Marijuana Is Harmful to Bodies and Souls. Period.

Readers of this website know that I have unalterably opposed to marijuana in any of its forms since the mopheads from Liverpool, England, who called themselves “The Beatles” gained notoriety in the United States of America in early-1964 for their cult following in England and for their popularization of marijuana and impurity.

John Randolph “Jack” Webb was quite correct when he said in his portrayal of the fictional Los Angeles Detective Sergeant Joe Friday on Dragnet that “marijuana is the highway” to all other psychedelic drugs. This is because the “high” produced by marijuana becomes so familiar that other, more powerful substances that produce and sustain artificial feelings of “euphoria”—as well as hallucinations that can lead to psychoses—become more and more attractive.

Marijuana is an addictive substance that dulls the senses, damages the brain, lessens the ability to concentrate and act rationally, and leads to all manner of bodily afflictions. There is nothing “safe” or “good” about marijuana in any of its forms, and is a violation of the Fifth Commandment to pollute the body and diminish one’s capacity to act morally as befits a redeemed creature and becomes so addictive that the thought of redemptive suffering becomes repulsive as it becomes more and more “necessary” to “escape” from the reality of the world and from whatever pain—bodily, emotional, spiritual)—that interferes with the “good times.”

Although I have made reference to a number of studies demonstrating the harmful effects of marijuana over the years, a new study has confirmed that past studies have already proved: marijuana is dangerous to bodily and mental health, to say nothing of endangering us all as users operative motor vehicles while under the influence of drug:

High hopes for medical cannabis are going up in smoke.

A bombshell new report found “insufficient evidence” to back up most of its supposed benefits — and raised serious red flags about hidden risks.

“Patients deserve honest conversations about what the science does and doesn’t tell us about medical cannabis,” Dr. Michael Hsu, an addiction psychiatrist at UCLA and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

The findings come as Americans increasingly rely on marijuana to cope with chronic pain, sleep difficulties, anxiety and a wide range of other health concerns.

Medical cannabis is now legal in 40 states and DC, and nearly 9 in 10 US adults say they support using it when prescribed by a doctor.

“While many people turn to cannabis seeking relief, our review highlights significant gaps between public perception and scientific evidence regarding its effectiveness for most medical conditions,” Hsu said.

In the sweeping review, Hsu and his colleagues analyzed more than 2,500 scientific papers published between January 2010 and September 2025.

They compared medical cannabis sold at dispensaries with pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids — the handful of FDA-approved drugs containing either THC, a psychoactive compound, or CBD, which doesn’t cause a high.

The researchers found these medications delivered real benefits for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, boosting weight in patients with HIV/AIDS-related appetite loss and easing certain severe pediatric seizure disorders.

But the science-backed benefits for medical cannabis fell short of the public hype.

Even though more than half of users try it for acute pain, Hsu and his team found no solid clinical evidence that it works. Current guidelines don’t recommend cannabis-based treatments as a first-line option for pain management.

They also found that research on medical cannabis for conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, PTSD, Parkinson’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis was weak or inconclusive at best.

When it came to potential dangers, however, the risk was clear.

Long-term studies suggest that adolescents using high-potency cannabis face higher rates of psychotic symptoms, with 12.4% affected compared with 7.1% of those using low-potency products.

They were also more likely to develop generalized anxiety disorder, with 19.1% experiencing it versus 11.6% of their peers using weaker cannabis.

Notably, the researchers found that about 29% of medical cannabis users also meet the criteria for cannabis use disorder.

This complex psychiatric condition typically involves a strong, compulsive urge to use cannabis, increased tolerance and withdrawal symptoms when use stops, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Cannabis use disorder primarily involves THC-containing products. The risk is higher for those who start using before age 18, who are four to seven times more likely to develop the dependence than adults.

The review also found that daily use of medical cannabis — especially inhaled or high-potency products — may increase the risk of cardiovascular problems compared with occasional use. That includes a higher chance of heart attack, stroke and coronary artery disease.

n light of the findings, Hsu and his colleagues recommended that doctors screen patients for cardiovascular disease and psychotic disorders before suggesting they try THC-containing products.

They also urged physicians to consider potential drug interactions and weigh the possible harms against the benefits when deciding whether to prescribe medical cannabis.

“Clear guidance from clinicians is essential to support safe, evidence-based decision-making when discussing medical cannabis with their patients,” Hsu said.

