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Marijuana.
--Sermon by Dr. Bob Benchoff April 10, 2003.
--Update Note Added March 1, 2004.
--Update (at bottom of page) Added February 21, 2006.
--Update (at bottom of page) Added July 8, 2007.
Marijuana has good points and bad points.
Among the good points are an expression of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Among the bad points are abuse of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Something that makes people happy can't be all bad. Yet something that causes such misery can't be all good.
Marijuana has been known to elevate logic through yielding the exercising of lesser used portions of the brain to create new mental connections of previously unrelated topics for the subject. This is something otherwise more difficult to obtain from traditional classroom teaching and/or life experience.
Marijuana interferes with normal logic rendering it useless at times in the brain of the subject, with oxygen deprivation, introduction of foreign harmful substances into the body, and other medical problems. Marijuana usage has caused people to be hospitalized, and I suspect marijuana usage has caused deaths.
Aside from the subject's internal usage concerns, usage of marijuana causes a lack of judgement, with the most obvious consideration being traffic accidents, many resulting in death to innocent victims. But this is just the obvious, that which is not obvious is far more important (I'll let you think about what that means as you soberly consider the prelapsarian realm of God).
In consideration of the good aspects of marijuana, in this author's opinion, the most important concern is the lack of ability of the subject to convey to others any great and profound revelation they may deduce (see complex attempt toward the end of this Sermon). Similarly, as when discussing the Bible, it is often difficult to help others gain the interpretation you have discovered. Some of the better interpretations solve a multitude of problems.
Stating relationships among complex groupings of ideas can be very difficult and highly significant particularly in dealing with ubiquitous subjects not previously relegated to precise formulas and calculations generally revered as being consistently accurate.
So, although there is difficulty in accurately, precisely, and thoroughly communicating (effectually with respect to subject spurious thinking in associated emotional interplay [not relegated to typical schools of thought, although similar to at least a combination of medical, psychiatric, psychological, liberal arts, and life experience disciplines] and properly presenting) complex thoughts in a useful way for others to comprehend, disclusion is contrary to education, which same education is the foundation of the forum for open discussions and even brain-storming both pros and cons.
The change in thinking inclusive of the change of attitude of the marijuana using subject, not only with regard to con, but with regard to pro, that is with focus on problem solving, is the best or one of the best arguments for marijuana usage. Pro marijuana arguments such as to enhance subject rest, relaxation, vacation, or similar are viable yet lesser value arguments in this author's opinion.
Attemps by governments to eradicate marijuana from society have failed. Such attempts have been very costly. We need to examine why marijuana users see more value in marijuana usage than than in government.
The pro argument to use marijuana for party and entertainment purposes is similar to the best argument, only to a lesser degree unless less typical special circumstances exist, such as for brainstorming. Yet this does not automatically indicate liberty for same purpose, since as per the cliche "Loose lips sink ships", or in other words, even with brain-storming the value of information offered should be according to the person offering that information, not according to the drug beyond the control of the person.
God made marijuana and other drugs, including so-called recreational drugs for people, not people for marijuana and other drugs. To see how people can properly use marijuana let's look-at the facts that pros and cons exist, including some as stated above.
Having sufficiently done that, let's look-at the next most important considerations. This is not limited to self-indulgence or even to direct usage by humans. This consideration encompasses such areas as psychology, bioscience, and science.
Logical progression in forming marijuana usage parameters is easiest starting from the most simple, and then moving to the more complex considerations as applicable to higher life forms.
Marijuana is made of elements, and there seems to be no need to look at marijuana's subatomic characteristics. At the elemental stage there is also no special indication that marijuana would be assigned either a pro or a con determination, although there is a noteable yet relatively insignificant con associated with accidental fires started via marijuana usage, due to seeds popping (typically causing hardly significant injury (albeit to eyes), and causing holes to be burnt into cloth).
Note that this sermon does not address refined recombination with other drugs externally prior to usage, such as for eating or injection, but does address internal human chemical recombination, such as with regard to MAO.
So we have found a good simple starting point since the next stage of greater complexity is the marijuana compound.
