Many consider that the use of marijuana is both safe and non-addictive. Is that so? The New York Times reported that since the legalization of the drug across much of the USA, that there have been increases in physical and mental disorders among users of cannabis products. Modern marijuana is often more potent than what many used last century . "About 18 million people — nearly a third of all users ages 18 and up — have reported symptoms of cannabis use disorder." Did you know that among 18- to 25-year-old Americans, more than 4.5 million use the drug daily or near daily, according to the estimates, and 81 percent of those users meet the criteria for the disorder?“ That means almost everybody that uses it every day is reporting problems with it,” said Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Marijuana can interfere with brain development, cause lung and heart problems, and result in having a psychosis. Is knowledge of problems with marijuana known or did the old Worldwide Church of God warn of them 54 years ago? Should Christians get drunk or high? Are there more problems with marijuana than many seem to want to admit? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these issues.
A written article of possibly related interest is available titled 'NYT: As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms' URl: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/doctrine/nyt-as-americas-marijuana-use-grows-so-do-the-harms/
A written article of possibly related interest is available titled 'NYT: As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms' URl: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/doctrine/nyt-as-americas-marijuana-use-grows-so-do-the-harms/
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00:00Friends, this is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob Thiel.
00:09Dr. Thiel, people used to go to prison for selling marijuana.
00:13Now the city I live in is exploding with marijuana stores.
00:17Has it now been determined that marijuana is now just a harmless weed?
00:23Absolutely not.
00:24No.
00:25Well, the Liberal New York Times put out an interesting article about this, and I'd like
00:31to read the headlines, and a fair amount that's actually in it.
00:36Here's the headline.
00:37As America's marijuana use grows, so do the harms.
00:41The drug, legal in much of the country, is widely seen as non-addictive and safe.
00:46For some users, these assumptions are dangerously wrong.
00:50In mid-coast Maine, a pediatrician sees teenagers so dependent on cannabis, they consume it
00:56practically all day, every day.
00:58A remarkably scary amount, she said.
01:02From Washington State to West Virginia, psychiatrists treat rising numbers of people whose use of
01:07the drug had brought on delusions, paranoia, and other symptoms of psychosis.
01:13And in the emergency departments of small community hospitals and large academic medical
01:17centers alike, physicians are encountering patients with severe vomiting induced by the
01:22drug.
01:23A potentially devastating condition that was once rare, but now they say is common.
01:29The patients look so sick, said a doctor in Ohio, who described them as writhing around
01:34in pain.
01:36As marijuana legalization has accelerated across the country, doctors are contending
01:41with the effects of an explosion in the use of the drug and its intensity.
01:45A $33 billion industry has taken root, turning out an ever-expanding range of cannabis products
01:52so intoxicating, they bear little resemblance to the marijuana available a generation ago.
01:58Tens of millions of Americans use the drug for medical or recreational purposes, most
02:04of them without any problem, according to this article, end quote.
02:08Well, if many of the people using marijuana don't really have any problems, is there really
02:13any cause for alarm?
02:15Well, first of all, there are scriptural issues with it, they're skipped over.
02:22But the fact is, as more and more people are consuming more potent marijuana more often,
02:28you're seeing more serious health consequences.
02:31And these are more than places like the New York Times thought.
02:37And they found that there were dangerous misconceptions.
02:42Many users believed they couldn't be addicted to cannabis, but they can be.
02:47Here's something else from this article.
02:49About 18 million people, nearly a third of all users, 18 and up, have reported symptoms
02:54of cannabis use disorder.
02:56A third of users, according to estimates from a unique data thing from the Times by a Columbia
03:03University epidemiologist.
03:08People would continue to use the drug despite the negative effects in their lives.
03:12Of those, about 3 million are considered to be addicted.
03:16That's interesting.
03:17When I was in my 20s and 30s, I recall the claim that marijuana wasn't addicting.
03:23Can you give us more results from that analysis?
03:25Yeah, well, those estimates are based on responses to a 2022 U.S. National Drug Survey for people
03:32who had used any cannabis the year before.
03:37For those between 18 and 25 years old, more than 4.5 million use it daily or nearly daily.
