JESUS WAS A STONER, POT ACTIVIST CLAIMS

Writer Suggests Accounts of Healing May Be Evidence of a Drug Infused
Through the Skin, Jennifer Morrison Reports

Was Jesus a spiritual, cannabis-using stoner that doused his disciples in a
potent, marijuana-laced oil?

That's the claim made in an American cannabis magazine article that
suggests Jesus Christ and his apostles used marijuana and promoted its
usage for medicinal purposes and to carry out miraculous healings.

The article, "Was Jesus a stoner?" was written by B.C. marijuana activist,
author and director of the Pot-TV Network, Chris Bennett. It was based on a
13-year study of ancient scripture texts. He claims the holy anointing oil,
used in the early days of the Christian church and absorbed into the body
when placed on the skin, contained between four and six kilograms of
kaneh-bosem, a substance identified as cannabis extracted into olive oil
and herbs.

"The ancient anointed ones were literally drenched in this potent mixture,"
Bennett, 40, said in his article, published in the February issue of High
Times.

He said Jesus and the 12 disciples used this holy oil to cure and heal
their followers of such ailments as epilepsy, menstrual and eye problems
and skin diseases. The curing of cripples can also be attributed to the
cannabis-laced holy oil.

He quotes the Book of Mark 6:13 in support of his claim.

"And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick,
and healed them."

Bennett's claim about Old Testament cannabis use is supported in his
article by Carl Ruck, a Boston University professor in classical mythology
who has spent three decades researching the history of drugs in religion.

"There can be little doubt about a role for cannabis in Judaic religion,"
he said. "There is no way that so important a plant as a fibre source for
textiles and nutritive oils and one so easy to grow would have gone unnoticed.

"Obviously, the early availability and long-established tradition of
cannabis in early Judaism... would have inevitably included it in the
(Christian) measures."

Bennett said his claims are also supported by archeological evidence. He
refers specifically to finds by Joe Zias, an anthropologist in Israel who
uncovered the skeleton of a 14-year-old girl who died in child birth. A
blackish-brown substance found on her stomach was determined to be a
hashish mixture used for healing. He also cited ancient pots discovered
throughout Israel and the Middle East that had opium and cannabis residue
in them.

Greg Bloomquist, a theology professor at Saint Paul University in Ottawa,
is familiar with Bennett's claims, but dismisses them.

"This is not scholarly work. This is purely speculation with an ideological
agenda," he said in an interview. "His arguments are based on the isolated
theories of a few people and he brings them together in order to make a
point that he wants to make."