Here we find a few of the most typical considerations normal to the chemistry industry (aside from relating to the drug industry), such as fuel and rendering tars and resins for various scientific purposes; and less to the point spurious considerations such as involving rope made from hemp, even as durable as it can be. So here are marijuana pros.
No significant cons are noted at this non-drug chemical stage, such as might be noted if it was prone to catastrophic events at any level, that is, it is not similar to splitting the atom (including chain reaction fears), nor highly infectuous (such as SARS), nor highly volitile (such as TNT), and so forth.
The next stage, the drug industry stage inclusive of controlled substances and drug research, would apply to ingestion, inhalation, or similar.
This stage can be viewed in two parts, marijuana directly applicable to lower life form non-humans or marijuana directly applicable to humans. The more important marijuana effects on lower life form non-humans is the genetic and other pertinent research. Overall such may be considered pro marijuana yet of little importance, appreciating that if great strides were being made on the controversial marijuana issue, it would have been widely publicized by pro or con groups.
Marijuana directly applicable to humans has pros and cons, the cons outweighing the pros to a large degree as evidenced by world governments.
Medicinally, marijuana causes many problems, particularly neurologically and to the respiratory system (please note the author is not licensed to practice medicine in this state of this text origination, North Carolina: this information is provided as an indicator and/or opinion only, and you may find licensed professional expertise elsewhere: please also note that a license is just an indicator of quality), therefore strong con reasoning applies.
There is a strong medical concern regarding drug interaction precautions, such as prior to injecting a drug into a patient in an emergency accident case, which can be critically time consuming to figure and/or read in reference material, and can easily result in permanent impairment or mortality.
It is important to understand that one drug can have a number or percentage of adverse side effects for a given group of subjects, and if another drug is introduced three things can occur: 1. The number or percentage of side effects can multiply, and/or the 2. The side effects can increase or decrease in intensity, and/or 3. New side effects can be created as a result of the unnatural or synthetic combination of chemicals.
Important pro reasoning applies in pain reduction or removal by marijuana, eye health, and sedative benefits. Far more important con reasoning applies, particularly with regard to emergency medical needs. This con reasoning is especially important with new drugs without precedent data, counterindication tests, case studies, results, and prognosis information; and it is important, albeit less important, with more thoroughly known drugs.
Psychiatric considerations are especially important since modifying the brain is considered most dangerous, and since the benefits of marijuana's action on the brain is moot within the psychiatric paradigm, and since some people need medical (including psychiatric) help as a result of brain related marijuana dysfunction such as in the form of dysplasia, dyspnea, dysrhythmia, dyslexia, dysgenesis, and psychoses as with triggering schizophrenia, recurrence (flash-back), delusions of grandeur, and paranoia, so in this regard, this area's objective con reasoning is very strong.
Yet psychiatric and medical in general also have a very heavy reliance on indirect subjective feedback, inclusive of crucial areas that continue to generate papers of debate and conflict as seen in medical journals. Relative to psychiatric and medical authority, very strong reliance is on the patient instead of on the psychiatric or medical professional said to be in charge. For instance, that professional doesn't even know a condition exists until a patient visits a clinic and asserts they have a problem, such as a stomach pain.
The patient is said to be their own best doctor. Many in the medical community seem to detest the notion that medical work relys on opinion, and here in North Carolina it has been said that a word such as treatment can be legally used, but not a word such as cure, as that indicates faith [opinion]. Yet the dictionary definition of medical includes the word "cure".
Therefore the psychiatric / medical community is caught in their ideology conundrum. This is particularly important since their and/or that medical concensus is and/or seems to persistently be marijuana usage and/or abuse hinges on a subjective learned response, as the thrust of their search for the elusive key and direct link, if any, continues.
So as we previously found a strong objective psychiatric / medical con, we now clearly see that there is also a pervasive subjective question to much of psychiatric / medical rationale. To take it another step, many health professionals have used pleasing music and aroma therapy in treatment.
So if were are looking for hard facts and objectively founded conclusions, then according to psychiatric / medical rationale the marijuana user's opinion is important, along with treatment, and autonomic response mechanisms.
In that regard, the previous very strong con has thusly been modified subjectively to affirm a very strong pro.