03:45And 81% of those meet the criteria for the disorder.
03:50According to Dr. Wilson Compton, Deputy Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse, this means
03:56almost everybody who uses it every day is reporting problems with it.
04:01This is a very clear warning sign, end quote.
04:08While marijuana is known for soothing nausea, for some users it has the opposite effect.
04:14And then this doctor said, or doctors said, why don't more doctors know about it?
04:18Why didn't anyone ever mention it to me?
04:22And they find that for some of the people with marijuana, they get something called
04:27cannabinoid epimesis syndrome, or CHS, and that they find heat helps relieve their nausea
04:37and vomiting.
04:38And for some people, they want heat so bad they'll lean up against hot cars and even
04:45get burnt.
04:46They don't know why heat can solve or soothe some of the symptoms, they just know that
04:51it does.
04:55And then there's a doctor, Ethan Russo, who's a neurologist, and he developed one of the
05:03few cannabis-derived drugs approved by the U.S. FDA, and he said, I spent most of the
05:10last 30 years supporting medical use of cannabis.
05:13However, I've also talked about the harms and pitfalls of cannabis, specifically cannabinoid
05:20hyperemesis syndrome.
05:21It's a serious problem and a genuine reason that some people should not use.
05:27Then get this headline, like he was possessed, Dr. Sharon Levy, Chief of Addiction Medicine
05:34at Boston Children's Hospital, had a patient who believed that coat hangers and sneakers
05:40had come to life.
05:43Dr. Luke Archibald, an addiction psychiatrist in Lebanon, New Hampshire, treated one who
05:49was charged with trespassing after following voices he hallucinated, so it sounds like
05:58maybe they're demon-possessed or something.
06:00Yes, really.
06:01You know, once again, when I was younger, because of the way people acted when smoking,
06:06there was a saying that was used by both those that smoked marijuana and those that didn't.
06:11That saying was, why do you think they call it dope?
06:14Just how much more serious are these current medical issues?
06:18Well, many physicians say they've seen a growing number of patients with cannabis-induced temporary
06:25psychosis lasting hours, days, or even months, and it's more commonly said for younger users
06:36they can affect people of all ages, and Dr. Levy and other physicians have also said they've
06:42seen the rise of other chronic psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, which they believe that
06:47marijuana or cannabis is a contributing factor.
06:50The reality is, the harms associated with marijuana have long been known, but now as
06:56it's getting more potent and people are more open about it, I guess they're talking about
07:01it more.
07:02You know, I used to have patients come to my office, and I remember one or two of them
07:06telling me, there's 20,000 studies or so on marijuana that shows it's beneficial.
07:10I said, no, no, no, no.
07:13I said, there's a few studies that say that marijuana helps some people with anxiety.
07:17I said, but there's better ways to treat that.
07:20And most health studies found harm with marijuana, that THC, which is a chemical that causes
07:27a high in marijuana, causes all kinds of issues, and that the so-called health benefits of
07:33intoxifying marijuana, and I'm not talking about CBD oil, by the way, which has no THC,
07:40that's different.
07:41But the health benefits of marijuana are overstated, and most really aren't true.
07:46I mean, it's true that if you're drunk or high, you don't feel pain, but that's really
07:51not good for you.
07:52You know, that's not good.
07:53It's healthy.
07:54It's not healthy to intentionally breathe in smoke or swallow mind-altering drugs, and
08:00people shouldn't be smoking marijuana or eat it.
08:02It's got negative effects on the body, and it is often addictive, and it's definitely
08:06harmful.
08:07You know, the state of California hoped that it was going to make a lot of money because
08:11of marijuana, as did a lot of California cities, including Grover Beach, where our office is.
08:17However, in California, at least, legalizing it has not brought the vast amount of tax
08:23revenues that many claimed it was going to.
08:25When it comes to governments, it often seems to be all about the money.
08:31How does God view that?
08:33Well, in the New Testament, God inspired the Apostle Paul to write, in 1 Timothy 6, verse
08:3810, that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some of us strayed
08:44from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
08:50What does the National Institute of Health, which is the governmental agency created to
08:54protect our health, have to say about marijuana use?
