All about Roman Catholicism here.

[Visual C#]

---

FYI.

I locked the other thread about "The Lies and Prejudices of Anti-Catholics". Now don't hate me or start saying that I am anti-Catholic: I couldn't care less with people's beliefs and I'm personally fed up with religious debate and discussion. I locked it so that we could just focus our attention on one thread, and avoid duplicate topics.

So let the games begin.

[weedmeister2]

Oh well... Brothers manny and bcasabee, i guess we are all entitled to our beliefs... whatever i say, it seems that you have your mids set to one thing, and vice versa... kapoy na oi... like that issue about mary... i know what your doctrine says, but the real question is, if you go to sto nino in downtown and ask your faithful if they worship mary... well, do you think they will say no? its one thing to say something, but its another to practice it.

Manny, i dont work in waterfront. i work at another hotel, so waterfront is passing the cost to their other clients. i didn't put a gun to their head, so i guess you cant fault me for being a good negotiator...

It is VERY DISHONEST to misrepresent the beliefs of another church, and then attack that church on the basis of those misrepresented beliefs. One does not end up attacking the other church's beliefs at all, but instead engages in a deception. It's called LYING, and it's unchristian.

if i did that, then forgive me. i did not do it consciously.



OT:

guys, is it a sin to smoke weed? i mean in a catholics point of view?

well, well, well... i see that some people prefer to attack the messenger, and not the message, eh?

have any of you smoked weed before? well, let me tell you, i smoke it around 3 times a week and i feel good. i never hurt anyone, never drove above 40kph, never raised my voice (unless in laughter), never turned down good food, never fought anyone, am open to all ideas, happy to hear everyone's side of the story, love to interact with kids, and yes, i feel closer to my GOD when on it.

oh, and it made me stop smoking and drinking (except for one or two beers on occasion), and it costs me around 500 a month.

that is a personal conviction.


Now, let me tell you a contrasting story... I used to be an alcoholic. yep. when i'd enter vudu, the first thing jikni (the ex-manager, now manager of formo) would do is to automatically (without asking me anymore) plop down 3 (yes, three) jim beam colas on my table. that was just to warm me up during the first 5 minutes... i would do all sorts... jim beam, jack daniel, jagermeister, southern comfort, goldschlager, etc... you name it, i've been drunk on it... i had a running tab in vudu, tinderbox, the old fuel, mi vida, etc... i would be drinking upwards of 30k a month, and what did i get for it? well, i used to carry a .45 and point it around when the fights started, i used to sleep at work, used to bite glasses until they break in my mouth, used to drive drunk to danao at 3am and race for money in front of the azucarera, used to lie down at the shangri-la beach until sunrise, before going to work, used to have women left and right, even though i am married, would even take advantage of drunk girls, would totally wreck the 2nd floor of vudu just because i wanted to, etc... you see what i mean.



now you will ask me how that ties up with my being christian... well, it does defile God's temple, but not as much as alcohol or cigarettes... and you must remember that during Jesus' time, cannabis use was part of daily life, as it is still in some parts of the middle east, india, nepal, etc... you have to read up on the history of cannabis sativa and its downfall under the american infidels, and its myriad of uses, before you knock it down brother... it can prevent landslides, supply 4 times the paper per acre, supply all our clothing needs with zero pesticide use (cotton uses up almost 50% of pesticides in the US), is the best engine oil, can supply food for africa (gautama buddha used to eat hemp seeds during his fast towards nirvana), can help cancer patients on chemotherapy regain their appetite and relieve their nausea, can help relieve asthma by relaxing the constricting trachea (i am asthmatic), etc...

anyhow, i put up a thread here about this, but im afraid it was moved to the mature section which i have no access to... anyhow, read through these brothers, and be enlightened:

http://www.jackherer.com/chapters.html - This is the book that exposes marijuana for what it really is...

http://www.jackherer.com/comparison.html - This is a comparison of how dangerous weed is against alcohol, coffee, etc...

http://www.marijuana-uses.com/read.html - This is a must read. Essays from people such as Carl Sagan, Allen Ginsberg, etc...

http://www.equalrights4all.org/religious/bible.htm - Cannabis in the bible.