Psychiatric and psychologic areas are often in close accord, yet with regard to marijuana, psychologic factors make the objective con stance against marijuana far less strong relative to the psychiatric stance. This is due to the valuable portion of the interpersonal / sociologic impact, along with correlational similarities among so-called underground and/or religious faiths having marijuana usage inclinations as a personal / spiritual norm being revered as means of enlightenment and spiritual growth.
Educators often find it difficult to motivate students to learn, particularly with regard to learned response mechanisms management. Yet typically users of marijuana for recreational purposes not only are interested in learning, but are extremely motivated to learn in areas of higher reasoning. So psychologically there is an important pro reasoning for marijuana recreational usage. Given that pro and the psychologically applicable portion of the psychiatric pathophysiology related con, the overall psychologic position seems to be a strong con.
Sociologists often find marijuana users associated with crime. Aside from marijuana related laws, the associative tendancy appears to be that as marijuana addiction increases, crime increases; yet the basis of such an assumption is considered unfounded given the fact that cause and effect relationship is due to ordinate, not subordinate, hypothesis.
Sociologists find among marijuana users a peaceful inclination toward being outspoken for justice for fellow humans being mistreated, such as when a teacher becomes dull and boring and then yells at a student for not paying attention. This associative response seems to stem from the marijuana user's innate desire to search for something else in life other than the mundane. Note that among high potency marijuana cultivators this would be representational of an associative strategem.
Sociologists also find that marijuana users often gather socially, with the social forum often ancillary to the marijuana [marijuana serving as the main topic]. These pro points in combination with the stronger con point yield an overall weak pro, sociologically speaking, in this author's opinion.
Primarily the indications are that students and/or educators using marijuana may exhibit happiness, sluggishness, and reduced concern for details with greater emphasis on wholistic continuity and the meaning of life. Overall a reduction of skills and performance per routine program parameters may be found among marijuana users. Also one may find less routine advanced area deficiencies in reasoning, such as with following newly presented complex algebraic [formulae] (formulae is an archaic word meaning formulas that fit together with other formulas), something very difficult to measure in consideration of IQ and student abilities.
While it is difficult to place a [measurand] (Reference ISO Compendium) on happiness due to the range of variable affects (such as happiness as a motivator), there is very significantly important pro marijuana reasoning. Yet in the context of scholastic programming this is hardly recognized as consideration in most of USA education, with noteable exceptions existing among certain Native American nations. Combined with aforementioned dullness, the overall in education is con.
The next stage represents highest logical reasoning principles of life involving love, charity, and grace abounding. We will consider this the highest stage in typical human understanding: the best of the best in our understanding. This stage involves objective rather than subjective guidelines.
Following the above format, we will rise from least tangible complexity to most complexity considered intangible.
High risk jobs requiring carefully honed complex motor skills, such as skyscraper construction, are definitely not the place for marijuana usage, nor for usage of any other mind and/or body altering drug.
The average United States adult drives cars, and in doing so, users of marijuana have been found to be involved with 1 in 3 car wrecks according to a current television advertising campaign. NCDOT, for instance, requires drug tests for all employees.
In the workplace fellow employees are at risk, and there are often more complex greater risk dangers, such as with locomotives, air planes, jets, nuclear plants, submarines, satellites, security, and so on. Marijuana usage testing in these areas is sometimes required, but often goes unchecked as the situation tends to resolve itself automatically.
Habitual marijuana users are detected due to clothing smell, yet more importantly, if a person in a highly complex high risk job has personal problems of not being able to control one or more areas of their life, such as involving marijuana usage, then their problems generally surface with time, and higher positions are less likely to be filled by such people: hence free enterprise self-fulfills.
The main problem comes in marijuana usage or other personal problem area, when a typically reliable person destabilizes, such as to unexpectedly or suddenly start using marijuana.
If it is a small dosage, such an event may of itself not pose any significant threat, but since marijuana intensity varies so much, the threat is ominous, such as with increased likelyhood that the marijuana user might not catch an important breach in their area of responsibility. Or far more importantly, if the marijuana user's dosage is high, they might fail at their job completely, such as with giddiness, falling asleep, or job and health wrecklessness (see medical above).
