How Can I Help Someone Who Gets High on Marijuana Understand, Biblically, Why They Shouldn’t?

Steve, when I was a teenager, marijuana was considered a drug, and the majority of my friends and family were against using it. When I was in school, there was the DARE program. Which taught us all of the bad effects that marijuana had on the body. It was known as a gateway drug.

Nowadays, it seems the tables have turned, and a large portion of the population wants to get high. It’s also hard to find information about the bad effects of smoking marijuana, today. It seems most of the information online today is showing it in a favorable light. And there are influences, at all corners (family and friends), saying it’s harmless.

Unfortunately, someone very close to me has been caught up in the “marijuana is harmless” crowd of today. How can I explain to them, using God’s Word, that getting high is not acceptable? And, why does this, like the gay agenda, seem to be sweeping the nation today?

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Steve’s Answer:

Marijuana use is a form of cerebral and bodily sedation or intoxication.  In other words, getting “high” is simply getting sedated or intoxicated.  It’s a form of self-medication.

There are valid medical uses for marijuana, such as helping stop or reduce epileptic seizures.  That’s because pot has a sedating effect on the brain’s neurons which are generally over-active in epileptics.

But 99% of people are using pot for the “high,” or the intoxicating sedative effect.  They might call it “medical marijuana,” but deep in their hearts they know they just like the feeling of being high.  In other words, they like being sedated or intoxicated.

You can’t talk drug addicts out of their addiction.  It’s sad.  But you really can’t reason with them.  They have to come to the conclusion, for themselves, that their use of the drug is a form of bondage to mental and physical sedation that ultimately, over the long-term, opens them up to deception.  And they have to hate being in bondage enough to want to escape it and be free of it.

Unfortunately, most marijuana users don’t hate the bondage enough to give it up.  Indeed, most of the marijuana users I know today deny they’re even addicted to the drug.  So they don’t believe their need for the drug and its sedating psychoactive effects is a form of bondage.

Some of the pot users I know having been smoking pot daily for 15 or 20 years or longer, and still deny they’re addicted.  “I can quit any time I want,” I’ve been told many times by long-term pot smokers.  But when I challenge them to go seven days without it, they never take me up on the challenge.  They know better.

Why?  Because they know from personal experience that if they lose their access to marijuana six or seven days (such as when there’s a supply dry spell, or they run out of money and can’t afford any), they’ll climb the walls due to the cravings that strike, usually in the form of the intense nervousness, uncontrollable anxiety, emotional outbursts, irritation and anger at the slightest thing that goes wrong, aggressive behavior, bodily sweats, sleepless nights, etc.

And ultimately, if they don’t fairly quickly find someone who will give them a “hit” or two to get by on until they can purchase a new supply of pot, that growing anxiety can intensify into rage.

The bottom line is that a person using marijuana regularly, like any other drug, or like excessive alcohol abuse, is not rational and not in control.  They think they’re rational.  And they think they’re in control.  But the pot ultimately controls them.  And no matter how hard you try to help an addicted person understand, he or she will not stop using until ready.

Finally, it’s important to understand that no matter who the individual is, or how close to you they are, you did not cause the problem.  And you cannot control or cure it.

What Does the Bible Say?

The Bible verse that most quickly comes to mind is this one:

1Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

In his letters, St. Paul urged Christians eight different times to “be sober” (II Cor. 5:13; 1 Thess. 5:6; I Thess 5:8; I Tim. 3:2; I Tim. 3:11; Titus 2:2; Titus 2:4; Titus 2:6).

Peter likewise urged Christians to “be sober” three times in his short letters (I Pet. 1:13; 1 Pet. 4:7; I Pet. 5:8).

People who are “high” on marijuana aren’t sober.  They’re sedated. They’re intoxicated.  They’re not vigilant.  Their minds and bodies have been dulled by the effects of the drug.  So, over the long-term, they’re easy prey for the devil’s tricks and deception, which are much more “subtil” (i.e., sly, cunning; Genesis 3:1) than most people realize.

As it is, we understand very little of the nature of the spiritual world and the supernatural beings (i.e., evil spirits) utilized by Satan and his fallen angels against us.  They’re capable of working in ways our senses cannot discern unless we’re sharp as tacks, both mentally and spiritually.