The researchers acknowledged several limitations, noting that the study wasn’t a systematic review and didn’t include a formal risk-of-bias assessment.

They also pointed out that some of the research was observational and could have been influenced by confounding factors. The findings may not apply to every patient due to differences in study design, the cannabis products tested, and participant characteristics.

“Further research is crucial to better understand the potential benefits and risks of medical cannabis,” Hsu said. “By supporting more rigorous studies, we can provide clearer guidance and improve clinical care for patients.”

The findings come as speculation grows that President Trump may soon reclassify cannabis under federal law.

Aside from the FDA-approved prescription medications, the federal government still lists cannabis as a Schedule I drug — the same category as heroin and LSD.

That could soon change. Cannabis stocks surged on Friday amid reports that Trump plans to move it to Schedule III, a step that would acknowledge marijuana as less dangerous and acceptable for medical use. (Bombshell cannabis study reveals hidden risks of medical pot.)

An op-ed author commented on these findings as follows:

Marijuana advocate Keith Stroup famously said that medical marijuana was a “red herring” for making the recreational use of the drug legal — and now the data have proven him 100% correct.

A bombshell new review from researchers at top-tier universities, appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concludes that “evidence from randomized clinical trials does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most conditions for which it is promoted, such as acute pain and insomnia.”

In other words, Medical marijuana doesn’t work — right there, in black and white, despite years of promoters and addiction profiteers shouting that it was the next miracle drug.

It won’t cure insomnia or chronic pain or psychological problems.

They also found that almost 30% of people using medical marijuana met the criteria for cannabis use disorder, better known as addiction.

For perspective, between 3% and 12% of people using opioids medically fall into that category.

While a handful of FDA-approved medicines contain cannabinoids, the raw plant itself is not and can never be medicine.

The products obtained at “medical marijuana” dispensaries are not regulated like pharmaceuticals, and their claims are not backed up by scientific evidence.

There is no standard dosing procedure, no government safety testing, no product verification, and no real physician oversight to verify if the products are helping — or if they are actually doing harm.

And unlike prescription medications, products can vary from batch to batch.

The new study builds on the findings of prior research.

A May 2025 study found that marijuana causes vascular damage, and a March meta-analysis found that marijuana users are 51% more likely than non-users to have had a heart attack.

A recent European study found that the risk of type 2 diabetes was four times higher among marijuana users.   

Yet thanks to a toxic combination of corporate avarice and a steadfast refusal to confront the actual science, some 38 states and the District of Columbia now let doctors make medical marijuana recommendations.

The state-level data around how these recommendations work should worry anyone concerned about public health.

In Pennsylvania in 2022, 17 doctors — you read that right — issued an astounding 132,000 medical marijuana certifications, one-third of the state’s total that year.

The results: widespread social normalization of marijuana use, just as Stroup and other advocates intended — and all the social ills that follow.

Remember that marijuana use has deep connections to psychosis, violence and crime.

One 2024 study found a connection between daily cannabis use and higher rates of violence, especially among younger men.

A massive Danish study linked the drug to as many as 30% of schizophrenia cases among young males.

A 2019 study in Colorado found that “density of marijuana outlets in spatially adjacent areas were positively related [to] property crime in spatially adjacent areas over time.” A similar study in California uncovered the same result.

A landmark 2024 study found a strong connection between legalized recreational pot and lasting increases in murder, larceny and other crimes.

It’s slamming New York, too: In a recent report, we found that consumption has increased in the Empire State since legalization, along with emergency-room visits for weed and use by pregnant women — even as the illegal market bloomed, with an estimated 8,000 unlicensed shops statewide.

Over the long term, the more common and normalized weed use gets, the more cities, counties and states will see avoidable tragedies.

Another common claim from advocates: Advancing marijuana legalization would help marginalized communities.

But zero people are in federal prison for simple pot possession, and virtually no one is imprisoned at the state level for weed offenses alone.

And data deeply inconvenient to the wider “equity” argument came out this summer from Harvard and Columbia researchers: Poorer, less-white areas are between 2 and 2.5 times as likely to have pot shops.

Marginalized communities suffer the most when weed shops move in.

In short, all the claims behind legal marijuana — medical or recreational — go up in smoke on closer examination.

Big Weed has sold us a bill of goods, and we’ve given ourselves over to a mass mania, disregarding scientific proof.

President Trump is reportedly poised to downgrade marijuana’s federal classification, and in so doing, hand a massive boost to the weed industry.