God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth.…To you it will be for meat." … And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:29-31)

And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. -- Ezekiel 34:29

"I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs. For afore harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches." (Isaiah 18:4-5)

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall … speak lies in hypocrisy … commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (Paul: 1 Timothy 4:1-3)

"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; that which cometh out of the mouth defileth a man." (Mat. 15:11)

And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)

And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. (Ezekiel 34:29)

[bcasabee]

@weed............As manny has pointed out..............substance abuse is bad............abusing....I think its short for abnormal use..........so its up to you to determine your limits.............and also you've choosen to based your ideas on what mis-informed Catholic faithfuls had told you and not official Church stand and I don't know why. And I would rather not debate on whether which Church practices are good or bad or which church is good or bad.........I understand.....its is really tiresome if you are on the offensive side especially if the enemies defenses are heavily fortified............hehehehe........

We are even worshipping different Gods.........while your god is not really that all knowing(fake god in short)......you can even squeeze all of his knowledge on a thousand page book you called the Bible..........mine is different..........his knowledge is beyond imagination.........no storage device can ever contain it................If you disagree with it, then you must also accept that the Bible is not only the source of truth.....and will certainly break your "Only believe on the Bible" principle...........I hope I had started an intelligent topic for you to think of.........waiting for your reply..........thanks......

Oh well... Brothers manny and bcasabee, i guess we are all entitled to our beliefs... whatever i say, it seems that you have your mids set to one thing, and vice versa... kapoy na oi... like that issue about mary... i know what your doctrine says, but the real question is, if you go to sto nino in downtown and ask your faithful if they worship mary... well, do you think they will say no? its one thing to say something, but its another to practice it.

Manny, i dont work in waterfront. i work at another hotel, so waterfront is passing the cost to their other clients. i didn't put a gun to their head, so i guess you cant fault me for being a good negotiator...

It is VERY DISHONEST to misrepresent the beliefs of another church, and then attack that church on the basis of those misrepresented beliefs. One does not end up attacking the other church's beliefs at all, but instead engages in a deception. It's called LYING, and it's unchristian.

if i did that, then forgive me. i did not do it consciously.



OT:

guys, is it a sin to smoke weed? i mean in a catholics point of view?

well, well, well... i see that some people prefer to attack the messenger, and not the message, eh?

have any of you smoked weed before? well, let me tell you, i smoke it around 3 times a week and i feel good. i never hurt anyone, never drove above 40kph, never raised my voice (unless in laughter), never turned down good food, never fought anyone, am open to all ideas, happy to hear everyone's side of the story, love to interact with kids, and yes, i feel closer to my GOD when on it.

oh, and it made me stop smoking and drinking (except for one or two beers on occasion), and it costs me around 500 a month.

that is a personal conviction.


Now, let me tell you a contrasting story... I used to be an alcoholic. yep. when i'd enter vudu, the first thing jikni (the ex-manager, now manager of formo) would do is to automatically (without asking me anymore) plop down 3 (yes, three) jim beam colas on my table. that was just to warm me up during the first 5 minutes... i would do all sorts... jim beam, jack daniel, jagermeister, southern comfort, goldschlager, etc... you name it, i've been drunk on it... i had a running tab in vudu, tinderbox, the old fuel, mi vida, etc... i would be drinking upwards of 30k a month, and what did i get for it? well, i used to carry a .45 and point it around when the fights started, i used to sleep at work, used to bite glasses until they break in my mouth, used to drive drunk to danao at 3am and race for money in front of the azucarera, used to lie down at the shangri-la beach until sunrise, before going to work, used to have women left and right, even though i am married, would even take advantage of drunk girls, would totally wreck the 2nd floor of vudu just because i wanted to, etc... you see what i mean.