To this extent of complexity, on the pro side, enlightenment is always highly valued, and marijuana usage is considered integral to some marijuana users. This is largely dismissed as bias, unreasonable, or subjective reasoning by non-marijuana users.
For the most part, the preceding covers business and government; other than the establishment of business and government, and the regard for that which many consider is the most complex area: church. While business, government, and religion each talk about personal liberty, the truth is that none of them are really concerned with personal liberty, including the right to wreckless endangerment, the right to commit crime, the right to be free to commit atrocities against humanity, the right to spread sickness, and so on. They are only concerned with themselves.
That is, they are concerned with continuance of their own particular systems and paradigms. These established trains of thought reject abuse, change, or modification, even if safe and in their best interest. If their system worked before, why change it?, is their attitude.
And it's a good one, generally speaking...yet that does not make it perfect. It is difficult to make a system with safeguards, and also make it with lack of safeguards to allow for change. If improvement is not readily seen with a new idea, it is typically dismissed and not pursued.
The key problem is that complex areas require complex thought. My friend Scott GruBell and I once personally lobbied and presented very complex medical legislation to government leaders. One Representative said he wouldn't support the Bill, not because it was wrong, but because it was too complex.
Sometimes the right answers are very complex. Responsible teaching can be a tough job. Initiating prehension in highly complex matters among those who need to know when multitudes of lives depend on their grasping of the significance, most often seems a waste of time, money, and energy to the one(s) expending the effort (please don't give-up hope).
So the natural self-imposed limitation among businesses, governments, and churches primarily revolves-around start-up design. The formation of a business, government, or church is the volitile period when personal freedoms are most likely to be discussed with genuine concern for those associated values.
At that time the handling of marijuana users is most likely to be discussed. While moot, the pertinent intensity of discussional modes seems to be: A. Business: drugs manufacturing, B. Government: protection, and C. Church: guidance (including rehabilitation).
In the search for objective reasoning, not subjective reasoning (save God), we can narrow the scope to accurately portray logic associated with the above popularized concern functions.
Using the process of elimination, rehabilitation is a reactionary tactic, with little in the way of pro or con as compared with other non-marijuana usage areas, such as for instance, sex addiction. This is a very important point in counter balance to the flash-back con.
Drug manufacturing (to gain sales) is subjective to economics, government, and separate medical approval. So in consideration of drug research, the pertinent objectivity is very limited, so the greater portion of drug manufacturing can be considered eliminated, or in other words there is no particular need to discuss those subjectively subordinate areas.
Yet since the objective technical knowledge in pure drug research makes tremendous difference to our topic, findings in this area are very important. Currently state-of-the-art results indicate that the applicable pure bioresearch is inadequate to complete the logic for that portion. The near future or perhaps within the next century when we understand how marijuana usage effects each gene and each gene sequence group, then we may have something more definite.
So current drug / medical logic is more strongly related to direct cause and effect relationships, such as seeing a black lung of a marijuana user, or associated pure biostudies and related indices.
While the balance of drug and/or medical areas seem to be largely clinical related, these indicators are important as sometimes great care is taken to keep the research pure.
So having used the process of elimination, we are left with three key areas, direct biofeedback, protection, and guidance.
Aside from disqualifying bias, protection is a result of the other areas, direct biofeedback and guidance.
Guidance that deals with the future is disqualified from our logical progression unless it is prophecy. The balance of the remaining guidance is in the field of targeting.
So we have logically deduced that the current valuable marijuana usage pros or cons according to what seem to be the most popular established norms of business, government, and church mostly revolve around the logic of direct biofeedback, prophecy, and targeting.
Now one can use these norms to construct a weighted distribution chart of our above listing of pros and cons.
If we discover fire, and say fire is hot and dangerous and therefore should never be used under any circumstance, then we lose the many benefits of fire.
Let's examine what should we do to logically ensure optimized safety with regard to marijuana usage.
To accomplish this, we will examine the logic of direct biofeedback, prophecy, and targeting.
Direct biofeedback reveals humans may use products derived from marijuana; but should not consume marijuana due to health risks, unless there is no better choice for reaching marijuana applicably indicated higher reasoning.