He’s even posted videos on Truth Social extolling the (sketchy) benefits of CBD oil.

But this new study shows America needs to cut off, not foster, corporate marijuana.

For the sake of science, safety and public health, the president should pay heed. (Shocking medical marijuana study reveals Big Weed's big lies.)

This is entirely correct.

However, there is even more evidence concerning a phenomenon where chronic marijuana users scream because of abdominal pain that leads to their trying to relieve themselves of the stomach’s contents:

A mysterious vomiting disorder tied to long-term marijuana use is now formally recognized by global health officials, a move experts say could help save lives as cases surge nationwide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has formally added cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) to its diagnostic manual, according to guidance published by the agency in October, giving the mysterious disorder a dedicated code for the first time. The update, which took effect Oct. 1 and is now adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allows physicians nationwide to identify, track and study the condition rather than lumping it into broader vomiting or gastrointestinal categories.

CHS is a dangerous and sometimes deadly syndrome that, according to the National Institutes of Health, affects chronic cannabis users, causing severe nausea, repeated vomiting, abdominal pain, dehydration, weight loss and, in rare cases, heart rhythm problems, seizures, kidney failure and death. 

Patients often describe a horrifying symptom known as "scromiting," screaming and vomiting at the same time due to extreme pain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Until now, doctors have struggled to diagnose CHS because its symptoms mimic food poisoning, the stomach flu and more, Axios reported, and some patients have gone months and even years without answers.

"It helps us count and monitor these cases," said Beatriz Carlini, a research associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

UW identifies and tracks CHS in its hospitals and emergency rooms and praised the WHO decision in a Nov. 18 news release. 

"A new code for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome will supply important hard evidence on cannabis-adverse events, which physicians tell us is a growing problem," added Carlini, who studies adverse health effects of cannabis use.

A new JAMA Network Open study published Nov. 24 found emergency room visits for CHS spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained high ever since. Researchers say isolation, stress and increased access to high-potency cannabis products likely contributed to the rise.

CHS-related ER visits rose approximately 650% from 2016 to their peak during the pandemic, especially among those ages 18 to 35, according to the study. The authors also noted a dramatic shift in THC potency, with today's products often topping 20% THC, compared to just 5% in the 1990s.

John Puls, a Florida-based psychotherapist and nationally certified addiction specialist, said he has seen an "alarming" increase in CHS, particularly among adolescents and young adults using high-potency cannabis.

"In my opinion, and the research also supports this, the increased rates of CHS are absolutely linked to high-potency cannabis. Often, products are over 90% THC," Puls told Fox News Digital. He added that the most common misconception about CHS is that it is not a real condition, which is why he believes the new diagnosis code is "a significant step in the right direction."

"Although cannabis can be used to treat nausea, those products are typically much lower dose THC, usually less than 5%," Puls said.

Stopping cannabis use appears to be the only surefire cure, according to the Cleveland Clinic and NIH. Typical nausea medications rarely help, so doctors often turn to stronger drugs or capsaicin cream, which mimics the warm relief many patients get from hot showers. 

The syndrome is intermittent, which leads some users to believe a bout of illness was a fluke and that they may continue using cannabis without incident before suddenly becoming violently sick again. Experts say many people resist the diagnosis, and even those who accept it often find it hard to quit cannabis because of addiction.

"Some people say they've used cannabis without a problem for decades," said Dr. Chris Buresh, an emergency medicine specialist with UW Medicine. "But even small amounts can make these people start throwing up."

And once someone has had CHS, Puls noted, they're more likely to experience it again. 

"My hope would be that with this new diagnosis code that CHS is more accurately diagnosed in an emergency room setting," he said.

Public health experts expect the new WHO code to dramatically improve surveillance and help physicians spot trends, especially as legalization spreads and high-potency products proliferate. (Mysterious marijuana vomiting disorder gets official WHO recognition .)

As is usually the case when it comes to President Donald John Trump, these facts mean nothing as the forty-seventh president of the United States of America has now reclassified marijuana as a “Schedule III” substance, meaning that it is considered to be “less dangerous” than “Schedule I” substances, which are hallucinogens by definition. With a few strokes of the pen, Donald John Trump has ignored all the evidence that marijuana is a hallucinogenic and is very harmful to bodily health just as he continues to ignore the facts about the Wuhan Virus jabs:

• Trump’s executive order shifts cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, easing research, banking and tax restrictions and marking the biggest federal cannabis policy change in decades.
• The administration is launching a Medicare pilot program for CBD products, potentially bringing cannabis-derived therapies into federally insured health care for seniors for the first time.
• Markets slumped as investors weighed tax relief against new competition and the possible intervention of big pharmaceutical firms that could pressure existing operators.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal agencies to reclassify marijuana, loosening long-standing restrictions on the drug and marking the most consequential shift in U.S. cannabis policy in more than half a century.

