In early 2014 the news cycle was dominated for a few weeks on a subject that just might affect your daily life. Dennis Rodman, Justin Bieber and President Barack Obama all had something to say about it. And their comments may surprise you. Listen as Shawn Boonstra shares this tale of two drugs.

<p>In early 2014 the news cycle was dominated for a few weeks on a subject that just might affect your daily life. Dennis Rodman, Justin Bieber and President Barack Obama all had something to say about it. And their comments may surprise you. Listen as Shawn Boonstra shares this tale of two drugs.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Voice Of Prophecy

Shawn Boonstra

A Tale of Two Drugs

Dennis Rodman, Justin Bieber, and Barack Obama.

Earlier this year in 2014, all of these men weighed in on a subject that might have something to do with your own personal quality of life.

This is a brave new world we're living in, especially in parts of America.

And I don't think you're going to want to miss this edition of The Voice of Prophecy.

Music Welcome to another episode of The Voice of Prophecy.

I'm Sean Boonstra, your host, and I am really glad you decided to tune in today.

And I guess I want to start today with a few news items from early in 2014.

And these items were about similar topics and happened to break in the very same week, or maybe it was 2 weeks, but these stories came really close together.

On the 1 hand you had Dennis Rodman coming back from North Korea and checking himself into rehab because apparently his drinking got a little out of control while he was visiting the communist dictatorship.

So, of course, the big story most people obsess about is the fact that Dennis Rodman seems to be supporting this oppressive communist regime.

But that's not the story that caught my attention, because his visit to rehab also was undeniably pretty big news.

So on the 1 hand, you had alcohol, maybe for the hundred millionth time, making it into the headlines.

But then, that same week, we had the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, telling us that pot is no more dangerous than alcohol.

And of course, That kind of marked a new day in the official American attitude towards marijuana, because for decades—I mean, since the beginning of the war on drugs—marijuana could get you some pretty serious time in jail.

President Obama told a reporter at the New Yorker, and I quote, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life.

I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." End unquote.

Basically, the president said that pot use is just unhealthy.

And as you can imagine, it didn't take long for some groups to challenge that statement.

The Drug-Free America Foundation especially took issue with it, saying, and now I'm quoting again, his laissez-faire attitude about legalization has drug policy and prevention experts scratching their heads in confusion as to why the president will not give clear guidance on this important issue." And, unquote.

And actually that wasn't a verbal statement that somebody made.

And Drug Free America Foundation isn't the only 1 complaining.

Other groups like the National Institute on Drug Abuse also weighed in, pointing out that many people find marijuana addictive, and they're worried about the potential problems that will come in the wake of legalization.

If the NIDA—I mean, if that's how they abbreviate their organization, I'm just guessing that—the NIDA claims that pot causes obvious academic problems for a lot of school kids.

And they claim that higher doses can lead to psychoses or panic attacks.

You've got 2 psychoactive substances, both in the news in the same week.

And then about a week later, Justin Bieber makes the news by using both substances.

If you remember this, he got arrested for racing through the streets of Miami, and it turns out he was drunk driving and stoned driving.

And of course, the bigger story with Bieber has to do with marijuana, because alcohol's old hat.

This isn't really news because people have been abusing alcohol quite legally for a long, long time.

But pot hasn't been legal, so that made the bigger headline.

Now, here's what I want you to think about, because 2014 was also the year that Washington and Colorado actually legalized recreational pot.

So what should Christians think about all of this?

What should we think about legalized marijuana?

I mean, we have to think about it, because this is the new reality, and it's probably just the beginning.

I suspect we're starting to see other states take the same step in the near future, especially if they start to smell an opportunity to collect taxes on all of this.

So if I were to make an educated guess, I would hazard to say that other states will probably follow suit.

Call it a wild guess, but I don't think this is going to stop with Colorado and Washington.

So you and I had better start thinking about this because pot is about to move out of the shadows into the light of day.

It might not be legal today, but there's a reasonably good chance that this is coming.

So you know, you know you have to deal with it.

You can't just tell your kids, hey, this is illegal, stay away from it.

You're going to have to do some more thinking.

You're going to have to be more persuasive because there's no more criminal record and there's no more jail time to worry about.

You really now have to think about why this might not be a good idea.

Sanjay Gupta, the famous medical correspondent for CNN, he'll tell you that legalization is actually a step in the right direction.

He's not in favor of recreational use, but he has changed his mind about the way we treat marijuana in general.

And to some extent, he really kind of has a point.

He noticed that 15% of alcohol users eventually develop a dependency problem.

But marijuana only becomes a problem for something like 9 or 10 percent of users.

So, on that front, the president appears to be right.

And of course, when you compare both of those numbers to the granddaddy of all addictions, tobacco, well, they just pale by comparison.

Gupta, something like 30% of tobacco users become dependent, which if you ask me, seems like a really low number, just 30%.

But I don't have any other data in front of me, so I'm going to go with the 30%.

Now, out of those 3 things, tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, it's actually pot that has the best track record.

This is kind of like comparing thieves and how much they stole.

But on that front, pot does seem to be the least destructive.

And yet, in this society, pot is illegal and alcohol is not.

Until recently, marijuana could put you behind bars for a considerable length of time, but cigarettes are perfectly legal.

And I've got to admit, I mean, if I'm really honest and I'm really thinking about this, That does seem a little inconsistent.

He actually used to fight the legalization of marijuana, but recently he's relaxed his attitude, particularly when it comes to some of the medical benefits and pain relief that marijuana can bring to chronically ill patients.

But again, I should probably stress that he does not endorse recreational pot, and I am not endorsing recreational pot.

What we're talking about now is medical marijuana.

So then, let's move on to recreational pot.

Let's leave medical marijuana out of the equation for a moment because really I don't think there are very many of us who would deny a truly suffering patient some pain relief if that's what marijuana can do.

I'd be the first to say, let the dying patient, let the person in unbearable pain have it if it's the only thing that works.

If it's the only thing that gets their seizures under control, if it's the only thing that brings any relief.

I think at this stage, we can all agree that if marijuana has medical benefits, and I'm talking real medical benefits, then we probably shouldn't ignore that.

And that's not really the issue we need to think about.

So I want to shift our focus to recreational marijuana because that's really what's at stake with this new legalization.

And I want to ask some really good questions about this, and I want to ask my questions from a Christian perspective.

And that's going to take a little bit of time, so I'll tell you what, I'm up against our first break, and we want to take that break so you can learn more about the Discover Bible School.

And then after that, I'll come right back and we'll start to talk about marijuana.

It's not every day you'll hear this on a Christian radio program, so don't you touch that dial.

This is probably different than any other show you're going to listen to today.

Do you feel as if you have more questions than answers in your life?

And how can I have peace and assurance in my day-to-day life?

Are you searching for answers to these and other of life's biggest questions?

The Discover Bible Guides will help you find the answers you're looking for.

Visit us at BibleStudies.com or pick up the phone and call 888-456-7922 for your free Discover Bible Guides.

Study online on our secure website or have the free lessons mailed right to your home.

Visit BibleStudies.com and begin your journey today to discover answers to life's deepest questions.

A Tale of Two Drugs

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