VOICES OF FAITH

The Record Searchlight poses a weekly question to the religious
leaders of our community, and prints the responses as space allows.
All are posted on Redding.com. We invite all faith leaders in the
north state to participate, and our readers to send in questions
that apply to all faiths.

Q: Marijuana use with a doctor's recommendation is legal in
California, but remains illegal under federal law. Should marijuana
use for medicinal reasons be prosecuted?

The passage of Proposition 215 legalizing marijuana use with a
doctor's recommendation has led to more abuses than I can count.

THC is the active ingredient and it can be synthesized for medical
use, but voters legalized the whole thing with no safeguards, and so
it is difficult to know who is obeying the law and who profiting from
drug trade.

It is also true that federal law does not recognize Proposition 215
and so growers can be prosecuted by the feds even when state
authorities back off. I am not willing to come out in favor of
prosecution for people in compliance with state law, but I will say
that Christians are required by our Lord to obey all laws that do
not require defiance of God's standards of behavior. Medicinal
marijuana use does not qualify to excuse lawbreaking.

I must also say God called us to compassion for people in pain. I am
not qualified to evaluate the medical claims for marijuana, and I
would not want to prevent people from legitimate intervention. But
common sense dictates synthesizing or extracting THC into pills, and
getting on with its legitimate uses, if such there truly be.

It is the voters of California - in conflict with the U.S. Congress -
who have created this mess. Medical users of cannabis are caught in
the crush: That is not fair, but the voters need to clean up their
own mess rather than ask law enforcement to ignore some laws while
enforcing others.

James Wilson

PrayNorthState, Redding

This question is probably more a case of fear of inadequate
regulation than of moral ethics. It also calls for some questions of
science to be answered.

Is the prescription for palliative purposes and will it actually work
without causing undue harm?

Who supplies the marijuana and under what restrictions and
conditions?

Who is responsible for quality control and safe packaging?

Is there the same kind of help that we have with prescription drugs
from a qualified pharmacist, or do we simply rely on various kinds of
folklore for administering marijuana for medicinal purposes?

The issue has become politically charged and also heavily debated and
lobbied by pharmaceutical companies as well as the alcoholic beverage
industry. Probably the federal prohibition is the best we can do for
now as a practical response to all these unanswered questions.

Yet we should be able to do the science sometime soon. Perhaps there
are many answers regarding pain management and end-of-life comfort to
be learned from impartial investigations and rigorous testing.

The hardest part is just not knowing, and watching people suffer who
might be significantly helped.

Deacon Mike Evans

Sacred Heart Church, Anderson

Prosecuting a citizen for using a drug a physician prescribes for
symptoms of an illness or treatment of an illness would seem to be an
oxymoron. Morphine is illegal for use on the streets, but we
certainly don't prosecute patients who use it to relieve intolerable
pain.

I understand the fear that legalizing marijuana could endanger our
youth, but the laws to keep it out of the hands of children obviously
don't work. What is happening is we are becoming the largest jailer
country in the world.

One possibility to protect our youth would be to approve marijuana as
a substance for adult use only, as we do now with alcohol and
tobacco. Alcohol is often cited as a legal drug that causes far more
individual and social harm than marijuana. Marijuana appears for
many to be a better anti-anxiety drug than the prescription drugs
available - for big bucks - which can be highly addictive.

Smoking it is clearly harmful to the lungs, but a pill form is
available medicinally. Perhaps the pill form is not available more
widely because the drug companies cannot patent it.

The federal law is one that is being largely disregarded, as
evidenced by the fact that in California (marijuana) is legal to use
with a doctor's prescription.

I think if it comes to a public vote, the law will change. If not,
perhaps building bigger prisons can become part of our economic
recovery plan. Unfortunately, it costs the taxpayers a fortune to
hold people there.

Rev. Judith Churchman

Center for Spiritual Living, Redding

No, marijuana use for medical reasons should not be
prosecuted.

Cannabis has been used for over 5,000 years, for fibers, medicinal
and recreational drugs in the (same) category with tobacco, alcohol
and chocolate, and biofuels.

Cannabis is noted in the earliest known medical text - Shen Nung's
Pen Ts'ao, from 3727 BCE in China - as a "superior" herb.

In 1941, Henry Ford created an automobile that was both built out of
hemp products and ran on hemp biofuel.

The current legal status of cannabis is a result of successful
pressure from the tobacco and petroleum industries in the early 1900s
for control of their respective markets.

(This) has created a situation in which we have lost the
possibilities of excellent medical research and advanced
technological research for superior products in many industries,
incarcerated thousands of productive citizens, and lost millions of
dollars in tax revenues.

I believe that history will show this aspect of our economic life to
be a significant loss to the public good for the gain of a few in
those industries.

The invitation to revisit this situation that comes from those
demanding the medical use of marijuana should be embraced as a step
toward serious research and testing of marijuana for its potential
medical uses. Perhaps this will begin to lead us back into full use
of this valuable and ancient natural resource.

Rev. Ann Muir

Pilgrim Congregational, United Church of Christ, Redding

The medical use of marijuana is a compassionate and reasonable use
that should not be prosecuted.

In Buddhism, the fifth of the five precepts is, "I undertake the
training practice not to use intoxicants that cause
heedlessness."