The order, once finalized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, moves cannabis out of Schedule I classification — the most restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act, alongside heroin and LSD — to a Schedule III classification, which encompasses substances with accepted medical use and a lower potential for abuse, such as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine.

“This action has been requested by American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems and more, including numerous veterans with service-related injuries, and older Americans who live with chronic medical problems that severely degrade their quality of life,” Trump said from the Oval Office on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, led by Dr. Mehmet Oz, is expected to launch a pilot program in April enabling certain Medicare-covered seniors to receive free, doctor-recommended CBD products, which must comply with all local and state laws on quality and safety, according to senior White House officials. The products must also come from a legally compliant source and undergo third-party testing for CBD levels and contaminants.

Shares of cannabis conglomerates were down following the announcement, likely from worries of new compeititon from international companies.

Trulieve’s stock finished the day down about 23%, Green Thumb Industries fell more than 16% and Tilray Brands

 fell about about 4% as of close on Thursday. The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF

, which tracks American operators, slid almost 27%.

“Millions of registered patients across the United States, many of them veterans, rely on cannabis for relief from chronic and debilitating symptoms. We commend the administration for taking this historic step. This is only the beginning,” Ben Kovler, founder and CEO of Green Thumb, said in a statement to CNBC.

The reclassification is viewed by many analysts as a financial lifeline for the cannabis industry. The move exempts companies from IRS Code Section 280E, allowing them to deduct standard expenses like rent and payroll for the first time. It also opens the door for banking access and institutional capital previously sidelined by compliance fears.

Many on Wall Street also expect the changes and the Medicare pilot to draw major pharmaceutical players into the sector to chase federally insured revenue.

While CBD has surged in popularity in recent years, with infused consumer goods ranging from seltzers to skin care, the Food and Drug Administration has stopped short of granting the compound its full backing.

Studies have found “inconsistent benefits” for targeted conditions, while FDA-funded research warns that prolonged CBD use can cause liver toxicity and interfere with other lifesaving medications.

Currently, the FDA has only approved one CBD-based drug, Epidiolex, for rare forms of epilepsy.

“I want to emphasize that the order ... doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form, and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug,” Trump said.

Experts and industry insiders told CNBC this week that a reclassification could pave the way for more research into the effects of CBD use. (Trump reclassifies cannabis to Schedule III, easing weed restrictions.)

The President of the United States of America lives in a fact-free zone as the “bottom line” for him is now and always has been the “bottom line.” Cannabis growers gave generously to his 2024 presidential campaign and he has now repaid them handsomely in spite of the facts documented above and the facts that have been documented in the past.

Indeed, a study from a few years ago emphasized that roads are becoming more dangerous because of the widespread decriminalization and use of the hallucinogenic substance that is marijuana:

Marijuana legalization is killing a lot of people. Not slowly — though some studies suggest that it may be doing that, too — but quickly, in car crashes. It’s one more symptom of the disastrous rush by lawmakers to capitalize on cannabis sales without doing the hard work needed to keep the public safe.

In Canada, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2018, one study found a 475% increase in emergency-room visits for cannabis-related crashes in Ontario between 2010 and 2021. Many more cases likely went undetected, owing to a dearth of reliable testing for driving while high.

In the US, the proportion of motor-vehicle fatalities involving cannabis use soared to 21.5% in 2018, up from 9% in 2000. One analysis found a 10% increase in vehicular deaths, on average, following legalization by states. In California, the increase was 14%; in Oregon, it was 22%.

This suggests that more than 1,000 Americans could be dying annually because of marijuana-related accidents — and that’s just in states where legalization has occurred. Given the ease of transporting the drug across state lines, the real number could be far higher.

The cause of these deaths isn’t just the drug itself. It’s ignorance. A recent study found that about half of marijuana users thought they were OK to drive 90 minutes after inhaling or ingesting the drug, yet their driving performance in a simulated vehicle was as bad as it had been after 30 minutes. The best available evidence suggests that people should wait a minimum of four hours before getting behind the wheel; some experts recommend eight to 12 hours.

