Canada will become the first industrialized country to legalize recreational marijuana. Recreational use of cannabis is already permitted in nine US states, and many European countries are moving towards decriminalisation. Critics warn that this legalisation sends the message that the psychoactive drug is safe to use - a conclusion that many dispute.

There has been much public discussion on how to test for impairment, work place safety, smoking zones and long term health concerns.

Canadian Conservative party’s Senator Dennis Patterson claimed that readily available cannabis would have a “devastating” effect on vulnerable indigenous populations already plagued by addiction, mental health problems and violence, the Montreal Gazette reports. “There will be casualties. There will be mental illness. There will be brain damage. There will be deaths,” he warned.

One of the biggest concerns is marijuana’s effect on mental health. The NHS website warns that regular cannabis use increases a person’s risk of developing a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia. The risk increases if a person starts using cannabis at a young age, smokes stronger types of the drug, such as skunk, or smokes regularly or for a long time, the health service says.

The new law would allow citizens to grow up to four marijuana plants in their home. One proposed amendment “would allow parents to share it with their kids, as they can with wine or alcohol”, reports the Toronto Star.

The February 2018 issue of MacLean’s magazine ran an article entitled “The teenage brain on weed”. In it, it was brought out that “Youth are better able to list what they consider to be benefits of cannabis than the harms. As the country hurtles toward legalization of recreational use this summer, doctors fear the risks of marijuana are still not well understood, and that ignorance could carry widespread consequences.” The article goes on to say, “The evidence is mounting that early-onset cannabis use has a tremendous impact on the structure and functioning of the teenage brain.”

Diane Kelsall, interim editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal wrote in an editorial, “The government appears to be hastening to deliver on a campaign promise without being careful enough about the health impacts of policy.”

Here are some health concerns associated with the hidden dangers of smoking marijuana from Medical Daily (“7 Hidden Health Dangers Of Smoking Marijuana Revealed In 2016”):

Raises Alzheimer's Risk

A recent study found pot smokers displayed low blood flow in the hippocampus, which is involved in storing long-term memory, including all past experiences.

Worsens Verbal Memory

The long-term use of marijuana is linked to poorer verbal memory at middle age. Researchers in Australia found for each additional five years of marijuana exposure, verbal memory was 0.13 standardized units lower than for those who never used it.

Weakens Heart Muscles

Marijuana use may increase the chances of developing an often temporary heart condition, stress cardiomyopathy, also known as “broken heart syndrome.” 

Increases Osteoporosis Risk

Smoking pot is often associated with a case of the munchies, but a recent study in the American Journal of Medicine found smokers are more likely to have lower body weight and broken bones. People who report heavy marijuana use have a large reduction in bone density compared with nonusers.

Periodontal Disease

Marijuana use for as long as 20 years has been linked with gum disease, specifically at age 38, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry.

Poor Vision

Regular marijuana use can delay how visual information is processed in the eye’s retina. A new study found regular pot smokers experience a slight delay in the functioning of their retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which work to process incoming visual information and are responsible for connecting the retina to the brain.

Poor Sleep

Marijuana may often be associated with helping users sleep better, but a recent study in the Journal of Addictive Diseases found the drug may be related to a user's sleep troubles. Daily pot smokers actually scored higher on the Insomnia Severity Index and on sleep-disturbance measures than those who used the drug less frequently. For example, 20 percent of the non-smokers met the criteria for clinical insomnia, compared with 39 percent of the daily users meeting those criteria.

OK, let’s ask a few questions.

Just because the government makes something legal, is it right in God’s eyes?

What does God think about same sex marriage?

Does He favour abortion?

What about euthanasia?

How about smoking cigarettes?

Is it loving your neighbour to have him breathe your second hand smoke?

Would Christ, if He were here today, smoke pot?

Should you?

I think we know the answer. If Christ lives in us, we would say the same as the apostle Paul who wrote, ^“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians:2:20I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (NKJV throughout).

Did God design our lungs to breathe in smoke, or to inhale fresh air? Does He want us to look after our bodies? Notice what He inspired Paul to write: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians:6:19-20[19]What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?[20]For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's..

He also warns us that “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Corinthians:3:17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.).

God’s desire is that we have a sound mind, to be sober and not impaired. He says, in 1 Thessalonians:5:5-9[5]Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.[6]Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.[7]For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.[8]But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.[9]For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.  But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.  For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The MacLean’s magazine article referenced earlier said that teen who smoke pot regularly double their risk of reporting psychotic symptoms or being diagnosed with schizophrenia in adulthood. Long term usage is also associated with problems in attention, memory, impulse-control, problem solving and emotional regulation.

In a 2015 study, King’s College London researchers found that people who smoked skunk every day had five times the normal risk of psychosis.

Rather than mess with our minds and bodies, God beseeches us to “… present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans:12:1-2[1]I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.[2]And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.).

Would Christ smoke pot? No! Neither should you.

Rainer Salomaa