Marijuana

Brother Mankindm

I haven't been keeping up with this post so forgive me if I am commenting at a time when you have no more desire to discuss the issue; however, maybe my comments will be helpful to someone.  Let me start by saying that I worked in the chemical addiction field for 15 years.  Now, maybe you will take that to mean I am biased and of course that is your right; however, I pray that you will read what I have to say with an open mind.  Ameen.

First of all, your comparison of marijuana to other intoxicants saying that marijuana is natural, made by Allah, while others are not is not correct.  Cocaine, which is derived from the coca leaf is a natural product.  In fact, in places where coca is grown, people use it directly from the tree, preferring to chew the leaves instead of using the processed form of coca we know as cocaine.  Even though the intoxicate affect is not the same in all cases, tobacco, cola, coffee beans, some forms of tea, some mushrooms and peyote are all also natural forms of intoxicants.  Wine, which is make from fermented grapes or other fruits, is also a natural substance�unless you consider fermentation (allowing crushed grapes or other fruits to rot) to be somehow un-natural.  And how about opium?  It is derived from the poppy.  Poppies are not only natural, they are one of the most beautiful flowers Allah has graced our planet.  So, you are wrong in saying that marijuana is different because it is natural and other forms of intoxicants are not. 

Second, if you are going to argue that other forms of natural intoxicants are altered by humans while marijuana is not, well, let�s just take a look at your good friend MaryJane and see what she�s really made of.  Sure, Cannabis sativa (marijuana) is a plant that Allah created; however, what you roll up and smoke in the year 2005 is a far cry from what Allah placed upon this earth at the beginning of creation.  If you think that today�s marijuana is a �natural� substance, you are truly fooling yourself.  The active chemical ingredient in marijuana which produces the high that users of it enjoy so much is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).  In its Allah give form, marijuana only contains a trace amount of THC; however, over the years marijuana growers have found ways to increase the THC content of marijuana.  To show you how much growers have advanced the THC content in marijuana I will make a simply comparison.  In the 1970�s the best marijuana in the world contained roughly a 5% THC content.  Today, even the stuff you would only smoke as a last resort has that much THC content.  Most �decent� marijuana contains a THC content of 10 � 12% while the really �good stuff� has a THC content of up to 18%.  If you don�t believe me on this issue, check out the history of marijuana cultivation.  Those who cultivate it simply love to brag about what they have done to your dear friend MaryJane.  After that, if you are still in doubt, let me know; I�ll invite you over to my state and you can try out the truly �all natural� marijuana.  My state was a grower of natural marijuana back in the day when it was grown as a means to produce paper products.  Because marijuana is basically a weed (no pun intended), you can find plenty of it growing in its natural state out in the western part of the state I live in.  Another thing I would like to point out is that despite what you think, the marijuana you buy on the street has a wide range of potential additives which dealers use to enhance the affect of the high and to keep their customers �coming back for more.�  Other chemical substances which are popularly added to marijuana (not necessarily reported to the buyer) are hallucinogens such as PCP and stimulants such as cocaine.  So, despite you claim that marijuana is �natural�, its not; at least not the marijuana you and others use to take you little mini-vacations with.

Third, marijuana is powerfully addictive.  In fact, it is highly likely that it is one of the most addictive substances on the planet (right up there with nicotine and caffeine).  Although marijuana is not physically addictive, it is extremely physiologically addictive.  I know most people try to argue that if it�s not physically addictive then it is not so bad; however, that is simply ignorance on their part.  The truth of the matter is that only one class of chemical substance is actually physically addictive and that is the class known as depressant drugs.  What this means is that anyone who becomes addicted to depressant drugs is at risk of serious health problems during withdrawal and therefore should seek medical attention during withdrawal.  However, once the physical withdrawal is over, there is still the psychological addiction to deal with.  It is truly the psychological addiction which is by far more difficult to overcome.  Since marijuana�s addictive process is unlike any other in that THC is stored in fat cells and remains there for a substantially longer period than other chemically addictive substances, it is important not to overlook what that process it.  Since the brain is made up of mostly fat cells, the proportion of THC stored in the brain is grossly higher than in other parts of the body.  On the one hand, that is what marijuana smoker like about it; however, on the other, it is truly the heart of the problem.  THC stored in the fat cells of the brain cause the functions of the brain to slow down.  That is why you get that �just chillin� feeling from the high.  However, because the THC is not released from the body like other mind-mood altering substances, it builds up in the brain causing other problems such as short and long term memory loss. 