now you will ask me how that ties up with my being christian... well, it does defile God's temple, but not as much as alcohol or cigarettes... and you must remember that during Jesus' time, cannabis use was part of daily life, as it is still in some parts of the middle east, india, nepal, etc... you have to read up on the history of cannabis sativa and its downfall under the american infidels, and its myriad of uses, before you knock it down brother... it can prevent landslides, supply 4 times the paper per acre, supply all our clothing needs with zero pesticide use (cotton uses up almost 50% of pesticides in the US), is the best engine oil, can supply food for africa (gautama buddha used to eat hemp seeds during his fast towards nirvana), can help cancer patients on chemotherapy regain their appetite and relieve their nausea, can help relieve asthma by relaxing the constricting trachea (i am asthmatic), etc...

anyhow, i put up a thread here about this, but im afraid it was moved to the mature section which i have no access to... anyhow, read through these brothers, and be enlightened:

http://www.jackherer.com/chapters.html - This is the book that exposes marijuana for what it really is...

http://www.jackherer.com/comparison.html - This is a comparison of how dangerous weed is against alcohol, coffee, etc...

http://www.marijuana-uses.com/read.html - This is a must read. Essays from people such as Carl Sagan, Allen Ginsberg, etc...

http://www.equalrights4all.org/religious/bible.htm - Cannabis in the bible.




God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth.…To you it will be for meat." … And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:29-31)

And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. -- Ezekiel 34:29

"I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs. For afore harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches." (Isaiah 18:4-5)

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall … speak lies in hypocrisy … commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (Paul: 1 Timothy 4:1-3)

"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; that which cometh out of the mouth defileth a man." (Mat. 15:11)

And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)

And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. (Ezekiel 34:29)

[weedmeister2]

@weed............As manny has pointed out..............substance abuse is bad............abusing....I think its short for abnormal use..........so its up to you to determine your limits.............and also you've choosen to based your ideas on what mis-informed Catholic faithfuls had told you and not official Church stand and I don't know why. And I would rather not debate on whether which Church practices are good or bad or which church is good or bad.........I understand.....its is really tiresome if you are on the offensive side especially if the enemies defenses are heavily fortified............hehehehe........

We are even worshipping different Gods.........while your god is not really that all knowing(fake god in short)......you can even squeeze all of his knowledge on a thousand page book you called the Bible..........mine is different..........his knowledge is beyond imagination.........no storage device can ever contain it................If you disagree with it, then you must also accept that the Bible is not only the source of truth.....and will certainly break your "Only believe on the Bible" principle...........I hope I had started an intelligent topic for you to think of.........waiting for your reply..........thanks......

bro, thanks for always looking at the sunny side, even when the going gets tough on this thread...

in answer to your 2nd paragraph, we do not squeeze all His knowledge in a book... we do not need to know all His knowledge. He has given us the bible in order to show us examples of how we are to live our simple lives... we do not need to know the recipe of the universe or see the future or create life...

On the other hand, the pope has a final say in all things relating to scripture, the church, and tradition. Don't you think it is worse that you are putting God in a man's mind that is ever changing and ever sinful? Plus you have to mix in the fact that popes change so often, and of course their minds and motives are never the same... Popes have even excommunicated popes... not to mention the schism... which pope was correct...?

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This is shown by the popes i have enumerated in past discussions that have gone against all the commandments.

That is why i'd rather base my beliefs on the Word of God.





As for your mention of substance abuse, well, the link in my previous post tackles that:


Number of American deaths per year that result directly or primarily from the following selected causes nationwide, according to World Almanacs, Life Insurance Actuarial (death) Rates, and the last 20 years of U.S. Surgeon Generals' reports.

