27 Apr MARIJUANA AND JUDAISM: WHAT DOES JEWISH LAW SAY ABOUT THE SUBJECT?

Medical marijuana
is permissible, but
recreational use prevents us from being
our best selves.
_________________
In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed
the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”),
essentially declaring a war on drugs, including marijuana. American’s attitude
and US law have come a long way since
then. Last year, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to remove
cannabis (marijuana) from the CSA. Currently, legislation is being considered to
decriminalize marijuana and establish a
tax on sales similar to alcohol.
Eighteen States have presently legalized
the recreational use of marijuana and 36
approve it for medical use. The legal cannabis market is expected to reach over
$40 billion in the United States by 2026.
The legal cannabis market is expected to
reach over $40 billion in the United States
by 2026.
With popular opinion and American law
increasingly embracing marijuana use, the
question is, what does Judaism have to
say?
In Jewish law, there is a general requirement to observe the civil laws of the land
in which one lives when they are not in
contradiction with Jewish law.1 Therefore, in addition to whatever Judaism says
about marijuana, Jewish law demands an
obedience to the authority of civil law. If
it’s illegal to possess or use marijuana, it’s
also against Jewish law.
Does that mean if it’s legal, it’s also permissible according to Jewish law and
Jewish values?
Medical Marijuana
It’s important to distinguish between recreational marijuana use and medical use.
The Talmud2 understands from the Hebrew phrase “v’rapoh yerapeih,3 he shall
provide for his healing” that man has license to treat, even though the process of
healing could itself violate other values
such as not causing someone to bleed.
What about treating pain, even when there
is no healing benefit? Is one permitted to
violate other values or prohibitions, simply to relieve pain?
Rabbi Avraham Borenstein4 (1838-
1910) proves that the treatment exemption doesn’t only apply to healing, but
also to pain management, even if there is
no therapeutic benefit.
Based on this ruling, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach5 (1910-1995) and others
conclude that use of narcotics, such as
morphine are permissible, even for a terminally ill patient if necessary to relieve
pain. Though morphine impacts breathing
and can hasten death, it is permissible for
a terminally ill patient nonetheless because diminishing pain is a form of healing.
Extending this ruling, Rabbi Yitzchak
Zilberstein,6 a contemporary authority,
writes that despite a general negative approach to marijuana use, it may be used
for medical and pain management purposes, no different than narcotics or pain
medications.
Recreational Marijuana
The Torah obligates us to live healthy
lives and to generally protect our wellbeing. The Talmud7 derives from the verse,
“V’nishmartem m’od l’nafshoseichem, be
very careful to safeguard your soul,”8 a
mandateto be responsible with our lives.
Is marij uana use a violation of the responsibility to live a healthy life?
The Talmud9 tells us that Rav, who lived
in the second century, told his son Chiya,
“Do not ingest any drugs.” Rashi explains
that Rav was concerned that a person
would enjoy the “high” and would crave
experiencing it over and over. Why is that
a problem? How is being high and happy
a violation of living healthy?
When we indulge in substances that
cloud our judgement or that compromise
our consciousness, when we lose control
and become undisciplined, we are weakening our G-dly soul.
Humans are composed of two souls, our
animal soul and our G-dly soul. The animal soul urges us to act impulsively and to
indulge our drives indiscriminately. We
describe someone who is out of control as
acting like an animal and someone who
stuffs their face as eating like a pig. We
are also endowed with a G-dly soul and
are each created in G-d’s image. The
G-dly soul is capable of discipline and
self-control. It enables us to consciously
make choices and empowers us to regulate our behavior.
When we indulge in substances that
cloud our judgment or that compromise
our consciousness, when we lose control
and become undisciplined, we are weakening our G-dly soul, essentially surrendering our very humanity. We are meant
to live in the here and now, to be fully engaged and immersed in the present, aware
of our surroundings, engaged with our environment, responsible for our behavior
and able to remember what we did and
what occurred around us. Using substances, be they drugs or alcohol to escape our
reality, to numb ourselves to pain, to feel
heightened pleasure or just for fun is to
submit to our base self, to choose the animal impulse over our G-dly soul.
While getting drunk or high can lead to a
fleeting and temporary happiness, it is
counterfeit and short lived.
Holiness demands consciousness, mindfulness, and self-control. That’s why the
Torah10 forbids drinking wine in the
Temple, the holiest building, in the holiest
place on earth. While getting drunk or
high can lead to a fleeting and temporary
happiness, it is counterfeit and short lived.
The Rambam writes, “whoever becomes
drunk is a sinner, is shameful and will lose
his wisdom. If he becomes drunk before
others, he desecrates G-d’s Name.”
Some argue that being high or drunk actually enables religious growth and spiritual breakthrough by removing inhibitions and relieving stress, but this is a
mistake. Authentic, genuine and lasting
spiritual growth results from engaging our
heart, brain and soul in a conscious state,
not by escaping them.
It is important to note that while research
comparing dangers and side effects of alcohol and marijuana remains mixed, there
is a fundamental difference between them.
At Jewish events, on holidays and during
lifecycle events, wine is used in moderation to elevate and dignify the occasion.
While Judaism frowns upon getting
drunk, it simultaneously incorporates lifting a glass of wine to honor a special occasion. Wine can be enjoyed in moderation and consumed without intoxicating
while marijuana is a tool to get high with
some research arguing it is a gateway
drug.
Jewish law believes that although medical marijuana is permissible, its recreational use prevents us from being our
best selves and is forbidden.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the greatest American rabbis of the 20th century,
rules11 that marijuana use is addictive,
harmful and forbidden. According to the
National Institute of Health,12-30% of
those who use marijuana have some degree of marijuana use disorder. Additionally, research13 shows that marijuana use
kills brain cells and can be harmful to a
person’s health and wellbeing. Marijuana
use is associated with deficits in decision-making. A person who is high not
only cannot observe mitzvot properly, he
or she is much more likely to engage in
behavior and choices that are antithetical
to Jewish law and in conflict with Jewish
values.
Rabbi Feinstein concludes by reminding
us that in Judaism, we live for holiness,
not happiness, and says, “We must make
our greatest effort to combat this impure
and unholy activity from the Jewish people.”
A contemporary rabbi in Israel, Rabbi
Shlomo Aviner also addresses this question and comes to the same strict conclusion. He writes14 that people who use
marijuana become dependent on it and
that dependence compromises the capacity to live our best selves. He adds that it
tends to make people unmotivated, impacts memory, and inflates confidence in
dangerously unhealthy ways, all assertions that are supported by research and
inconsistent with a rich, ambitious Jewish
life.
Conclusion
While the world around is adopting more
permissive laws and views of marijuana
use, Jewish law believes that although
medical marijuana is permissible, its rec- reational use prevents us from being our
best selves and is forbidden. We should
satisfy the craving to “get high” by work- ing hard to develop our spiritual muscles
and deepen our connection to the Infinite
Source of creation.