This author has not found marijuana mentioned in Christian prophecy except that similar wine is core to the Christian belief system.
Targeting with regard to this marijuana sermon focuses on proveable higher reasoning, as with the educational system.
We can now derive precision for each of the above three areas via logical itemization; and we no longer need to discuss the pro of products derived from marijuana, as it is a given and hardly related to the other discussions involving higher reasoning.
The direct biofeedback safety sequence preference is: 1. no marijuana usage, or 2. wine or marijuana usage with label warnings.
The prophecy preference is no marijuana usage, since death associated with marijuana usage discludes marijuana, except that certain higher reasoning might be found, and/or the mind is not the same entity as the body (although some say the two are one).
The targeting preference is: 1. education with no marijuana usage, or 2. controlled group and/or individual studies in a doctor / patient type relationship.
Combining the above three areas we find marijuana should not be used generally, but may be used in certain controlled circumstances for certain purposes according to expertise in those pertinent fields.
From these objective findings we can find further action considerations by logically including indicators revealed in our subjective findings. Those indicate more widespread usage acceptance, yet those indications are curtailed by objective considerations, such as marijuana usage related auto accidents.
So we conclude no marijuana usage except in certain specially contolled circumstances. Our action would be to support non-human marijuana research. Since higher reasoning is applicable, certain human research should be done with the first step being human life protection of the subject. Once satisfied to a reasonable degree according to that area of expertise, then higher reasoning can be investigated, measured, and further determinations made.
What's at stake, includes national security, freedom of choice, personal liberty, and higher reasoning.
Regulators will have to decide, and more likely will have to continue to update decisions as to whether a person (expert or otherwise) has marijuana control rights, usage rights, and perhaps more importantly, publication rights, as higher reasoning is often classified.
Other considerations include marijuana user risk evaluations and marijuana user choice. Insurance companies should be aware of marijuana users' usage. And marijuana users may want to vacation and use marijuana, so insurance companies, authorities, employers, and others should have input and some fair degree of control. Inclusive would be the weighing of time considerations, such as during and after usage.
Volunteer marijuana user subjects such as for medical purposes, with regard for future objective reasoning relating to marijuana usage investigations, if we are to use human subjects, then if anxious to participate, we should curtail usage to only accepting retired people restricted to hospices, for reduced endangerment risk to others, provided their marijuana usage is not likely to cause an unreasonable health risk; for instance a person with a cough should not smoke marijuana. After all, a senior adult restricted to a hospice (indicating government and the medical profession have exhausted their pertinent usefulness in having run out of significant improvement help for that person), reasonably must be granted the right to seek higher reasoning through marijuana usage, if any exists, in hope of improving their own condition, in hope of advancing marijuana safety research, in hope of helping civilization as a whole, and in hope of gaining better insight into the righteousness of Christ.
When the laws were more ambiguous and unevenly administered (including some legal areas that are no longer legal) and when police and dealers were often one and the same, (illegal pusher coercion is just one of many pathologies, relatively topically spurious and therefore not detailed in this sermon), in my youth I smoked marijuana and found it wonderful. I found it enlightening in that I believe I had new and better thoughts as a direct result. One thought was of people and their levels of learning, and their connection in purpose. Words do not explain the complexities, and loneliness of top experts in their given fields as they continue their struggles toward greater enlightenment simultaneously reducing the most important of the communication skills for those they're trying to help most: not due to ignorance of lay people, but due to the lack of comprehension by lay people. This combined with their advancing realms of principles interconnectivity (not via [communication] (not communication based), if any) with other top people they never yet met (and perhaps never shall, of this world), which people have similar talents and seek the same things they themselves seek; not in general, but specifically and accurately. This with those people so few and far between, yet sharing a bond of trust.
I have 3D animated illustration pictured clearly in my mind, perhaps someday I'll have the time and resources to have it depicted for all to see, but even so, it does not properly explain the points (the top expertises / people with intraexpertises) in detail, nor show the intraexpertise energy flows, nor details of the growth expansion with details of individual person higher reasoning advancement rates. It is simply a guide from which extrapolations can be reasonably deduced.