TOBACCO: 340,000 to 450,000

ALCOHOL: (Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders) 150,000+

ASPIRIN: (Including deliberate overdose) 180 to 1,000+

CAFFEINE: (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.) 1,000 to 10,000

"LEGAL" DRUG OVERDOSE: (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol - e.g. Valium/alcohol 14,000 to 27,000

ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE: (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs. 3,800 to 5,200

MARIJUANA: 0


(Marijuana users also have the same or lower incidence of murders and highway deaths and accidents than the general non-marijuana using population as a whole. Crancer Study, UCLA; U.S. Funded ($6 million), First & Second Jamaican Studies, 1968 to 1974; Costa Rican Studies, 1980 to 1982; et al. LOWEST TOXICITY 100% of the studies done at dozens of American universities and research facilities show pot toxicity does not exist. Medical history does not record anyone dying from an overdose of marijuana (UCLA, Harvard, Temple, etc.).






UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
In The Matter Of MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING PETITION
Docket No. 86-22
OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE FRANCIS L. YOUNG, Administrative Law Judge
DATED: SEPTEMBER 6, 1988

Section 8 of Judge Young's "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision."

Page 56 & 57

3. The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?

4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.

This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death.

6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.

7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.

8. At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.

9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity.



hmmmmm, so, is coffee and aspirin against the bible? and how about all the smokers in the world?

But really, that's not the end of it... check this out:



Synthetic Chemicals - The worst problem with synthetics is that they are not recycled. They are with us literally forever. Organic synthetics are a nightmare in the ecosystem. Plastics, paints, pesticides, detergents, solvents and other such items. Nearly 30,000 of them have been introduced since 1950. Many are beneficial but many are toxic being mutagenic(affects the genes) carcinogenic( causes cancer) or teratogenic(birth defects).

--> Mutagens affect the fetus and give defects. The defects may not be seen right away and may turn up late in life. Generally, there is no safe dose of mutagens.

--> Teratogens are chemicals that specifically cause abnormalities, especially in fetuses. Thalidomide in the 1960s was used as a sleeping pill and was sold as Cantergan over the counter. Used by pregnant women, it cause phocomelia ( seal like limbs) in which there are deformed hands but no arms or legs. One pill caused the problem. About 12,000 children were affected. However, the drug is effective in treating leprosy and is being tested as an aid for retinal degeneration, AIDS and tissue rejection. Now it is found in Brazil. In 1994, 50 thalidomide children were born despite warnings. It is banned in most countries.

--> Carcinogens cause cancer. Cancer is invasive, out-of-control cell growth that results in malignant tumors. Cancer rates are going up. 515,000 die per year. 50 % of males and 1/3 females will get cancer of some type. The female types are most fatal, however. Many blame synthetics for the high level of cancers as the cancer increase has gone up since 1950 and so has the synthetics. It could be a coincidence but then in countries that synthetics are not used have no increase in cancer. Those with the highest increase are prostate cancer in men and lung cancer in women. Uterine, stomach, colon cancers have decreased.


Halogenated Hydrocarbons - Chlorinated hydrocarbons are the worst. They are persistent pesticides ( last a long time ) that last 5 to 80+ years. PCBs ( polychlorinated biphenyls) and flame retardants (tris) and dioxin are toxic. Some plastics, solvents and preservatives are toxic.


Allergens - A chemical that can affect the immune system, they act as toxins and the body produces antibodies. Formaldehyde is the most common offender. Formaldehyde is widely used. People are exposed in many ways, glue, fabrics, shampoos, insulation, etc. This type of exposure is called the "sick House" syndrome. Most people that display sick house syndrome have some defect in their immune system.


Toxicity Rating

Super toxic - less than .01 mg/kg ( one drop) -> nerve gases, botulism, mushroom, dioxin (TCDD)
Extremely toxic - 5mg/kg (7 drops) -> cyanide, heroin,atropine, parathion, nicotene
Very toxic - 5-50 mg/kg - 7 drops to a teaspoon. -> mercury, morphine, codeine
Toxic - 50-500 mg/kg -> lead, DDT, sulfuric acid, caffeine, Carbon Tetrachloride.
Moderately toxic - 500-5000 mg/kg -> methyl alcohol, ether, kerosene, aspirin, amphetamines ( speed )
Slightly toxic - 5000-15,000mg/kg - 1-16 ounces -> ethyl alcohol, lysol, soaps, detergents, some solvents.