Regardless of whether you want to believe it or not, THC takes anywhere from 3 days to more than 45 days (depending on the amount and frequency in which it is ingested) to be released from the body.  Now I don�t know about you, but if Allah tells me not to use intoxicate because it keeps me from being about to communicate with Him, then why would I chose an intoxicant that takes days, weeks or even more than a month to get out of my system?  It is bad enough missing one prayer because of such actions but 15, 35, 105 or even 225 missed prayers all for the sake of wanting to get high?  And I�m not talking about missing prayers as in you ain�t getting down with the prostrating business.  What I�m saying is that Allah says that if we have an intoxicant in our system, the channel between Him and us just ain�t gonna happen.  So, even if you think you are praying, it ain�t no prayer according to Allah.  And if it ain�t good for Allah, it simply ain�t good.

Forth, one last comment before I�m through, one of your biggest pro-marijuana statements is the classic �It�s natural, if Allah didn�t want us to use it, then why did he put it here?�  As I pointed out above, there are many �natural� intoxicants on this earth and sure, Allah did have a reason for putting them here even if that purpose is clearly not for you to get �high� with.  Allah states in the Qur�an that all things are clear even if we can�t see them clearly.  Don�t forget we are merely human.  But what I want to pose to you at this time is why don�t we consume hemlock?  You know, it too is a natural substance but I don�t see anyone running out to smoke it up or consume it in any other way.  Sure, the reason is because it is poisonous, but the point is, just because something it natural doesn�t mean we should consume it.  It is simply absurd to claim that because something is natural it is good for us.  It is exactly for this reason that Allah guided us on this matter.  He knows best and history has proven with respect to intoxicants (all causing addiction), He was so merciful in commanding us to stay clear of them; by doing so, we stay close to Him and clear of the devastating problems that afflict those who become chemically dependant.

Brother Mankind, the fact that you are asking about this issue shows that on some level, you are conscious of the conflict that exists between smoking marijuana and what Allah commands of us.  I will pray for you because I know that if you are smoking marijuana, the likelihood of you taking advice from anyone, including me, is not very likely.  This truly is your struggle and I pray to Allah that He is merciful to you.  Ameen.

Allah Hafiz

PAZ,

Khadija

Inhale, are you a Muslim?  If so, I would like to refer to you are �brother.�   Thank you for the thoughtful response to my post.  I have a few responses.  One of the things I would like to say to you is that during my years of working in the field of addiction, I would with a lot of �young adults� (ages 16 to 24) and in doing so, I felt it was much more important to be honest about chemical substances than to lie and then have them later distrust me if they needed my help.  I truly believe that is a big problem in our society and I don�t want to perpetuate that problem. 

Inhale: "People have died from mixing drugs, or driving while intoxicated. No healthy human being has ever smoked pot and died. At least we have no such record of this. What I mean by this is just LD50 (Amount needed to kill a lab rat 50% of the time) wise, like LSD (Acid), If you plan on ODing on THC, you would get to a state where you would be too messed up to consume a lethal amount of the stuff."

You did not make it clear in your first post that you were speaking of over dosing when you said no one had ever died from smoking marijuana.  I guess I don�t just consider cases of over dosing since death is death regardless if it�s fast or slow in the making.   I was speaking of deaths due to accidents causes by the slowed reaction one experiences while under the influence of marijuana, also of cases of lung cancer due to smoking marijuana.  As you know marijuana has a significantly higher level of tar than cigarettes.  In fact, one joint has the equivalent of a whole pack of cigarettes (20).  The bottom line is although it might not be the drug the propagandist tried to make it appear in �Reefer Maddness� back in 1936; however, it is not the benign substance that many pro-marijuana users claim it is either.

Inhale: "Evil is a bad word here, maybe stupid would of worked better? Prohibition is stupid. I'm not saying I want to see OTC Heroin, but there are ways of dealing with drug issues that might actually work. Are we benefiting from the War on Drugs? "

If something is prohibited by Allah than I feel I have the right to call it �evil� and if I or someone else is choosing between two things which are both prohibited (haraam), I think it is far to use the phrase �the lesser of two evils� in reference to it.   How can you call �prohibition� stupid?  Allah prohibited us from using alcohol a long, long time before the US government made such a law regarding the use of alcohol.  Do you consider Allah�s laws �stupid�?  Once again, I will ask if you are a Muslim because if you are, there should not be any �ways of dealing with drug issues that might actually work� that allow for the actually ingestion of substances which Allah has prohibited us from using.  As I pointed out in my post to Jenni above, even in cases of medical necessity Muslims scholars state that the situation must be life threatening and there cannot be any other medication available for that illness which does not have haraam ingredients.  If there is, the person has to use the one without the haraam ingredients.

You question regarding the �war on drugs� is not really relevant to this thread because it is a tactic use by a secular government.  If you want to start a thread about the �war on drugs� and the differences between how a secular government and an Islamic government would handle the problems, then go for it.  It could be a very interesting thread.  