That people don’t know this is the fault of governments, which have rushed headlong into legalization without doing the required research or adopting necessary safeguards. In effect, they’re conducting live experiments on their own citizens. To address this unfolding crisis, voters should hold officials accountable for taking two steps: boosting public awareness and developing better detection technology.

The fight against drinking and driving offers a useful precedent. After widespread government-sponsored campaigns helped stigmatize such conduct, drunk-driving fatalities were cut in half. Stronger enforcement also played a part. For a long time, roadside tests were limited to walking in a straight line and other basic exercises. The advent of Breathalyzers made drinkers think twice before getting behind the wheel.

So far, marijuana users don’t face the same disincentive, partly because the technology for roadside testing isn’t as reliable or widespread as it should be. Governments can help overcome this hurdle by supporting basic scientific research into such tools. Fear of arrest is a powerful public-policy lever — that’s why police departments often announce drunken-driving spot checks in advance — but right now, many drivers are getting high with impunity, and the public is paying a high price.

A pharmacologist who has studied the effects of marijuana offered a grim assessment of the state of road safety. In Colorado, where he teaches, traffic fatalities rose by 16% after the drug was legalized, according to one study. “When I’m on the road,” he says, “I assume everybody’s stoned.”

Increasingly, that’s a reasonable assumption.

Of the many egregious mistakes governments have made in legalizing marijuana — including ignoring the drug’s impact on youth brain development, which could be damaging an entire generation — failing to take road safety seriously is among the worst. Until it’s addressed, many more people will be killed, and their families left to wonder what their elected leaders were smoking. (Marijuana Legalization Has Made US Roads More Lethal.)

One sees signs for “CBD” and “Cannabis” all across the country, including in those states where the growing, sale, possession and use of marijuana remains illegal, to entice drivers to go their local dispensaries or, in the case of those too states that have not decriminalized this dangerous drug, to drive across state lines to pick up their stash. Not only have the roads been made more dangerous but there are now more scientific studies in the past that demonstrate the harm marijuana causes of a user’s physical health, especially as it relates to cardiovascular health:

Using marijuana as little as once per month is associated with a higher risk of both heart attack and stroke, according to a large study published Wednesday by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital. The risks rose sharply the more frequently marijuana was used. 

The paper, which was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting marijuana may be harmful to the cardiovascular system. 

Scientists analyzed data on nearly 435,000 patients, ages 18 to 74, to see whether there was a link between marijuana use and a higher risk of heart disease, stroke or heart attack. The data came from a behavioral risk factor survey collected from 2016 to 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Compared with people who had never used marijuana, daily cannabis users had 25% higher likelihood of heart attacks and 42% higher risk of strokes. People who used marijuana just once a week had a 3% increased likelihood of a heart attacks and 5% higher risk of strokes during the study time frame.

The study is among the largest to show a connection between marijuana use and cardiovascular health in people who don’t also smoke tobacco, said lead researcher Abra Jeffers, a data scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Nearly 75% of people in the study reported smoking as the most common way they got high. They also consumed edibles and vaped. The study did not specifically look at the risks of smoking marijuana compared to edibles.  

It’s unclear from the paper whether marijuana directly causes heart attacks and strokes or whether people who are already at risk are more likely to use it. 

Historically, some have dismissed studies looking at marijuana and heart problems because participants often use both tobacco and marijuana products, making it hard to determine which substance is really to blame, Jeffers said.

Robert Page, a clinical pharmacist who specializes in heart disease at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, is worried about the emerging connections between marijuana consumption and the heart. Page was the lead author of a comprehensive statement on cannabis released by the American Heart Association in 2020.

“I think we’re beginning to see the same things we saw with smoking cigarettes back in the ’50s and ’60s — that this is a signal,” Page said. “I feel like we’re repeating history.”

Ultimately, it will take more rigorous studies to draw any firm conclusion, he said, which would involve following people for years and monitoring their marijuana use. That type of research is difficult to conduct because marijuana is still a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act. 

What if I just use marijuana occasionally? 

The new research found that the risks of heart attacks and strokes became higher the more days per month people used marijuana, which is called a “dose-response relationship.”

“If something is really bad or a toxin, you’d expect more of it to be worse,” said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, the director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York, who was not involved with the research. “The fact that there’s a dose response makes it seem like it probably is, in fact, the cannabis that is causing the bad outcome.”

