Tag: marijuana

I’ve often wondered about the conservative pushback against marijuana since I first tried it. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. At the time I was in high school and had no strong opinion about it. Every year it seems more and more attitudes are changing in favor of legal marijuana, including mine.

In early 2012, my dad learned that the cancer he had been diagnosed with the previous fall wasn’t going to go away. His soul’s journey in this world ended on Star Wars Day 2013 (“May the 4th be with you” – get it?) During his illness, he tried pot for the first time when a friend offered him samples that he secretly grew to help his chronic back pain instead of pharmaceuticals.

From 1965 through 2021, more than 29 million Americans have been arrested for simple marijuana possession, mostly for violating state laws. But thousands were convicted of federal offenses.

Evangelicals have only recently publicly made peace with Jesus turning water to wine. Now with the rise of legalization of marijuana, they are scrambling to figure out how to defend home brewing and theology pubs while prohibiting Bud & Bible nights.

it was a transformation for me, and I was angry that I had been told marijuana was evil and of no medical benefit. At that point, it was very easy for me to reconcile marijuana with my Christian faith.”