A letter to the religious right involved in Reagan's war on marijuana
I posted this on Myspace last night. I wish every wacky christian would read this
A letter to the religious right involved in Reagan's war on marijuana
I am not a Christian nor am I a pothead, however, after speculating over the role of the Christian right in the criminalization of marijuana usage and possession, I found it necessary to make an argument using Christian methods against it. I feel that it is necessary to add that I was raised christian so I do not intend to use bible verses that I know nothing about. I know the bible just as well and better than many Christians. I am also a psychology student in college and the psychological information I will use in my argument came directly from textbooks and lectures on the subject. I have two arguments to discuss, the first using strictly biblical elements and the second with human physiological elements to enhance and accelerate the original.
The arguments involved are sophomorically simple.
Genesis 1:9-13 Says this: 9And God said, "Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear." And so it was. 10God named the dry ground "land" and the water "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, "Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And so it was. 12The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good. 13This all happened on the third day.
27-31: 27
So God created people in his own image;
God patterned them after himself;
male and female he created them.
28God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals." 29And God said, "Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food." And so it was. 31Then God looked over all he had made and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.
These two excerpts tell us two things: God created the plethora of plants that we have on Earth and gave them to humans and animals for their consumption. Marijuana and tobacco are the only drugs that grow naturally and do not have to be processed and synthesized before consumption. Alcohol has to be processed and it is legal. Marijuana is not. The devil, serpent, satan, whatever you want to call the spirit of darkness has never and will never have the authority to change the godly composition of Gods creations. The devil did not put the active ingredients in the marijuana plant and it would be impossible for him to cause the second part of my argument involving the physiology of humans nervous systems. The only power he has is to deceive and deception cannot change the fact that God made plants and people the way we are physiologically.
The active ingredients in marijuana pass through the blood-brain barrier and enter the central nervous system where they bind to three different receptor sites on the neurons. These receptors are called Delta 9 THC, 2-AG, and Anamine receptors. These receptor sites are activated only by cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and nothing else. Nicotine works in much the same way though there is only one receptor. All other drugs work by manipulating natural receptors in the brain that neurotransmitters use normally. For example, PCP works as a glutamate antagonist, blocking the natural processes of glutamate which works in opposition to the neurotransmitter dopamine. When glutamate is blocked, dopamine takes over and too much dopamine in the brain causes hallucinations, odd behavior, and delusional thinking. Cocaine works as an agonist for dopamine and other neurotransmitters causing more to be in the system than normal. Unlike marijuana, drugs like PCP, cocaine, heroine, designer drugs, etc. work by taking over the natural processes in the brain and bastardizing them to work in ways that do not occur naturally.
Marijuana, unlike any other drug, does not affect the brainstem. The brainstem is a system of regions in the back of the brain at the base of the spinal cord that monitors vital statuses like breathing rate and heart rate. There are neurotransmitter receptor sites all over the brain including the brainstem but there are no cannabinoid receptors in the brainstem. Take alcohol just as an example: by opening the sites for Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, the nervous system slows down. Since alcohol affects the brainstem, breathing and heart rate slow down too. An overdose of alcohol can slow systems down to the point where they stop and the user can die. Because it does not affect the brainstems regulation of vital functioning, marijuana is the only drug that someone cannot die of an overdose from.
God designed our bodies. God designed our nervous systems. God pieced our brains together long before scientists figured out how they worked. God put these three receptors in our brains on purpose. There must be some significance there. He created these three receptor sites in our brains before the original sin was committed. Many religions have considered the marijuana plant holy in the past. Mind you, I do not advocate a world where everyone smokes pot all the time. Anything can be abused. Too much of anything is bad Too much food can cause obesity or heart problems, Too much sun will cause a sunburn, Too much water can kill you, too much vitamin A will cause blindness, Too much alcohol can cause liver damage. Im not advocating that everyone should participate in marijuana consumption either. The only argument I am making is that to criminalize a plant created by God that human bodies are designed to process is not only un-Christian but unethical, immoral, illogical, ignorant, and an infringement on our rights as Americans to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A letter to the religious right involved in Reagan's war on marijuana
I am not a Christian nor am I a pothead, however, after speculating over the role of the Christian right in the criminalization of marijuana usage and possession, I found it necessary to make an argument using Christian methods against it. I feel that it is necessary to add that I was raised christian so I do not intend to use bible verses that I know nothing about. I know the bible just as well and better than many Christians. I am also a psychology student in college and the psychological information I will use in my argument came directly from textbooks and lectures on the subject. I have two arguments to discuss, the first using strictly biblical elements and the second with human physiological elements to enhance and accelerate the original.