Today we can look at a map on the Internet of USA, we can look at road details, we can even find details of houses. My marijuana induced or influenced thought was and is a little bit like that to some degree, but more like the opposite of that highlighting expertises vicarious to lay people as a whole with regard to their general knowledge bank. In nonspecific lay terms, on one hand, a general map of the USA can show lines and dots representing roads and groups of people of mixed levels of reasoning. On the other hand, my thought included a map of the levels of reasoning, representing applicable levels of lines and dots.
Being not communication based but principle based, it is easy to understand why such ideas can be difficult to convey to others and why they may find same difficult to comprehend, particularly since precision of energy, trust, and higher knowledge intra-activities and pursuits are principle integral concepts, without being founded in communication, monetary, or two dimensional knowledge plotting.
For instance, regarding just one part of the thought, communication basis as compared with principle basis, two people can separately come-up with the similar ideas although they never met and perhaps they can't even read or communicate effectively. The importance of how this is possible, how they will continue to advance, and how higher reasoning evolves in logically predictable and programmable patterns even in disassociative conditions (key to understanding Christian prophecy for relative logic predictibility in human terms, in this author's opinion) is profound and should be pursued or we risk losing what we have.
Marijuana was popular in college and it was unusual to find a student that had not tried marijuana. In trying to give you an unbias appraisal, please forgive my brassiness, but I found (and others concurred) that non-users tended to be slightly inept, such as being a momma's boy (so to speak, but not that they were called that in disrespect), and/or of poor social and communication skills. They seemed to do less, such as less effort to be involved in curricular and extra curricular school activities.
The tendancy was they didn't try things; whereas marijuana users did try things. With regard to marijuana leading to other drugs, that is unfounded being based on subjectives (see above). Yet it stands to reason that people that try things are more likely to try things such as drugs.
Excessive usage of marijuana showed dullness (although those people were often in contemplation), tiredness, laziness, and complacency.
Flash-backs is a serious topic. A person consuming alcohol has varying and various amounts of mental stability or de-stability. The same is true of marijuana usage. An alcohol addict may experience DTs. Likewise, a marijuana addict may experience similar flash-back effects, although while DTs are uncomfortable, flash-backs may be comfortable. I have discussed and read a substantial amount on marijuana, and to the best of my knowledge and experience, the notion of a flash-back a month (or perhaps even a few days) or more after last marijuana usage is unfounded.
This is not to say that a person might not happen to have a future mental breakdown due to some nonrelated cause; and that condition might remind them of marijuana (normal: due to unusual feelings or ideas). A person's memories of success or tragedy, bliss or confusion, or other strong emotion, can certainly cause a person glee or anguish; amplified by circumstances.
You probably aren't in pain right now. Likewise, marijuana was not much used for pain. It was an escape, as if a mini-vacation. But potentcy and type of affect was very important too. Marijuana users want a better product, a good quality product.
With some low quality marijuana, generally called low potentcy, a little value was derived by the user, but not much. The user expected higher quality, meaning the user wanted to feel good, with good quality thoughts. Then, during the high (perhaps a few hours), the user was less concerned with aggrevating matters over which they had little, if any, current control, and more concerned with non-aggrevating matters such as perceived values, wisdom, and/or holy wisdom.
A person can use the Internet to get to a particular store site instantly. Similarly, marijuana users used higher quality marijuana to get to a particular realm of thought instantly. Often marijuana users would be concerned with math or physics, although not as typically taught in school, but with little emphasis on numbers, except 0 and 1, and greater emphasis on theory (not formulas) logic, similarity, and unity; even if the topics had been rarely, if ever, previously been associated, one with the other.
(Update Note Added March 1, 2004: The beginning and proof of the existence of God has now been mathematically adduced, click here for God Math Code, and click here for the resultant Bible Physics useful in Relativity applications.).
But the importance of theories, especially new theories, can be time consuming to detail and prove, and then difficult to publish among those who would be apt to seek same, particularly when the idea originates from someone not expert in the field, as so not much revered and furthermore not able to communicate effectively according to that field of expertise's jargon. Moreover, while a person can have a brilliant idea, it has been likely stated before and more effectually.