So, who is abusing substances bro?

[tolstoi]

OT. As brod Weed, the in-house potter of istorya posted the dainty side of maryjane, i will post also the nasty side of this plant so as not to entice those naive forum members to dope

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html

Effects on the Brain

Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain.

In the brain, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement4.

The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. Research findings for long-term marijuana abuse indicate some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid (THC or synthetic forms of THC) withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system5 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine6. Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

Effects on the Heart

One study has indicated that a user's risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana7. The researchers suggest that such an effect might occur from marijuana's effects on blood pressure and heart rate and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.

Effects on the Lungs

A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers8. Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.

Even infrequent abuse can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, often accompanied by a heavy cough. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed airways9. Smoking marijuana possibly increases the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck. A study comparing 173 cancer patients and 176 healthy individuals produced evidence that marijuana smoking doubled or tripled the risk of these cancers10.

Marijuana abuse also has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens9,11. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke12. It also induces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into their carcinogenic form—levels that may accelerate the changes that ultimately produce malignant cells13. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which increases the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke. These facts suggest that, puff for puff, smoking marijuana may be more harmful to the lungs than smoking tobacco.

Other Health Effects

Some of marijuana's adverse health effects may occur because THC impairs the immune system's ability to fight disease. In laboratory experiments that exposed animal and human cells to THC or other marijuana ingredients, the normal disease-preventing reactions of many of the key types of immune cells were inhibited14. In other studies, mice exposed to THC or related substances were more likely than unexposed mice to develop bacterial infections and tumors15,16.

Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use on Learning and Social Behavior

Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person's existing problems worse. Depression17, anxiety17, and personality disturbances18 have been associated with chronic marijuana use. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. Moreover, research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on memory and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off19,20,25.

Students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared with their nonsmoking peers21,22,23,24. A study of 129 college students found that, among those who smoked the drug at least 27 of the 30 days prior to being surveyed, critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were significantly impaired, even after the students had not taken the drug for at least 24 hours20. These "heavy" marijuana abusers had more trouble sustaining and shifting their attention and in registering, organizing, and using information than did the study participants who had abused marijuana no more than 3 of the previous 30 days. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all of the time.

More recently, the same researchers showed that the ability of a group of long-term heavy marijuana abusers to recall words from a list remained impaired for a week after quitting, but returned to normal within 4 weeks25. Thus, some cognitive abilities may be restored in individuals who quit smoking marijuana, even after long-term heavy use.

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html

[shoeless_rebel]

i am aware of the pro's and cons of substance abuse, marijuana to be specific... but is it a sin if i smoke it regularly? i never recalled harming anybody including myself while under it's influence though... i always get the good vibes

tolstoi: to be honest... ur post sounds like propaganda to me... u shud try smokin up sometimes...

anyway, i agree with weed. it's not harmful at all. i used to smoke back in college and i was able to graduate with more than average scores i'm from USC. BS-accountancy... i heard it's the most demanding course the school has to offer during that time. and i honestly believe if i was not introduce to it i would have never able to graduate at all... u see i was self destructive typical teen blah blah blah during those days...

anyway, so as not to be OT lets stick to the context of the question. is it a sin? coz so far all the answers are vague...

i posted the question coz me and another istoryan met a 40+ year old american surfer who happen to be a member of the Society of St. Pius X. he is as JC fanatic as some of you here. but he smokes weed alot. and according to him (his own opinion) it is not a sin at all...

(he also host a religious radio program back in california)

[weedmeister2]

HAHAHA! bro tolstoi... i'm sorry that you have been brainwashed as such... i have been using this herb for more than 15 years, have a great family, have a good job, dont get hangovers, am not insane, nor do i get coughs as much as i used to when i was smoking marlboros... hehehe, that was a classic show of GOVERNMENT MISINFORMATION.


