prevents Christians from engaging in anything that numbs our bodies or minds. It’s common knowledge that marijuana has a dulling effect. It’s called “getting stoned” because it makes you lethargic and stagnant—the opposite of the all-in love for God that’s called for in Scripture.

Thirdly, on the heels of the greatest commandment, Jesus gives us a second commandment that he says is like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). It’s impossible to stand ready to love and serve others if we are inebriated. Intoxicating ourselves is therefore an intrinsically selfish act. It turns us inward and prevents us from observing others’ needs and then jumping into action. Regularly getting high makes us less and less capable of fostering a lifestyle of service.

Fourth, getting high may be equated with getting drunk, which is prohibited for the believer (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18,; Rom. 13:13; Luke 21:34). Whereas a glass of wine can be enjoyed without becoming intoxicated, it’s impossible to partake in marijuana without doing so . The very reason to use marijuana recreationally is to get high. Jesus calls us instead to stay watchful, to be alert, to be ready to stand before him (Luke 21:34–36)—all of which call for a sober mind.

Finally, and perhaps most compellingly for the Christ follower, we are called to find our rest and peace in Jesus, not in any substance—legal or not. Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30). True, deep rest—soul rest—is found in our Creator and Savior alone. Getting high is a cheap counterfeit of the indwelling goodness of our God.

EMBRACE—DON’T ESCAPE FROM—THE WORLD

Here in Colorado, where marijuana is ubiquitous and the culture runs deep, I know it’s no small thing to call believers to lay the drug down. For those who are in Christ but also have a physical addiction or strong social habit, this is a calling to die to self.

I remember well my college days when the Lord asked me to give up underage drinking and drunkenness. My identity was wrapped up in a party lifestyle. I didn’t know who or how to be without a red solo cup in my hands amidst the throngs of other party-goers.

But our Savior really does ask you and me to die to ourselves, that we may live. He says, “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:38–39). He who gave us his life on the cross is worthy of our laying down our unbiblical practices for his name’s sake. He’s not asking us to do anything he hasn’t already done a hundredfold. And what’s more, he will work in us to help us obey him (Phil. 2:13).

Brothers and sisters, may we not seek an escape from this world through recreational marijuana use. May we embrace it instead, being present to the current time and place, which God willed for us (Acts 17:26).

We were created and called to be fully alive in Christ (Eph. 2:5). So then, in him alone, let’s truly live.

[1] https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/marijuana-use-2017

[2] https://breakpoint.org/breakpoint-marijuana-and-psychosis/

[3] https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/cbhsq-reports/NSDUHsaePercentsExcelCSVs2017/NSDUHsaePercents2017.pdf

[4] https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-colorado-marijuana-legalization-lessons-for-illinois-20190312-story.html

[5] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana-2018011513085

[6] https://breakpoint.org/breakpoint-marijuana-and-psychosis/

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5623152/

[8] https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20190213/teen-pot-use-linked-to-later-suicide-risk#1

[9] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M3XdmqznZDl2y6D7Hz6iDGwTFTHSGrtP/view

[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/opinion/marijuana-pot-health-risks-legalization.html

[11] https://breakpoint.org/breakpoint-marijuana-and-psychosis/

[12] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/opinion/marijuana-pot-health-risks-legalization.html

[13] https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040413

Author’s Note: This article first appeared at GCD in April 2020.