However, the emphasis is not so much about avoiding drugs and alcohol
as it is about promoting mindfulness. There is no requirement to
suffer pain if palliative relief is available.

The five precepts are not rules to be followed blindly. They are
intended to promote harmonious living using skillful means. Skillful
means are actions that are appropriate to the situation, do not harm
ourselves or others, and are both compassionate - relieving
suffering - and kind - promoting happiness and well-being. The
precepts are certainly not rigid laws to be inflicted on others,
although they are beneficial to individuals and societies when practiced.

Draconian enforcement against individuals for relatively minor drug
offenses has caused a scandalous burgeoning of incarceration,
resulting in the United States having the highest incarceration rates
in the world. In second place, (the) People's Republic of China has
only 18 percent of the U.S. incarceration rate.

The growing prison industrial complex has made it profitable to
warehouse a poor, dispossessed and disproportionately
African-American prison population in an environment conducive to
graduating hardened and violent criminals with new criminal
connections and skills.

Treatment for drug addiction, not incarceration, seems to be the
wiser alternative, less harmful and disruptive both to potential
prisoners and society in general and less expensive in the long run.

Chris Carrigan, Buddhist

River Oak Sangha, Redding

I really don't want to get into the politics of marijuana use except
to say that this latest attempt to decriminalize pot has nothing to
do with the benefit to some of its medical uses. Rather, it is just a
means to extract more revenues in the form of permits, taxes, etc.
for a state that has been unable to balance a budget.

I, for one, do not advocate the use of marijuana or any other drug
that alters one's mind and ability to function as God created us.

Are there good uses for pot? I believe the jury is still out on the
matter.

This is what I do believe: 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is
permissible for me," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is
permissible for me," but I will not be mastered by anything. Also, 1
Corinthians 10:23 says, "Everything is permissible," but not
everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible," but not
everything is constructive. "Nobody should seek his own good but the
good of others."

I'm going to let you, the reader, decide for yourself if the word of
God within these few Scriptures will stir your heart into what is
best for you, for others and for the state of California.

Jim White, follower of Jesus Christ

Douglas City

This one is personal for me. I have a beloved family member with
post-traumatic stress syndrome who relies on his prescription for
medicinal marijuana. I can only report that from his perspective and
from my personal observation: Marijuana seems to work better for him
than what he had prescribed for him previously.

He has had enough challenges in life without having to fear
prosecution. Especially since I view his experiences in Vietnam as
precursors of his need for medicinal marijuana, I find it ironic that
there would be an issue of federal prosecution for its use.

That said, I realize there are people who take advantage of the
situation, who grow and sell marijuana illegally, etc. As with any
issue, there are many sides to the discussion. What I hold is for
compassion and understanding that, given similar circumstances, any
one of us could find our self in a similar situation.

Let us hold for peace-filled and fair resolutions for the highest and
best for all concerned.

I would like to briefly address the issue of marijuana or any
substance use by people seriously on the path to spiritual
enlightenment.

There comes a time when the spiritual seeker is called to surrender
the use of any mind-altering substance in order to move forward on
the spiritual path. God becomes the one source of transformation and
the person no longer wants anything to interfere with his or her
journey.

Getting high on God is the ultimate journey.

Rev. Sandra Soley Keep

Unity in Redding

I am at a bit at a loss on how to respond to such a question in my
capacity as a pastor. This is a civil question, not a
religious/theological one.

Of course, as I wrote in the answer to an earlier question, we have
the responsibility to obey the government where it does not
contradict God's law. This question, though, asks about the manner in
which the civil government itself should respond to a violation of a
law.

Now, I am not an expert on civil matters and precedence of federal
versus state laws. I am not savvy enough in this area to pronounce on
whether the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution is pertinent in
this case: It appears at first glance that it would be, but if so,
then the question has provided its own answer.

If it is illegal, then violators of the law should be prosecuted.
Laws that are on the books, but are not prosecuted, are senseless and
confusing. (They) should either be prosecuted when they are violated
or they should be removed from the books.

Rev. Gene Crow, pastor

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Shasta Lake

Since marijuana is still classified by the federal government as a
Schedule I drug, it's against federal law for a physician to
prescribe it to his or her patients.

Doctors can, however, provide their patients with a written document
that recommends marijuana use for their medical conditions, with
which said patients can legally obtain and use marijuana in
accordance with local and state laws.

The Compassionate Use Act made California, in 1996, the first state
to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. SB 420, which was
passed in 2004, expanded upon the CUA and provided, among other
things, additional protection to collectives and cooperatives that
dispense medical marijuana.

Together, the CUA and SB 420 make up California Health and Safety
Codes to create the most comprehensive and compassionate legislation
for medical marijuana users.

To be deemed eligible to use medical marijuana, you must be diagnosed
by a physician as having a "serious medical condition" which may be
improved or alleviated by marijuana use.

As of May 2009, 83 percent of counties in California had implemented
(a) medical marijuana program through which those who qualified could
apply for and obtain a medical marijuana identification card.

The MMP, which is a division within the California Department of
Public Health, (is) administered by the applicant's county of
residence. The program allows private residents and law enforcement
agents to quickly verify a patient's or patient's caregiver
eligibility under the program.

Nothing can keep you from getting arrested, but you might be able to
avoid prosecution.

Amarjit Singh

The Sikh Centre, Anderson