The president of the American Heart Association, Dr. Joseph Wu, the director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, drew a comparison to other common substances. 

“It’s the same dose response as somebody who smoked tobacco or as somebody who drinks alcohol,” he said. “The more you drink, the more problems you are going to have, because these are toxins.”

Ultimately, the researchers concluded that the people who really should be avoiding marijuana smoking altogether are those with pre-existing heart disease, estimated at 1 in 20 Americans. 

That marijuana is associated with heart problems is a very urgent message for Americans to be aware of, Wu said, as 1 in 5 people over age 12 now report having used marijuana in the last year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. 

“Just because something’s been legalized doesn’t mean it’s safe,” he said.

Are edibles safer?

Smoking was the most common way cannabis was consumed in the new paper, although edibles are not necessarily safe, either.

“If you force me to answer I would say not smoking is a better way of consuming it,” Bhatt said. “When you smoke things, that makes them more toxic, but that doesn’t mean that we can say it’s definitely safe to consume it as an edible.”

Laboratory studies have shown that THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, can cause an increase in inflammation in the blood vessels, so edibles aren’t necessarily risk-free, Wu said.

“If you’re smoking marijuana it’s probably doing double the damage compared to just using edibles,” Wu said. “When you eat the edible, the THC goes into your body and can cause vascular inflammation. Whereas when you smoke, there is damage from the particulate matter and then the THC gets absorbed into your body, as well.” 

It’s not yet known why smoking marijuana affects the cardiovascular system, but there are a few possibilities, Bhatt said.  

A phenomenon called oxidative stress, an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body, can cause inflammation and damage to blood vessels. Other reasons could include marijuana’s triggering abnormal heart rhythms or even activating platelets, cells in the body that can make blood more likely to clot, leading to a heart attack or stroke. 

Should young healthy people be concerned?

The paper found that among younger adults, defined as men younger than 55 and women younger than 65, cannabis use was significantly associated with 36% higher combined odds of coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke, regardless of whether or not they also used traditional tobacco products. 

“I’ve seen it through the years with clinical practice many times where sometimes we bang our heads thinking, ‘Why [is] this person in their 20s, or 30s or 40s [coming] in with a heart attack?” Bhatt said. While it can often be attributed to things like extremely high cholesterol or cocaine use, he said, sometimes there’s only one factor they have in common. 

“The only thing I can find after asking and asking again and again in terms of potential risk factors is marijuana,” he said. “So the smart thing to do would be not to smoke marijuana, but I realize it’s extremely popular and that’s advice that may not be well received by all.” (Marijuana use as little as once per month linked to heart attack and stroke risk in new study. Also see: Marijuana users found to have lead in their blood and urine.)

No ill-effects from smoking marijuana?

Sorry, you can save your propaganda from Hell for someone else.

Yes, save your argumentative e-mails on this one as I have no time to waste on those who want to advocate the “harmless” nature of this terrible drug or who want to make a “libertarian” argument for its “decriminalization.” I am completely inflexible, as in totally rigid, on this issue. No compromise. No concessions of any kind. None. Ever. Not one little bit.

Indeed, a protracted discussion took place between then-United States Representative Stanley Lundine (D-Jamestown, New York) and Ulster County, New York, District Attorney Michael Kavanagh about the relatively new phenomenon of crack cocaine during a debate among candidates for lieutenant governor of the State of New York held at The New York Times building in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York, New York, on Tuesday, October 14, 1986. The two went back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. When it came to my time to speak as the candidate of the Right to Life Party I simply said that the problem we faced was not crack cocaine, it was the glorification and decriminalization of marijuana, the highway that leads to all other hallucinogenic substances. My opponents had to nod their heads in agreement. A society that loses sight of the Cross will look inevitably to pills and substances to take away the pain of a world that is in the grip of the devil himself. And the devil is, after all, the author of all novelties, seeking to tickle the ears of men by things that look and sound “new” to appeal to their pride and their vanity (see Big Pharm Trumps the Holy Cross).

Oh well, some might say, it's no “sin” to “relax” a little bit.

Relaxation is one thing. Marijuana is by its very nature the antithesis of the Cross of the Divine Redeemer as no one needs to "escape" from his crosses by the uses of a substance that lessens his ability to reason and thus diminishes his capacity to engage in cognitive activities and to make moral choices consonant with the binding precepts of the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law.