Inhale:  "I read this in a magazine while waiting for someone in the doctor's lobby. I don't remember the mag though..
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Study_finds_marijuana_use_leads_ to_brain_development_in_rats"

So, you couldn�t find the magazine so you used this other article that you found on-line.  And it was nice that you pasted some parts of the article for use to read, but you left out the following:

"Our results were obtained from rats, and there's a big difference between rats and humans," added Zhang, "So, I really don't know yet if our findings apply to humans.�

The reason I asked you to go back and read the article again regarding memory and marijuana use is that as with all other addictive drugs, a persons ability to function well (normal) over time becomes dependant upon the presence of the chemical in their system.  That is, a person who becomes accustomed to smoking marijuana will begin to actually function better while under the influence of marijuana as opposed to when they are �sober� simply because their brain has becomes accustomed to functioning that way.  It is not something about marijuana itself which enhances the memory.  Studies conducted by educational psychologists show that the same thing happens naturally as well.  That is, if a person studies in an environment which is noisy (there bedroom with boom box blaring) and then takes an exam in a quiet environment (classroom), their grades will not be as good as they would have been if both environments were the same.   The problem for the marijuana smoker, once he/she becomes accustomed to the THC in their system, they do not function as well without it.  Even if marijuana were able to increase the number of brain cells in humans as it supposedly does in rats, this does not imply that they would be smarter or have better memory.  Even the article you cited doesn�t make the conclusion that the rats became smarter.  And furthermore, when you quoted the following:

""Chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three months," he added."

It was misleading.  The article is states as such:

""This is quite a surprise, chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three months," said Xia Zhang, with the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit of the University of Saskatchewan."

You and others should keep in mind that the research was referring to the lab rats and not to humans.  Even if �chronic use of marijuana� could somehow �actually improve learning memory� in humans (which by the way I seriously doubt), have you thought about the negative affects of becoming a chronic marijuana user?  That�s kind of like the wine drinker who uses the studies on wine�s affect on the heart.  What is the use of helping your heart if you are killing you liver?  And what is the use of any of it if it is killing your spiritual relationship with Allah?

Inhale: "I want people to see both sides and then come up with their own opinion on something. I feel like the previous posts only showed Mankind BS answers that were either made up on the spot or pasted from an anti-Marijuana website. He needs to see both sides first."

Inhale, I will be the first person to argue for the importance of education, knowledge, wisdom and how important it is to learn as much as we can in life.  And to became educated�to take it upon oneself to know what is in the Qur�an and to use science and not just �touchy-feeling� sentiments about things to educate ourselves�is a very Islamic notion.  However, anyone who desires to be a Muslim needs to make a decision as to from where all of their arguments start.  When we do our Shahadah we accept that Allah is the one and only god and that He is the author of not only the Qur�an, but of all things.  He is the ultimate authority.  We don�t go out in the world and try to find things to disprove Him.  We go out into the world to learn as a means to enhance our lives within the context of Islam.  I�m sorry but the way you are talking is the way non-Muslims look at the world and although that may be in okay for non-Muslims, it is not okay for someone who has a honest desire to be a Muslim.  I�m a revert.  I�ve lived a secular life in my past.  In fact, I still live in a secular community so I see how people in a secular world decide what is right or wrong for them.  But we cannot compare the decisions of a government with the authority of Allah.  You take you position on marijuana despite the governments banning of it because you find reasons to say the government is wrong; however, Allah�s authority is not to be questioned.  That is, we can�t desire that which Allah forbids and then go about trying to find some way to justify violating His authority.  Well, actually we can do that but it is not right.  If you violate the government�s authority the punishment will be a ticket or some jail time.  Can you compare that to what might happen if you violate Allah�s authority? 

"It's true that Marijuana in the past contained less THC than it does today, but so what? That just means that back then, it took more eating or smoking to get you as high as you would need to be today. The reason today's Marijuana is more potent is NOT because chemicals are added to the crop, but because humans evolve. We learned new ways of growing plants (Hydroponics, Aeroponics, etc.) We have better equipment now, artifical lighting, etc.."

Inhale, I will try to say this as plainly as I can because you missed my point before.  The point is, if humans are manipulating the cultivation of marijuana in order to increase the THC content, even if they do not use other chemicals, it still results in marijuana not being the same plant that Allah placed upon the earth when He created it.  So, it still may be a natural substance, but it is not what Allah created when He put it here.  If Allah wanted us to have a marijuana plant with a THC content of 18%, don�t you think it would have been so easy for Him to have created it that way?  And please don�t come back at me with the �well, but He gave us the knowledge and technology to do it� because that is not the point.  And this conversation could get truly absurd if we go there; so, I hope you don�t go there.

