Medical Marijuana From A Religious Perspective
We have always wondered how religious groups perceive medical marijuana. We all know that most religions nurture a somewhat narrow view on life in general, especially in terms of drugs, homosexuals or any “devious” type of behavior really. Most mass religions rely on the rule of majority. If the majority of people are practicing something, then that’s recognized as the will of the people and is thus allowed because the majority perceives it as normal. However, if your sexual tendencies lean more towards the same sex, then we have a major problem on our hands. Well, a rabbi is here to change the way religion perceives marijuana.
The Rabbi That Knew Too Much
Meet Jeffrey Kahn, he’s a rabbi that’s been practicing healing and easing human suffering for the last thirty years. As a part of a Jewish congregation he helped people in Illinois, New Jersey, Australia and Miami. Today he is still helping and healing people only this time as a medical marijuana dispensary owner in Newton, Massachusetts. He claims that Judaism is all about healing and relieving suffering. He was at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic and he knows first hand what AIDS can do to people. Even then, medical marijuana was the best thing they could give to a patient with such a terminal illness.
Kahn explains that God created cannabis on the second day, the day he created all plants and that it shouldn’t be forbidden. Mr. Khan is obviously one of the rare few religious people that cultivate a positive outlook on marijuana. That makes him a liberal and normal person.
Not Everybody Agrees With Khan
Ten years ago, the Union for Reform of Judaism decided to support medical marijuana and invited its fellow congregations to join in. However, none of the congregations actually joined. Therefore, the overall timing seems slightly off. However, we support the rabbi in his brave decision to spread the word on medical marijuana and we hope that it won’t end there.
When you hear a story about a rabbi opening a dispensary store, it first strikes you as weird and somewhat amusing. But there’s a deeper meaning to his actions that are directly tied with what his religion promotes – healing and well being. These are also two core ideas that made marijuana what it is today – a medicine.
As a reminder, medical marijuana is still illegal on a federal level since its placed in the same class as heroin. States seem to work their way around those laws but the government reserves the right to barge into any medical marijuana dispensaries they see fit.