That’s why St. Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant.”  As one writer put it, Satan employs, “agents of great craft and long experience” against us.

Now that kind of spiritual warfare is difficult enough to deal with when we’re mentally alert and spiritually vigilant.  But when a drug has dulled our senses it makes it a lot harder to deal with.  We might not even realize we’re being influenced by a spirit, or spirits, if we’re daily high as a kite.

Again, pot, like excessive alcohol use, dulls the senses to spiritual discernment.

Why You’re Seeing Widespread Legalization of Pot Use

And that’s precisely the point of the growing trend toward “legal marijuana” today. The powers-that-be want people to be in state-of-mind that makes them easier to deceive (i.e., lead away from the truth) through the various means they use, such as television and other mass media, politically correct indoctrination, and much, much more.

People using pot simply don’t spot deception or cunning treachery from the spiritual realm, or even from the physical, flesh realm, as easily as they would if their minds (and inner spiritual being) were in a sober and vigilant state.

In short, being high (i.e., sedated) all of the time makes people far more susceptible to the multitude of tactics employed by Satan and his little helpers to deceive people.

The negative side of the spiritual realm wants us to be inebriated or intoxicated, because that makes us easy pickings, so to speak, for them.

However, marijuana users won’t listen if you try to tell them this.  They’ll have a thousand and one excuses, ranging from “Well, you drink wine with dinner, don’t you?” to “I’m just as vigilant when I’m smoking pot than when I’m not.”  It’s all self-delusion and excuse-making, of course.

The False Promise of “Liberty”

Pot smoking is one of the “lusts of the flesh” and “pollutions of the world” which St. Peter explained are often disguised as “liberty” by the powers pushing them.

But, as Peter goes on to explain, the liberty being offered (such as the liberty to smoke marijuana, as an example) is actually a form of corruption (i.e., to decay, shrivel, wither) and bondage (i.e., enslavement, subservience) that leaves you worse off than you were before you came to the knowledge of the Lord:

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

 

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

The word “wantoness” in verse 18 above means licentiousness, which is further defined in the original Webster’s Dictionary as “excessive indulgence in liberty” or “unrestrained passions or appetites.”

In other words, licentiousness is an abuse of liberty.  It’s indulgence in flesh lusts under the phony guise of liberty.  And that’s exactly what recreational drug use is, i.e., an abuse of liberty.

You see, the hidden powers of this world work to convince people that it’s actually liberating to do something like smoke pot all of the time, when in reality it’s a tactic to bring the individual into both physical, mental and ultimately spiritual bondage.  Continuing on in II Peter we learn the following:

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

Satan desperately wants us in bondage before he arrives to this earth.  It makes everything easier for him.  He’ll offer the cure for all of our bondages, but in order to obtain the cure, you’ll have to bow to him.

In other words, there’s a spiritual component to flesh bondage.  There’s a design behind it.  Through his flesh henchmen on this earth Satan sets something like marijuana in front of us and labels it as being liberating and helpful and useful.  But the truth is, it’s designed to overcome the individual in the long run and ultimately rob him (or her) of their true freedom in Christ.

The addiction behind marijuana is very real.  And it’s certainly overcoming tens of millions of people today, bringing them into bondage to the drug (and to the dealers of the drug, whether they be illegal drug pushers or so-called legitimate “recreational marijuana” suppliers).

Of course, the people claiming marijuana is “harmless,” and that it’s even beneficial, are the ones promising our children “liberty” through marijuana use, but setting them up for the physical, mental and ultimately spiritual bondage it actually brings about.

Pharmakeia

The real reason marijuana use is once again “sweeping the nation” is that we’re getting closer and closer to that time when Satan is about to arrive, and the people who control things from behind-the-scenes want God’s children to be sedated, intoxicated and addicted, because that gradually breeds lethargy, apathy and neediness.

As you know, Revelation 18:23 tells us that in the very end days the “merchants,” who are the “great men of the earth,” use “sorceries” to deceive the nations.  As it’s written:

Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

As you probably know, the word “sorceries” in that verse is translated from the Greek word pharmakeia, from which we derive our English word pharmacy, or pharmaceuticals, meaning, quite simply, drugs.  The actual definition of the word (Strong’s G-5331) is “medication.”

