By Deacon Gary Keepes
Catholic Healthcare
There has been a massive push over the last several years for the legalization of the medical and recreational use of marijuana. Interestingly, this effort has come from marijuana advocacy groups and not necessarily from the medical community. It is big business in the range of tens of billions of dollars and rapidly growing as more states and countries legalize it. Medical marijuana is legal now in 39 states and recreational marijuana is legal in 24 states. It is not legal in Indiana but pressure is building and it is probably only a matter of time before a ballot initiative appears in our state. Besides, marijuana is available for recreational use and medical use in our neighboring state of Illinois. So, it is not difficult for Hoosiers to purchase and use right now.
There are significant questions regarding the use of marijuana. As with any medication or drug, we have to weigh the benefits versus the risks. What are the known benefits of marijuana? Although it has been touted to relieve a wide variety of ailments, research has not really born that out. Several studies have shown a reduction in neuropathic pain and cancer related pain, as well as improvement of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. However, there was no statistically significant reduction in pain from inflammatory arthritis, fibromyalgia or multiple sclerosis. There was also no improvement in anxiety, depression or insomnia.
What are the risks of marijuana? They would include addiction, chronic cough and airway inflammation, increased incidence of motor vehicle accidents and decreased school performance. These risks are magnified when marijuana use begins in an adolescent when the brain is not fully developed. Adolescents may experience significant declines in IQ and an increased risk of dropping out of school.
Therefore, it seems that based solely on a risks versus benefits basis, the risks of marijuana far outweigh any benefits that might be obtained. What about the use of marijuana for its effect of producing a “high?” Some writers have called this a “chemical comfort.” Fr. Tad Pacholczyk writes that, “to use a drug recreationally for the purposes of dissociating ourselves from reality through induced euphoria raises significant moral concerns.” This differs from the responsible moderate use of alcohol in that alcohol can be used in a celebratory manner; it can help to stimulate conversation among friends, augmenting feelings of joy and feelings of closeness. Marijuana is typically used in isolation and produces an amotivational syndrome. Symptoms of this are detachment, blunted emotions, decreased executive function, apathy and a general lack of motivation.
Marijuana use can also harm us in other ways. It can lead to financial difficulties if used in large quantities. It can damage interpersonal relationships, causing separation from family and friends. Finally, and most importantly, it can separate us from God. Being “stoned” is not conducive to deepening our prayer life and increasing in love of God and neighbor.
I do understand that people in our world today are suffering, both physically and psychologically. It is my job as a physician to try to alleviate that as best as our medical technology allows. God does not want us to suffer, even though he can bring much good out of it. However, when you examine the evidence regarding marijuana, it does not appear to be an effective tool for treating pain and suffering. The risks far outweigh the benefits. If we continue down this road of making marijuana easily accessible to everyone in the world, and it appears that there is no stopping it now, I fear that it will create massive problems for us as a society, physically, mentally and spiritually.
I will leave you with the words of moral theologian Jesuit Father John C. Ford (1902-1989) regarding pain and suffering in our world: “The final and highest answer of Christianity to these problems is not the discovery of new and better pleasures. It is to be found only in the doctrine of the Cross, which is not a doctrine of comfort and self-indulgence but of self-renunciation.”