As noted thirteen years ago now in First-Hand Evidence Of Fraud, many of the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X are, leaving aside their false ecclesiology that has caused its very foundation stones to be shattered in recent years, among the most reliable guides on moral issues today as, unlike others, they have been trained in a systematic manner wherein they can use actual reason rather than rely on the rote memorization of 1950s textbooks, not a few of whose authors were just champing at the bit for Papa Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, to die so that the “envelope” of the novel moral teaching they were pushing as far as was possible then could be pushed to its next phase of "evolution." Here, therefore, are two fine statements about marijuana that were published originally in The Angelus: 

“Neither the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards...will possess the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 6:10). Drunkenness is a deliberate excess in the use of intoxicating drink or drugs to the point of forcibly depriving oneself of the use of reason for the sake of gratifying an inordinate desire for such drink and not for the sake of promoting health. This is contrary to the virtue of temperance, and specifically sobriety. Sobriety regulates man’s desire and use of intoxicants, and is vitally necessary for an upright moral life. The evil of intoxication lies in the violence committed against one’s nature by depriving it of the use of reason. He deprives himself of that which makes him specifically human - his ability to think. The drunk, or in this case the drug user, desires this loss of reason because of the feeling of liberation which accompanies it precisely from this lack of control of the will over the reason. It is unnatural, contrary to sleep, which also deprives one of the use of reason but in a natural manner.

Drug use gives an illicit means of escape. Besides being a sin, it also manifests an immaturity on the part of the user. Through an act of violence against himself, he escapes from the responsibility of decision making and control in his life. When this deprivation is complete, e.g., actions totally contrary to normal behavior, incapability of distinguishing between good and evil, etc., it is a grave sin. “In vino veritas,” said the Romans, not without reason. Any state short of complete drunkenness, without sufficient reason, is of itself venially sinful, but even in this case it may be a mortal sin if it causes scandal, injury to health, harm to one’s family, etc. It is important also to note that a man is responsible for all the sinful actions committed while intoxicated which he had, or ought to have, foreseen.

According to Jone-Adelman in Moral Theology, the use of drugs in small quantities and only occasionally is a venial sin if done without sufficient reason. This could be the case, for example, with sleeping pills. Obviously, deprivation of the use of reason through narcotics is to be judged as alcohol. The use of most drugs is complicated by the fact that they are illegal. This also signifies the will of the user to break the law, an offense against social justice. This compounds the sin. The speed with which a drug alters one’s consciousness also aggravates its use. This rapidity risks a greater potential to deprive oneself of the use of reason and thus to pass on to stronger intoxicants for increased effect. Therefore, adding to the violation of the virtue of justice, the grave scandal caused, the grave danger of addiction, and the stronger consciousness-altering ability of marijuana, it is difficult to excuse one of mortal sin. Moreover, experience tells us that its use is frequently an occasion of mortal sin, especially sins of the flesh and the use of narcotic drugs. But to willingly and knowingly place oneself in an unnecessary proximate occasion of mortal sin is to commit a mortal sin. Fr. James Doran, September 1993.

The old text books [on moral theology] do not speak of this new problem of the modern world. However, the immorality of drug abuse can be clearly deduced from the principles which allow an evaluation of the malice of alcohol abuse. The distinction is made between imperfect drunkenness, the fact of making oneself tipsy deliberately, which can only be a venial sin, and perfect drunkenness, which is drinking until one is drunk. This is a mortal sin because a drunken person loses the use of reason. This is St. Thomas Aquinas’s response to the objection that the quantity of wine drunk is but a circumstance, which cannot make a venial sin into a mortal sin:

With regard to drunkenness we reply that it is a mortal sin by reason of its genus: for that a man, without necessity, and through the mere lust of wine, makes himself unable to use his reason, whereby he is directed to God and avoids committing many sins, is expressly contrary to virtue. That it be a venial sin is due to some sort of ignorance or weakness, as when a man is ignorant of the strength of the wine, or of his own unfitness, so that he has no thought of getting drunk, for in that case the drunkenness is not imputed to him as a sin, but only the excessive drink…. (ST, I-II, q. 88, art. 5, ad1)

The consumption of illegal drugs, even those called soft drugs, is comparable not to becoming tipsy on a little wine but to perfect drunkenness. For these drugs have their effect by causing a “high,” that is, an emotional experience when a person escapes from the demands of reality. For a brief period he lives in an unreal, euphoric world. All the other effects, such as relaxation, come as a consequence of this “high,” or unreal euphoria. If this state does not always prohibit all use of reason, it most certainly does always impede the most important use of reason, which St. Thomas just explained to us “whereby he is directed to God and avoids committing many sins.” All drugs deaden the conscience, and obscure the practical judgment as to right and wrong and what we must do. With respect to morality, their effect is consequently equivalent to the removal of the use of reason, and is a practical refusal to direct all of man’s acts to God through reason.