Want to know the truth? Can you handle it....? Here it is:



From The Lindesmith Center
A Project of the Open Society Institute
Ethan Nadelmann, Director

Lynn Zimmer, Associate Professor of Sociology, Queens College
John P. Morgan, Professor of Pharmacology, City University of New York Medical School

October 1995
© Open Society Institute/The Lindesmith Center


Since the 1920s, supporters of marijuana prohibition have exaggerated the drug's dangers. In different eras, different claims have gained prominence, but few have ever been abandoned. Indeed, many of the "reefer madness" tales that were used to generate support for early anti-marijuana laws continue to appear in government and media reports today.
For a while in the 1970s, it seemed as if scientific inquiries were beginning to influence the government's marijuana policies. Following thorough reviews of the existing evidence by scholars and official commissions, criminal penalties for marijuana offenses were lessened and a number of states moved in the direction of decriminalization. However, in response to lingering concerns about marijuana's potential toxicity, the government expanded its funding of scientific research, mostly through the newly-created National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Probably the most important studies of the 1970s were three large "field studies" in Greece, Costa Rica and Jamaica. These studies, which evaluated the impact of marijuana on users in their natural environments, were supplemented by clinical examinations and laboratory experiments oriented toward answering the questions about marijuana that continued to be debated in the scientific literature. The data from these studies, published in numerous books and scholarly journals, covered such matters as marijuana's effects on the brain, lungs, immune and reproductive systems, its impact on personality, development, and motivational states, and its addictive potential.

Although these studies did not answer all remaining questions about marijuana toxicity, they generally supported the idea that marijuana was a relatively safe drug -- not totally free from potential harm, but unlikely to create serious harm for most individual users or society. In the years since, thousands of additional studies have been conducted, many of them funded by NIDA, and together they reaffirm marijuana's substantial margin of safety. Our review of that body of work reveals an occasional study indicating greater toxicity than previously thought. But in nearly all such cases, the methodologies were seriously flawed and the findings could not be replicated by other researchers.

Especially since the 1980s, when the federal government's renewed war on cannabis began, both the funding of marijuana research and the dissemination of its findings have been highly politicized. Indeed, NIDA's role seems to have become one of service to the War on Drugs. Dozens of claims of toxicity appear in its documents, despite the existence of scores of scientific studies refuting their validity. At the same time, studies that fail to find serious toxicity are ignored.

In the following pages, we review the scientific evidence surrounding the most prominent of the anti-marijuana claims.


CLAIM No. 1: MARIJUANA USE IS INCREASING AT AN ALARMING RATE
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth1.shtml

CLAIM No. 2: MARIJUANA POTENCY HAS INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth2.shtml

CLAIM No. 3: MARIJUANA IS A DRUG WITHOUT THERAPEUTIC VALUE
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth3.shtml

CLAIM No. 4: MARIJUANA CAUSES LUNG DISEASE
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth4.shtml

CLAIM No. 5: MARIJUANA IMPAIRS IMMUNE SYSTEM FUNCTIONING
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth5.shtml

CLAIM No. 6: MARIJUANA HARMS SEXUAL MATURATION AND REPRODUCTION
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth6.shtml

CLAIM No. 7: MARIJUANA USE DURING PREGNANCY HARMS THE FETUS
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth7.shtml

CLAIM No. 8: MARIJUANA CAUSES BRAIN DAMAGE
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth8.shtml

CLAIM No. 9: MARIJUANA IS AN ADDICTIVE DRUG
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...is_myth9.shtml

CLAIM No.10: MARIJUANA-RELATED MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ARE INCREASING
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...s_myth10.shtml

CLAIM No.11: MARIJUANA PRODUCES AN AMOTIVATIONAL SYNDROME
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...s_myth11.shtml

CLAIM No.12: MARIJUANA IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF HIGHWAY ACCIDENTS
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...s_myth12.shtml

CLAIM No.13: MARIJUANA IS A "GATEWAY" TO THE USE OF OTHER DRUGS
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...s_myth13.shtml

CLAIM No.14: DUTCH MARIJUANA POLICY HAS BEEN A FAILURE
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabi...s_myth14.shtml




You want to know why they make those myths up? Because they cannot decriminalize and free all the cannabis-related prisoners that number millions in the US... That would trigger a class action lawsuit against the government that would be so huge as to destabilize the US. Imagine that, Millions of accumulated years of jail time facing the US government... wooohooo...