Marijuana is dangerous in some cases, yet from my experience, idealy I would believe marijuana is for teens, that is, I believe that after having learned the rules of science, it is then time to learn of a multitude of new ways of thinking and new possibilities that marijuana usage can produce. I believe it is a good educational experience for adult life. Dissimilar to adults, teens have a lot of free time on their hands in which to explore marijuana.
But we can't have that. We can't have teens and children in general trying marijuana until we can medically reduce the risk factor to at least an insignificant amount, not only as proper for drugs, but also as proper for food, since this concern applies for children. Permanent disability, death, significant temporary disability are each and all serious concerns that must be corrected before we allow our children to indulge in marijuana usage.
Those were the days, when just about all people my age had tried marijuana and understood much with regard to it's eye opening benefits, as well as it's health problems and authority risks.
Then the marijuana issue was placed on the ballot and by a narrow margin the vote was against marijuana usage; and I stopped using marijuana as did many or all others my age. Currently, for my personal legal, business, and related social reasons, I am happy to say I don't see anyone selling marijuana, and have not seen anyone smoke marijuana in very many years.
Logically, the close vote gave just cause to have no extreme bias and no major crime with regard to marijuana, but that's another sermon.
Today I work in many fields, including for A Check Exact Metals Testing & Confidential Drug Testing Mobile Full Services Laboratories. Sometimes parents find something that looks like drugs in their child's room, and they want to handle the problem within their family, and find out what it is without unnecessary government intervention, so they can submit a sample for analysis for hundreds of dollars. This is not an ad, I'm just trying to be straight with you.
Personally, I would rather see Christian parents handle it without any intervention.
Also our VGC Foundation was established for addiction treatment coordination to help victims (from gambling, to drugs, to other addiction related problems) and to fund churches, hospitals, and civic groups working to overcome the addiction problem through proper research and classified / proprietary information management: your financial support is needed and welcome.
In logically priortizing findings, the recommendation of this church, ICCDBB, is in general don't try using marijuana. If you use marijuana, stop. If you are not a marijuana consumer, and you are involved in marijuana research, set objective priority goals for safety without ignoring higher reasoning inclusive of Jesus Christ's teachings through which you will expectedly find great reasoning guidance. If you want to be a research subject to use marijuana, first seek Christ, and if not dissuaded, seek psychologic help. If you want to use marijuana to help others, pray God to see if that is your best course, check with applicable non-marijuana consumer researchers and review risks with them thoroughly, including medical concerns, and legal research provisions, if any, before proceeding.
In closing, currently marijuana seems to do more harm than good to a significant degree, so specific work needs to be accomplished to first reasonably ensure a proper degree of safety, and then it can be strictly, carefully, and fairly managed to derive it's greater blessings God has prepared for us and/or our progeny.
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Update February 21, 2006, taken from A News Center, ANC (click here for news), an Affiliate of ICCDBB.
US Supreme Court "unanimously" agreed "hallucinogenic" [recreational drugs] are allowed in "religious ceremonies" (:WSJ). While wine can help the soul, strong drug properties need to be more thoroughly considered among experts of all fields, as one unit, handled similar to FDA or utility management. Minutes ago ICCDBB received another note of praise, including the comment "I had trouble with some drugs for a while but reading your website about recreational drugs has seriously changed me and now I know I love Jesus more and more every day and he helps me to not do them anymore" [name withheld] (:ANC). February 21, 2006.
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Update added July 8, 2007: Christian Biblical purpose for marijuana disclosed: A Christian leader, Reverend Craig X Rubin, explained marijuana is the Tree of Life (click here for today's article at affiliated NewsWhiteHouse.com), distinguishing the Tree of Life from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Tree of Life offers leaves for the healing of nations, toward not causing the need of healing, toward not warsome: Enlightening yet calming. The enlightening part as explained in the above Sermon, is toward the living forever, in the same trend as the wine is the living Blood of Christ Jesus our One Lord (reference affiliated GodMath.com, of the 4th Testament, the GodMath Testament). In other words, higher than law is grace yielding appropriate mercy responsibly: Faith preparing proper logic. So appropriately respectful usage is more vital than usage.
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Suggested reading: Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi, Chapter 18.
Suggested site: Life Throughout The Universe.
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