Drug abuse is consequently much worse than the pure seeking of pleasure or relaxation that some claim it to be. It is a denial of the natural and supernatural order, according to which God has created us in His image and likeness that our acts might be ordered to His honor and glory. Moreover, it goes without saying that the abuse of drugs is directly opposed to the Catholic spirit, which spirit of sacrifice, the practical application of the spirit of the cross, is essential to the living of our faith.

As previously mentioned, the principal evil of drug abuse is the destruction of moral conscience. It follows that the atrocious consequences of drug abuse are inseparable from it, and are willed together with the drugs themselves. This includes the breaking of the law in the consumption of drugs; and in the means of obtaining them, such as theft; and in the effort to sell them in turn to others, often minors or children. Other consequences include the incredible self-indulgence which accompanies the almost insatiable desire for always more titillating experiences, sins of blasphemy, the often satanic rock music, and the sins against purity and chastity, which are the consequence of the loss of shame and conscience. Sins against charity and justice abound, such as disobedience to parents and refusal to do one’s duty at school or work, not to mention the bad company-keeping which is the breeding ground of all vices. Long term results are also willed in their cause, and they include such things as emotional and physical addiction, the passage from soft to hard drugs, the damage done to the body and to general health by prolonged drug use, culminating in the “fried” brains of the person who cannot even reason clearly, let alone make a moral judgment. It is a mortal sin to place one’s physical and spiritual health in such proximate danger, even if a person is to pretend that he is immune from this danger and that “it could not happen to me.”

Even the often liberal and ambiguous Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1994 in application of the principles of Vatican II, acknowledges this:

The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law. (§2291)

This does not, however, exclude the use of narcotic drugs for therapeutic reasons. Their use, under medical supervision, is justified by a sufficiently grave and proportionate reason, even if they do deprive a person temporarily of the use of reason. (Cf. Merkelbach, Summa Theologiae Moralis, II, 925). For it is not the loss of reason which is willed. It is only an indirect consequence, so that there is not necessarily a disorder with respect to the final end of man. The typical example is pain control.

In conclusion, therefore, the use of marijuana, like any hard or soft drug, must be considered a mortal sin. If on occasion some people might be in ignorance as to the gravity of this sin, it is clearly evident that the matter is objectively serious. Consequently, it must be confessed as a mortal sin, and a person is obliged to confess drug abuse under pain of a bad or sacrilegious confession. If he forgot to confess the sin, he must then confess it at the first possible opportunity that he has. The priest who claimed that this was not a mortal sin has fallen into the trap of laxity. Fr. Peter Scott, January 1999 (Is smoking marijuana a sin? What about taking drugs?.)

Yet it is that in this country where the universal franchise has indeed led to the “universal madness” prophesied in 1872 by Pope Pius IX the people get to “vote” on “legalizing” various Mortal Sins that have gained widespread acceptance culturally and whose use is considered to be, as noted above, just as commonplace as anything else.

As one who has always been opposed to the use of marijuana, I have always sought to point out that marijuana was harmful, that it dulls senses, lowers the ability to concentrate, and accustoms one to living a life of morbid self-indulgence.

Then again, good readers, Donald John Trump has lived a life of complete self-indulgence, including his obsession with adorning the White House in gold, and replace the building’s East Wing with massive golden ballroom. King Donald John Nabuchodonosor rides again, and his recent executive order will it possible for more and more people to ride on their high horses directly into hell if they do not reform their lives and convert to the Catholic Faith before they die.

Christmas joy is but five days away.

May the penances of this Ember Saturday in Advent help us to keep Our Lady and Saint Joseph company in the days before the Nativity of Our Emmanuel, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who redeemed us and thus showed us the path to sanctify all suffering by embracing His Holy Cross with joy, love, and infinite gratitude as the only path to our salvation. Those who seek to escape the cross in this life will wind up with eternal suffering in the next, and thus it is that we must pray fervently to Our Lady, especially through her Most Holy Rosary, that our true joy here and here after will be always in our Catholic Faith and in the one and only standard of human liberty, her Divine Son’s Holy Cross.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.