In other words, the Kenites, who are those “merchants” and “great men of the earth,” are working to get as many people as possible addicted to drugs of all sorts, because they can use that intoxicated state-of-mind to more easily deceive them through their control of the four hidden dynasties of politics, economics, education and religion.

The word “deceived” in Revelation 18:2 above is translated from the Greek word planao, meaning “to cause to roam from safety, truth or virtue.” And that’s exactly what the various drugs, including marijuana, ultimately do. They cause people to roam, or stray, from God’s Word and God’s ways, to the ways of bondage which are the ways of Satan.  And all under the guise of “liberty.”

And that’s why “legalized marijuana” is sweeping the nation (and the world) today, much as the gay agenda, transgenderism and other sordid, so-called “liberties” are.

The existing western Christian moral order, which is based on Biblical morality, rugged individualism, personal responsibility and self-restraint, is being overthrown.  And a new order — a humanistic order based on bondage to the lusts of the flesh — is being raised up.

How to Help

Frankly, there’s not much you can do for a person who’s chosen to fall into the “pot is harmless” trap, except perhaps to calmly but forthrightly explain some of the things I’ve discussed above (if they’re Christian), and then let them make their own decision.  After all, it’s their decision to make, not yours.

They might listen.  But they most likely won’t.  Nevertheless, you’ll have done your part as a watchman of God.  As it’s written, God’s watchmen are on this earth to sound the warning:

Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

 

Eze 33:8  When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

 

Eze 33:9  Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

You can’t “save” a pot smoker (or any other kind of addict) from their own self-deception and resulting iniquity.  You can only warn them of the consequences, and let them make up their own minds.  You can also direct them to a good 12-step program such as Narcotics Anonymous, or others, if they come to you asking how to quit.

Or, if they try to quit “cold turkey,” you can be as patient as possible with them, trying to recognize in advance that they’re about to go through a form of physical and mental hell known as “withdrawals,” and they’ll likely react toward you with anxiety, resentment and ingratitude, because that’s what the drug (and the spirit behind it) does to the person’s mind until the substance finally clears the body.

So you can warn them.  You can encourage them.  You can point them in the right direction.  But you can’t quit for them.  And you can’t make them quit.  They have to really want to quit.  It has to come from inside of them. They have to recognize the bondage they’ve gotten themselves entangled in for what it is, and for what it’s doing to them, and desire to be free again.

In the course of our lives, we’ve all experienced the various addictions and “lusts of the flesh” ourselves, to one degree or another.  So we can empathize with a person who’s gotten caught up in the “recreational marijuana” craze, even though that might not have been our own particular flesh lust.  And we can patiently remind them that Jesus Christ is the ultimate solution to their problem, when they’re ready to deal with it.  As it’s written:

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

 

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

 

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

“Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”  We’ve all done it, to one degree or another.  Right?  We’ve all taken “liberties” that, in reality, turned out to lead us into bondage.  But God, through the Savior, is ultimately the way out.

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

 

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

 

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We have to desire to walk in the “good works” of God, and not the lusts of the flesh.  God’s grace flows toward us when He sees real effort on our part to be more pleasing to Him and to stop walking “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

So exercise that Godly grace when you see someone sincerely trying to “kick the habit,” whatever it might be.  Offer guidance.  Offer direction.  Empathize with their plight.  Point them in the direction of a good 12-step program if that’s what they need.

Exercise patience when they’re struggling to overcome.  Let them know they’re not terminally unique, but that we’ve all had to deal with the “desires of the flesh and of the mind,” and that through the Lord it is indeed possible to overcome.

But never allow yourself to be dragged into the fray with them.  Never allow yourself to get tangled up in their bullshit. Never allow getting someone to quit using marijuana be the focus of your life, because you’ll simply get yourself emotionally wrapped up in their drama, which is another form of bondage.

There’s an old saying about helping people who have fallen into a pit.  If you want to help them, you tie a rope around a tree and throw the rope down to them, allowing them to grab that rope and pull themselves out of the pit, step-by-step, on their own.

But what you don’t do is this:  You don’t reach down and try to pull them out of the pit yourself, by hand.  Why?  Because in all too many cases, they’ll simply pull you down into the pit with them.  Misery loves company.

So never make yourself responsible for the flesh lusts and choices of others.  You’re not responsible.  They are.

Regards in Christ,

 

Steve Barwick

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