The arguments involved are sophomorically simple.
Genesis 1:9-13 Says this: 9And God said, "Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear." And so it was. 10God named the dry ground "land" and the water "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, "Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And so it was. 12The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good. 13This all happened on the third day.
27-31: 27
So God created people in his own image;
God patterned them after himself;
male and female he created them.
28God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals." 29And God said, "Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food." And so it was. 31Then God looked over all he had made and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.
These two excerpts tell us two things: God created the plethora of plants that we have on Earth and gave them to humans and animals for their consumption. Marijuana and tobacco are the only drugs that grow naturally and do not have to be processed and synthesized before consumption. Alcohol has to be processed and it is legal. Marijuana is not. The devil, serpent, satan, whatever you want to call the spirit of darkness has never and will never have the authority to change the godly composition of Gods creations. The devil did not put the active ingredients in the marijuana plant and it would be impossible for him to cause the second part of my argument involving the physiology of humans nervous systems. The only power he has is to deceive and deception cannot change the fact that God made plants and people the way we are physiologically.
The active ingredients in marijuana pass through the blood-brain barrier and enter the central nervous system where they bind to three different receptor sites on the neurons. These receptors are called Delta 9 THC, 2-AG, and Anamine receptors. These receptor sites are activated only by cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and nothing else. Nicotine works in much the same way though there is only one receptor. All other drugs work by manipulating natural receptors in the brain that neurotransmitters use normally. For example, PCP works as a glutamate antagonist, blocking the natural processes of glutamate which works in opposition to the neurotransmitter dopamine. When glutamate is blocked, dopamine takes over and too much dopamine in the brain causes hallucinations, odd behavior, and delusional thinking. Cocaine works as an agonist for dopamine and other neurotransmitters causing more to be in the system than normal. Unlike marijuana, drugs like PCP, cocaine, heroine, designer drugs, etc. work by taking over the natural processes in the brain and bastardizing them to work in ways that do not occur naturally.
Marijuana, unlike any other drug, does not affect the brainstem. The brainstem is a system of regions in the back of the brain at the base of the spinal cord that monitors vital statuses like breathing rate and heart rate. There are neurotransmitter receptor sites all over the brain including the brainstem but there are no cannabinoid receptors in the brainstem. Take alcohol just as an example: by opening the sites for Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, the nervous system slows down. Since alcohol affects the brainstem, breathing and heart rate slow down too. An overdose of alcohol can slow systems down to the point where they stop and the user can die. Because it does not affect the brainstems regulation of vital functioning, marijuana is the only drug that someone cannot die of an overdose from.
God designed our bodies. God designed our nervous systems. God pieced our brains together long before scientists figured out how they worked. God put these three receptors in our brains on purpose. There must be some significance there. He created these three receptor sites in our brains before the original sin was committed. Many religions have considered the marijuana plant holy in the past. Mind you, I do not advocate a world where everyone smokes pot all the time. Anything can be abused. Too much of anything is bad Too much food can cause obesity or heart problems, Too much sun will cause a sunburn, Too much water can kill you, too much vitamin A will cause blindness, Too much alcohol can cause liver damage. Im not advocating that everyone should participate in marijuana consumption either. The only argument I am making is that to criminalize a plant created by God that human bodies are designed to process is not only un-Christian but unethical, immoral, illogical, ignorant, and an infringement on our rights as Americans to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.