So, why, you say, did they make it illegal in the first place? good question... read these:

http://www.jackherer.com/chapter04.html
http://www.jackherer.com/chapter05.html


Once you read the above, you will understand, that once again, IT WAS ALL FOR MONEY... here's the rundown:




In the mid-1930s, when the new mechanical hemp fiber stripping machines and machines to conserve hemp's high-cellulose pulp finally became state-of-the-art, available and affordable, the enormous timber acreage and businesses of the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division, Kimberly Clark (USA), St. Regis - and virtually all other timber, paper and large newspaper holding companies - stood to lose billions of dollars and perhaps go bankrupt.

Coincidentally, in 1937, DuPont had just patented processes for making plastics from oil and coal, as well as a new sulfate/sulfite process for making paper from wood pulp. According to DuPont's own corporate records and historians, these processes accounted for over 80% of all the company's railroad carloadings over the next 60 years into the 1990s.

If hemp had not been made illegal, 80% of DuPont's business would never have materialized and the great majority of the pollution which has poisoned our Northwestern and Southeastern rivers would not have occurred.

In an open marketplace, hemp would have saved the majority of America's vital family farms and would probably have boosted their numbers, despite the Great Depression of the 1930s.

But competing against environmentally-sane hemp paper and natural plastic technology would have jeopardized the lucrative financial schemes of Hearst, DuPont and DuPont's chief financial backer, Andrew Mellon of the Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh.

A series of secret meetings were held.

In 1931, Mellon, in his role as Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury, appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to be head of the newly reorganized Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (FBNDD), a post he held for the next 31 years.

These industrial barons and financiers knew that machinery to cut, bale, decorticate (separate the fiber from the high-cellulose hurd), and process hemp into paper or plastics was becoming available in the mid-1930s. Cannabis hemp would have to go.



The rest, as they say, is history.... :mrgreen:

[tolstoi]

lolz..i rather inhale gunsmoke than a maryjane

i must say i'm a bit skeptical about that mythbusting page you presented brod Weed. i dunno for sure if the author is reliable or not, but at any rate i guess we are very OT already

All About Roman Catholicism..any1?

[weedmeister2]

hehehe, SUPER OT na bai... heheheeh ayaw sad nang gunsmoke bai.... let's share a doobie one of these days, eh...? whatchutink? i had the priviledge of smoking up with one of the mods here along with some other brethren, and had a really great time chillaxin... great conversation, good music... superb food...

ayay, OT na sad... tsk, tsk.... back to regular programming pleaze.....

[shoeless_rebel]

i am aware of the pro's and cons of substance abuse, marijuana to be specific... but is it a sin if i smoke it regularly? i never recalled harming anybody including myself while under it's influence though... i always get the good vibes

tolstoi: to be honest... ur post sounds like propaganda to me... u shud try smokin up sometimes...

anyway, i agree with weed. it's not harmful at all. i used to smoke back in college and i was able to graduate with more than average scores i'm from USC. BS-accountancy... i heard it's the most demanding course the school has to offer during that time. and i honestly believe if i was not introduce to it i would have never able to graduate at all... u see i was self destructive typical teen blah blah blah during those days...

anyway, so as not to be OT lets stick to the context of the question. is it a sin? coz so far all the answers are vague...

i posted the question coz me and another istoryan met a 40+ year old american surfer who happen to be a member of the Society of St. Pius X. he is as JC fanatic as some of you here. but he smokes weed alot. and according to him (his own opinion) it is not a sin at all...

(he also host a religious radio program back in california)