08:59It says, when marijuana is smoked, THC rapidly passes through the lungs and the bloodstream.
09:04It affects other organs in the body.
09:08It's absorbed more slowly if it's ingested in food or drink.
09:12However, as it's ingested, THC acts on specific molecules that target brain cells, and they're
09:18calling them cannabinoid receptors.
09:23This affects normal brain development and function.
09:31These cannabinoid receptors are found in the brain that mostly influence pleasure, memory,
09:38thinking, concentration, time perception, and coordinated movement.
09:43Marijuana over-activates the system, causing the high and other things.
09:48It alters perception, it alters mood, thinking, problem-solving, and memory.
09:54It also hurts brain development, particularly when it's used heavily by young people.
10:00And some of those effects can be permanent.
10:04A long-term study in New Zealand showed that people who began smoking marijuana heavily
10:09in their teens lost an average of eight points in their IQ between ages 13 and 38.
10:16However, if they quit as adults, they didn't get all of it fully restored, but it did help
10:22somewhat.
10:23But again, if you start smoking marijuana, it's just not good for your IQ.
10:31It's amazing that a government would jeopardize the health of those it has sworn to protect
10:37just for the love of money.
10:39What other health risks are there?
10:42Well, it can also affect your cardiopulmonary system, as well as mental health.
10:47It's an irritant to your lungs.
10:52A lot of studies link chronic marijuana use to mental illness.
10:58It's also linked with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and neurobehavioral problems
11:05actually in babies.
11:07Additionally, because it seriously impairs judgment in motor coordination, you increase
11:13your risk of injury or death while driving a car.
11:18And several studies found marijuana use more than doubles the driver's risk for being in
11:22an accident.
11:23The combination of marijuana and alcohol, by the way, is worse than either separately
11:29as far as driving goes, too.
11:32I guess as far as smoking marijuana and driving is concerned, a government can't be totally
11:38responsible for the actions of its citizens.
11:41Does the Bible address this issue at all?
11:43Yeah.
11:44Ingesting or inhaling marijuana basically makes one drunk, and the Bible is opposed
11:50to that.
11:51Ephesians 5.18, don't be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the
11:56spirit.
11:57Genesis 23, verse 21 says, for the glutton and the drunkard will come to poverty.
12:04First Corinthians 5.11, not to keep company with anyone who's named a brother who is sexually
12:10immoral, or is covetous, or an idolater, or reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortionist.
12:18Don't even eat with such people.
12:20And in First Corinthians 6, don't you know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom
12:26of God?
12:27They go through a bunch of things, including drunkards.
12:32But some were such, you were washed, so don't keep doing that.
12:37And it says in Romans 13, verse 13, to walk properly, not in revelry and drunkenness.
12:45And being intoxicated from marijuana is something that people should not do.
12:50But you know what gets me, is I was in the old worldwide Church of God, and 54 years
12:55ago they published something that says, regarding marijuana, are good results produced?
13:01So the old saying is, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
13:05Are there really beneficial fruits for marijuana?
13:09And they went through this ridiculously, this long list, which is too long for here, but
13:16it says it makes you unable to function normally, such as driving a car, slows you down, cause
13:23panics, make you lazy, you don't communicate, you might lose your job, it can make you paranoid,
13:34it can affect you in lots of different ways, and it also can cause psychotic reactions.
13:42Again, this was published in Worldwide Church of God 54 years ago.
13:48It says a psychosis is far more worse than a mere personality disorder.
13:52Psychosis is severe mental derangement.
13:56And this is something that marijuana can cause.
14:00And they talked about this years and years, you know, decades ago.
14:05The reality is, Christians should not ingest or smoke marijuana.
14:09The increased use of marijuana is not good.
14:12There are more problems with marijuana than most want to accept.
14:16And it's nice that the New York Times has finally decided to report on this, that those
14:20of us at Church of God have known about another psychosis for decades.
14:24It's true.
14:25Thank you, Dr. Thiel.
14:27For more interviews with Dr. Thiel, in addition to written as well as audio articles, visit
14:31our website at biblenewsprophecy.net.
14:34This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program.