Cannabis and Catholics: Lighting up the moral perspective

Marijuana, or cannabis, is becoming legal at an alarming rate across the United States and Canada.

Among U.S. states, 23 have legalized recreational use of cannabis, and eight others have decriminalized it. Sixteen more allow cannabis by prescription; seven permit the sale and use of CBD — cannabidiol, an active ingredient in cannabis — that has THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound in marijuana that makes a person “high.” Only four states ban all cannabis products.

In Canada, recreational cannabis has had legal standing everywhere since 2018. The federal government regulates limits on possession, purchase, and licensing to grow cannabis, whereas provincial governments regulate its distribution and sale. Medical use was approved in 2001.

Promoters of medical cannabis point to claims of health benefits, including pain or anxiety management. Recreational-use advocates go further to say that cannabis is no worse than alcohol or tobacco and therefore should be legal to use in moderation.

Legality, of course, does not equate with moral license. So, does the Catholic Church have anything to say about cannabis? In general, the Catholic position on can be summarized in one word: prudence.

DRUG USE/ABUSE

The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers this general statement: 

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 (CCC 2291).

The sense is that recreational use of any drug is wrong, although it is not clear whether “strictly therapeutic grounds” rules out a drug’s prudent use, for example, to relieve pain. Over-the-counter drugs can be abused, and so can alcohol — which is itself a psychotropic drug. 

A 2001 pastoral handbook by the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care titled Church: Drugs and Drug Addiction, drawing heavily from talks by Pope John Paul II, is more direct in criticizing the “present trivialization” of cannabis use:

Many people are coming to esteem cannabis and minimize its effects, due to the fact that as a rule it does not provoke physiological dependency. To take a “joint” one day for curiosity can have a soothing effect. This can be the beginning of a continuous practice and habit, which becomes dangerous because it induces a growing need for such feelings and relaxation, which the individual has already experienced in taking a toxic product. This favors an escalation in consumption. In fact, cannabis generates a psychological dependency that can be irresistible in cases of regular use, with fateful effects on the organism (CDDA 162).

So how is cannabis different from alcohol or tobacco? For one, the Catechism permits the moderate use of the latter two but rules out their abuse: “The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine” (2290).

Alcohol also differs due to its long history of social use for conviviality. From biblical times, people have celebrated important occasions with wine, and those who host gatherings of friends and family often provide alcoholic drinks for their guests. Furthermore, alcohol derives from real food: grapes for wine and barley for beer, for example. 

Alcohol can be abused, even in convivial gatherings. But in small measure, it has minor health benefits, and prudent drinkers recognize and respect their limits; they do not drink for the purpose of a “high” or mental impairment.

Most recreational users of marijuana, however, seek the “high” that it provides, an effect that is quickly achieved. One joint, CDDA notes, corresponds to two glasses of whiskey. And although marijuana might be consumed with other people, its effects quickly lead to social isolation rather than conviviality as the consumers’ “buzz” leaves them “zoning out.” The theoretical window for discretionary therapeutic use is minimal at best. 

In terms of ingested toxins, one joint is equivalent to four or five cigarettes. Some observers have noted the irony of the push for marijuana legalization at a time when laws often discourage cigarette smoking. 

BAD FOR SOCIETY

Another problem with cannabis is its wide range of potencies and delivery systems. It can be smoked, inhaled, vaped, “dabbed,” or consumed in “edibles” like baked goods or candies. Levels of mind-altering THC can vary widely, resulting in unpredictable effects: over a few decades, THC levels in marijuana have risen from 1 percent to nearly 30 percent. There also are synthetic THC-containing products such as Delta-8 and K-2, which are available in states where the legal language banning cannabis is not specific enough to prohibit them. Most experts agree that more research on cannabis is needed to determine its therapeutic potential and the hazards it presents to health and society.

Some claim legalization of recreational cannabis will reduce crime, unburden law enforcement, and raise tax revenues. However, as Pope Francis observed in 2014, “Attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called recreational drugs are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects.” 

That has been the measurable experience in Colorado, which legalized cannabis in 2012. Ahead of the 2022 vote on Amendment 3 in Missouri, the Missouri State Medical Association analyzed statistics from Colorado and concluded:

Medical and recreational marijuana legalization is destroying the health and social fabric of Colorado. Suicide, overdoses, ER visits, hospitalizations, and domestic and street violence due to cannabis are soaring while cannabis tax revenues are an anemic 0.98% of the 2021 state budget. Tax revenues are dwarfed by the Centennial State’s cost for law enforcement, automobile and industrial accidents, and increased school crime. Missouri must keep recreational marijuana from being legalized in 2022.

Voters didn’t listen: Amendment 3 won approval.

The Catholic perspective on marijuana, then, amounts to this: regardless of what law permits, the recreational use of cannabis is not a legitimate moral option. Cannabis can be used for therapeutic reasons, such as via prescription, wherever medical use is legal. And given the myriad of unresolved questions requiring further study about cannabis and its harmful effects on persons and society, its legalization for recreational use is imprudent and must be opposed. 

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