Inhale: "Now about addiction, let's get something out of the way: Marijuana is NOT physically addicting. I think we both agree on this. Now about being habit forming, or psychologically addicting, I think that this depends on the person

As I said, people who have problems, especially depression, should not smoke Marijuana. Why? Because it's fun. It makes life fun and when you are sitting around and have nothing to do, you will smoke it again to pass time. And again and again just because you find it FUN, not because if you stop using it, you'll have withdrawal symptoms. Most people I know smoke maybe once a week, IF that. The dirty teen who steals to get his drug fix and lives in the slums is only about 1% of all drug users."

I for one am not ignorant enough to make any hasty generalization about addiction or even those who become addicted.  In my 15 years of working in the chemical addiction field I have work with all socio-economic classes.  I�m very aware of what goes on out there in the drug scene.  Like I said, I�ve not always been a Muslim.  And if there is one thing I know, there is no magic formula for calculating who will and who will not become chemically addicted if they use an intoxicant.  No matter what you think, it�s always a gamble.  One doesn�t have to have problems in life to become chemically dependent.  The part of our brain that becomes chemically dependant is the pleasure center which we have in common with all other mammals.  It is the habitual part of our brain.  It is clear to me when I read the Qur�an that Allah, because He created us and is very aware of every aspect of our existence, was completely clear on why we should not use intoxicant.   Allah is not some mean government authority trying to bully us around.  He is loving and merciful.  He doesn�t want us to bring harm to ourselves.  He said: 

��make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction�� (Al-Baqarah: 195);

And He gave us the Qur�an as a guide and the Prophet (pbuh) as a beautiful example of how we should live our life.  Sometimes we think Allah makes life hard for us but what we don�t realize is that He actually makes it easy.  We are the ones the make it hard. 

Inhale: "Dealers usually do NOT add any additive to the Marijuana they sell. The main reason is because it's too expensive to do so. I would *love* if I pay $20 a gram for Marijuana and recieve Opium with it, but it won't happen! This is just to scare people. If it really worries you, then just grow your own or find a dealer you can trust, or take a trip to Amsterdam : )"

By what you say, I guess you consider yourself an authority on what dealers usually do.  I never said the dealer put �opium� in THC.  It is usually a cheaper stimulant drug that is easy to become addicted to and relative cheap to buy.  If you think I�m saying this to scare you or Brother Mankind, I�m sorry you feel that way.  The point I was trying to make is that when you buy marijuana or any other drug for that matter there is no guarantee what you will get because illicit drugs are not regulated.  There is no one telling the dealers what to cut drugs with or that they can�t put a little PCP or crack cocaine in the marijuana mix to help them drum up some extra business.  And if you don�t think that some dealers do so �wicked� things to what they are selling, you are the one that is sadly mistaken.  And I didn�t look up my information about this on a government web site.  I personally have worked with users and dealer for years.  And as for your comment about growing your own, well, I guess if you want to put yourself into a position to get arrested and have some serious drug charges, then that�s your choice; however, once again, a good Muslim would not do anything to violate the law unless the law keeps him/her from obeying Allah.  If Brother Mankind wants to be a good Muslim, he will not take you advice about growing his own stash. 

Inhale: "Marijuan does stay in your system for a long time, but after a day or two, you feel normal again, as if you've not taken anything. Now if the inxoticant is not altering your brain (And at that point -- It's not.) Why doesn't your prayer count?"

Inhale, I can tell you lots of things about marijuana and other drugs.  I can tell you their half-life and such, but I don�t have the answers to all things.  What I do know is this.  THC builds up in the brain and, unlike other intoxicants, it takes days, even weeks or months (the longest case I have personally witness for complete detoxification of marijuana from the system was 65 days�yes 2 months and 5 days), to exit the body.  If I have something in my body that Allah has forbidden me to have in it, does He have to accept my prayers even if �I� don�t feel that I�m being affected by it anymore?  Maybe you want to play Russian roulette with chemical substances and with Allah, but I�m sorry, I�m not willing to do that.

Inhale: "And what about the issue of prescription drugs? Benzos, SSRIs, MAOIs, they all alter your conciousness and some are even fatal if taken in large doses or if you don't follow a very strict diet. They are legal however, so what about them and Islam?"

You are talking about two very different classes of drugs here.  SSRIs are not intoxicants.  SSRIs and other medications like them do not alter your �consciousness.�  What they do is to correction and imbalance of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.  Since they do not affect the neurotransmitters that cause euphoria, there should be no reason why a Muslim cannot take them unless they violate some other Islamic law such as being harmful to the body or containing other things that are not allowed to be consumed such as the byproducts of swine.  People can�t and don�t use them to get high with.  Benzodiazepines on the other hand are intoxicants and fall into the class of drugs known as depressants along with alcohol, opiates and barbiturates.  Islam has rules on the use of these medications.  I have already posted a fatwa I found regarding medications that contained haraam ingredients.

I am sorry that my post was so lengthy but inshallah it was helpful. 

Allah Hafiz

PAZ,
Kahdija