Christians Need An Education On Weed

  Yep, you read that title correctly! I am a Christian, and I'm a huge advocate for medical marijuana. This may come as a surprise to a lot of you, but I'm going to go into the history of the plant, the benefits of it, why I don't believe it is a sin to use, and my personal experience with weed.
  Weed has been around forever, but the first historical record we have of its medical use traces all the way back to 2727 B.C. in China. It was used during labor for pain relief, it was used to fight toothaches, anxiety, stomach ailments, rheumatism, gout, malaria, and various other diseases. The hemp plant was also used for clothing and paper! In fact, the original two drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on paper made with hemp fiber, as well as the original King James Bible, Alice in Wonderland, all of the works of Mark Twain, and pretty much everything else during that time period. But the benefits of marijuana aren't just a part of the past, there have been significant studies written in the recent years about it's many benefits to your health now! For example; slowing and stopping cancer cells from spreading, preventing Alzheimers, treating glaucoma, relieving arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, muscle spasms, PTSD, tremors of those with Parkinson's, Crohn's disease, epileptic seizures, anxiety, nausea, and is said to even be able to protect the brain from concussions, trauma, and after a stroke. Pretty freaking cool, right? So why on earth would they make it illegal and how did it end up in the same category of hardcore drugs as heroin and coke?
  During the 1900's, after the Mexican Revolution, there was an influx of immigrants migrating to the south. One of the things they brought with them was weed, which they often referred to as "marihuana." Yep, with an H. At the time, Americans were using cannabis, but didn't understand that cannabis and marihuana were in fact the same thing. During that time, newspapers were spreading fear throughout the nation about the immigrants harmful and dangerous lifestyles. The use of this marihuana plant was then demonized as well. In a newspaper from 1927, a story read: "A widow and her four children have been driven insane by eating the Marihuana plant, according to doctors, who say that there is no hope of saving the children's lives and that the mother will be insane for the rest of her life."
  Weed was banned in 1937 to use and sell as a way of controlling and keeping tabs on these new people, until years later in the 1970's where substances were ranked for their danger and potential for addiction under President Nixon. This is where things get sticky yet again. With the Civil Rights movement coming to an end, the government had to figure out a new way to control brown and black faces. This is the time that the whole "War On Drugs" became a thing. Weed was categorized as a Schedule 1 substance and is still considered so to this day.
  According to statistics, 8.2 million arrests were made between 2001 and 2010 simply for possession of pot and despite the fact that it has been proven white and black people use weed at the same rates, blacks were 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for weed than whites. Now, I could rabbit trail and talk about race now, but I won't do that. I just want people to know that the demonizing of weed has a largely racist history in the U.S.
  Now it's time to get personal! I've had rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia since I was a toddler.  Both are chronic autoimmune diseases with various symptoms that kept me in pain every day to the point that I couldn't even work a part time job if I had to stand. My knees would hurt, I would wake up feeling like I had been hit by a bus, I would get a shooting pain in my chest and up my neck that mimicked a heart attack, my fingers would lock up at night, I went everywhere with a knee brace, and so on and so forth. This was my life, a never-ending cycle of pain. I went to numerous doctors trying to find answers and they even put me on some medications, steroids, and muscle relaxers. None of them seemed to work, and if anything, my symptoms only worsened. The only thing that provided any kind of relief was Motrin. I couldn't just take a couple pills and be fine though, I had to take 4 of them in order to feel anything. So there I was popping 4 Motrin pills 2 times a day until I began to get ulcers. I then had to decide, "Do I want to deal with stomach ulcers or be able to walk?" At this same time, my chest pains were becoming more frequent, and were so bad that I was in bed most of the time with hot packs on my rib-cage for the swelling. Out of desperation I decided to try medical marijuana. With two rips from the bong, I went from bed-ridden to walking around the house, making jokes, and happy. All of my pain was gone. Literally gone. Not some of it, it didn't take the edge off, it literally disappeared. From then on, I was determined to know more about this magical plant, how it worked, and why it had such a taboo around it. Of course in my Christian circles, the biggest fear was getting high. Yet, I didn't get high at all. Why was this? Did I not do enough? Well, I came to find that while dosage was part of it, a bigger part was the ratio of THC and CBD. Some of you know what those words mean, but for those of you who don't, let me explain.
  THC is the psychoactive compound in weed that creates the feeling of being high. Now, it also has all the benefits mentioned in the beginning of this post, BUT if there is TOO much THC in the strain, it can have adverse effects such as increased anxiety, delayed recall time, impaired performance, mental haziness, dry mouth, red eyes, memory loss, etc. People who smoke recreationally or to get high, often buy strains of weed with high dosages of THC. Both THC and CBD are important in terms of deriving benefits from the plant, but too much THC will get you high and some people are able to manage their pain with just the CBD. So what is CBD? Well, it is also a compound found in the cannabis flower, but it is not psychoactive at all. Which means, you can smoke all the CBD you want, and it will not affect your brain. In fact, we actually have CBD receptors in our bodies, which means, you are meant to ingest CBD. After I learned about CBD and THC, I learned about Indica and Sativas. These are the two main species of cannabis, and have different effects on the body as well. Indicas make you sleepy/sedated, while Sativas give you energy and stimulation. When trying medical marijuana for pain, it is important to choose a strain that has a good ratio of what you need and will benefit your body and also knowing proper dosages to get the desired effect.
  So yes, Christians, it is 100% possible to smoke weed, even with THC without getting high and while staying sober minded. Now, that said, I do not support the use of weed with THC recreationally due to man's addictive nature. Although, being addicted to weed in my mind, is no different than being addicted to caffeine or sugar. As Christians, we should never be addicted to anything, and so I condemn any substance, taboo or not, if it is an idol. That said, there is nothing inherently evil or sinful about marijuana and I believe it should be legalized nationwide because it is one of the greatest plants God has created.

"And God said, Behold I have give you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:29