“It’s Medicinal Though”
Alcohol is technically medicinal as well – we use it to sterilize wounds and medical instruments, so it is used for good in these cases.
But since drinking alcohol is damaging to one’s medicinal health, mental health and spiritual health, it is therefore clear that the type of usage of a substance is the key consideration to be kept in view when determining the validity of a substance. Perhaps some Hemp related byproducts can in some ways provide relief for people in extreme pain, car accident victims or terminally ill people etc. But even then there are alternatives also, so it is a preference.
But using the medicinal aspect of something to justify its use for recreational purposes which involves altering one’s state of mind, is disingenuous. Just as we do not justify drinking by arguing it has medicinal usage, and it is thus “good to go”, we likewise cannot say marijuana is medicinal and therefore smoking weed to get high is justified.
“It’s not Really A Drug, It’s A Plant”
Alcohol is also made from a plant (grassplant to be specific) – it is fermented wheat. Many substances, including very harmful ones, come from plants. Similarly, nearly all pharmaceuticals, including beauty products, are some sort of plant extract in synthesized form. It all comes from God’s green earth. A sword is made from metal found in God’s limitless earth also, but it is shaped and formed by man to be a lethal weapon.
If you leave Cannabis in the ground in its natural state, it is just a plant and it is fine. But the moment a joint is rolled, it has now been shaped and formed by man to be a substance of harm to the individual and society.
CannAbyss and the Opioid Crisis: The Gateway Drug to a Deadly Abyss
By October of 2018, Canada – and even the United States for that matter – were in the midst of a full-blown opioid crisis. Hundreds of deaths had occurred from opioid overdoses within months, across a vast cross-section of society, especially among the middle-class, the largest demographic in the land. Things had gotten so bad by this time that the American government called the situation an emergency. Health professors and law enforcement had also sounded the alarm.
The Dark Side of Canabis:
Schizophrenia
“Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder”
This is just one of the many articles on the consensus that Marijuana (Cannabis) causes Schizophrenia. That’s right, and that’s not an exaggeration.
Marijuana has long been romanticized and made cool through pop-culture, namely movies, TV and music; depicted as a favourite pass-time for any easy going person; a casual, harmless means of getting loose. But the reality is quite dark.
Marijuana is nothing short of a mind-altering drug that has hallucinogenic properties. It is not a harmless substance by any means, and the dangers it poses are many, and can be very serious in nature, for both the body and the mind.
Make no mistake about it, one of the major reasons mental health issues are increasing so rapidly right now in the western world, is due to the increased proliferation and use of mind altering substances that have become nothing short of pandemic. In other words, drugs are a major contributor to the rise of mental illnesses. Even though there are many studies documenting this, it doesn’t take endless studies to put two and two together and realize that drugs are bad for your mental health. By definition, drugs are substances that alter your mental state.
“But It’s Legal Now”
There are many things that are legal in many societies that are in direct contravention to Islamic teachings. For example, drinking is legal and socially acceptable and even promoted in many societies across the world, however it is a practice that is categorically prohibited for Muslims. It is prohibited because it is extremely harmful to the body and even more so for society and its moral fabric. Therefore the argument for the legitimacy of marijuana use, on the basis that it is legal, is not valid or correct by any means.
So in this backdrop of unprecedented and deadly drug overdoses, what does Canada decide to do?
Well, they decide to legalize a drug that is quite literally called “the gateway drug”, referring to the fact that it is a soft drug that usually acts as a precursor to harder drugs such as opioids. It was like throwing gasoline on a burning fire.
In the face of the opioid crisis, the legalization of Cannabis can only make the situation worse. As a result, there is an entire generation now who have extremely easy – and legal – access to a drug which serves as a warmup for heavy drugs. That’s not a good solution; it’s more like the worst thing imaginable; like pushing somebody down as they try to walk up a slippery slope.
So in the end, every young person in this country has a choice to make now – and before they pick their path, they need to think long and hard, and ask themselves whether they’re just about to have a quick puff, or if they’re about to take their first step toward a dark abyss that ends in the darkest of places. Is it worth your life?
