Marijuana ‘legal’ in Washington, D.C.

Marijuana, Cannibis sativa

Recreational marijuana is now legal in Washington, D.C., though some in Congress seem to have other views:

February 26, 2015

A law that legalizes marijuana use is now in effect in Washington, D.C.

The new law, which voters passed in a referendum last November, took effect shortly after midnight local time Thursday. The law allows adults 21 and over to privately possess and smoke a fifth of a kilogram of pot, and to grow small amounts of the plant. Buying, selling and smoking in public still would be against the law.

The U.S. capital city joins Alaska, Colorado and the state of Washington in legalizing recreational marijuana. But unlike the three other states, Washington, D.C. is not completely autonomous, as the U.S. Congress has final authority over the city government.

Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who chairs House Oversight Committee, warned D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser that she and other city officials could go to jail for implementing the law.

But Bowser ignored Chaffetz’s threat Wednesday when she said the measure would take effect as planned. “Bullying the District of Columbia is not what his [Chaffetz] constituents expect, nor do ours,” she told reporters. “We do disagree on a matter of law. There are reasonable ways to resolve this without us threatening him or he us.”

A spending bill passed in December by the House did not include funds for the city to implement the marijuana law.

City officials contend voters passed the law a month before Congress approved the spending bill.

Legal experts from both the city and Congress say it is highly unlikely the mayor or anyone else would be jailed over the new law. But there are other punitive measures Congress could take against the city. http://www.voanews.com/content/recreational-marijuana-use-now-legal-in-washington-dc/2659846.html

While US Congress does have financial and other influence, overall it appears that there is more and more acceptance of the use of marijuana in the USA. US President Barack Obama was a heavy user of marijuana according to reports that I have seen–and it was not legal anywhere in the USA when he reportedly was a heavy user.

Marijuana use is not good for the USA. Those who believe it is good to get high are deceived.

Decades ago, the old Worldwide Church of God dealt with it in a booklet about marijuana:

Marijuana and Alcohol

Marijuana proponents always compare “their drug” with alcohol. What are the facts?
It’s true that “social drinkers” have a significantly higher death rate than non-drinkers from heart attacks, circulatory diseases, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, homicides, suicides, and motor-vehicle and other accidents. Marijuana, on the other hand, has not been definitely linked to any organic disease, and has been responsible for only just a small fraction of the accidental deaths which alcohol has caused.
But as Dr. Louis J. West, chairman of the department of psychiatry at UCLA, told a conference on marijuana: “Just because alcohol [misused] is bad doesn’t mean that marijuana is good.” That would be fal1fty logic. Like attempting to prove that the Vietnamese war is good by showing that fewer Americans were killed in it than were killed in motor-vehicle accidents in the same year.
Let’s get to the crux of the marijuana-alcohol controversy: What pro-marijuana propaganda does is to compare the effects of a large amount of alcohol with a very small amount of marijuana. But this is a contrived comparison — a rigged contest.
Of course “too much” alcohol is grossly debilitating. But “a _ little” alcohol, especially natural wine, is quite beneficial. It relaxes the body and aids in the digestion of food by stimulating the stomach’s digestive juices. It also breaks down into natural compounds and leaves the system. Marijuana lodges toxically in the liver.
And there’s the difference: while “a little” alcohol is good, “a little marijuana-“just once”-can be very bad. It may not cause as many accidents as excessive alcohol, but it can permanently harm the body and mind.
Furthermore, very few habitual marijuana users have the self-control to limit themselves to “very little” of the drug. Consequently, many of the scientific studies showing hardly any adverse effect of “a little” marijuana are just not relevant to the actual conditions which exist. (New Facts About Marijuana. Ambassador College Press, 1970)

Although most realize that heavy marijuana use causes brain problems, a study that came out last year also found that casual use messes with the brain:

For the first time, researchers at Northwestern University have analyzed the relationship between casual use of marijuana and brain changes – and found that young adults who used cannabis just once or twice a week showed significant abnormalities in two important brain structures…

“There were abnormalities in their working memory, which is fundamental to everything you do,” Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told FoxNews.com. “When you make judgments or decisions, plan things, do mathematics – anything you do always involves working memory. It’s one of the core fundamental aspects of our brains that we use every day. So given those findings, we decided we need to look at casual, recreational use.”

For their most recent study, Breiter and his team analyzed a very small sample of patients between the ages of 18 and 25: 20 marijuana users and 20 well-matched control subjects. The marijuana users had a wide range of usage routines, with some using the drug just once or twice a week and others using it every single day.

Utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers analyzed the participants’ brains, focusing on the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and the amygdala – two key brain regions responsible for processing emotions, making decisions and motivation. They looked at these brain structures in three different ways, measuring their density, volume and shape.

According to Breiter, all three were abnormal in the casual marijuana users.

“For the NAC, all three measures were abnormal, and they were abnormal in a dose-dependent way, meaning the changes were greater with the amount of marijuana used,” Breiter said. “The amygdala had abnormalities for shape and density, and only volume correlated with use. But if you looked at all three types of measures, it showed the relationships between them were quite abnormal in the marijuana users, compared to the normal controls.”

Because these brain regions are central for motivation, the findings from Northwestern help support the well-known theory that marijuana use leads to a condition called amotivation. Also called amotivational syndrome, this psychological condition causes people to become less oriented towards their goals and purposes in life, as well as seem less focused in general. (Grush L. Casual marijuana use linked with brain abnormalities, study finds. Fox News, April 15, 2014. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/04/15/casual-marijuana-use-linked-with-brain-abnormalities-study-finds/)

The facts about marijuana are not good.

The Bible also warns against intoxication (for various scriptures, see the article Marijuana: Should a Christian Get High?) and marijuana is intoxicating.

The USA needs repentance, not marijuana, to deal with its problems.

Getting high on marijuana is not good for Christians nor any nation. But its use is getting increasingly accepted. even though it is known to be harmful and addictive. This legalization movement is not good for the USA as it seems that it will encourage more to get high on marijuana more often.

Some items of possibly related interest include:

Marijuana: Should a Christian Get High? There is increasing acceptance of the use of marijuana. How should Christians view this? Here is a related video titled How Should a Christian View Marijuana?
Should Christians Smoke? Is smoking a sin? What does the Bible teach? What have COG leaders written? Can smokers change? What about marijuana?
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
When You Sin: Do You Really Repent? This is an article by Charles F. Hunting. A related sermon is Confess to God and truly repent.
Living as a Christian: How and Why? In what ways do Christians live differently than others. What about praying, fasting, tithing, holy days, and the world? There is also a YouTube video related to that also called: Living as a Christian: How and Why?
Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today? Includes quotes from the 1973 edition of The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and explains how he is and should be viewed today.
Overcoming Sin What is sin? How are Christians suppose to overcome it? Here is also a link to a video titled How to Overcome Sin.
How to Prevent Sin This is an article by Herbert W. Armstrong.
Just What Do You Mean Conversion? Many think that they are converted Christians. But are they? Would you like to know more about conversion. Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.