Spirituality

Church integrates faith with education about medical cannabis

“With cannabis being restored into use through laws, we need to de-stigmatize and address that stigma,” Cannon explained to the group. “What better way of doing that than at a church, having that conversation through a spiritual lens and hearing from each other?” … “So that’s the starting point, that the plants that God created are good. It’s when they’re abused that people start to corrupt God’s creation.” Over the course of an hour, four parishioners came up to the microphone one-by-one to share their personal experiences with medical cannabis.

A house of worship leading its parishioners in an open discussion about the medical benefits of weed might seem surprising, even odd, to an outsider. But the Episcopal Church passed a resolution expressing support for legalization just as the War on Drugs was getting started more than 35 years ago. The 1982 statement reads, “The Episcopal Church urges the adoption by Congress and all states of statutes providing that the use of marijuana be permitted when deemed medically appropriate by duly licensed medical practitioners,” reflecting a progressive stance on the issue 14 years before California started the nation’s first medical cannabis program, in 1996 … The roundtable marked the beginning of a long educational journey — a journey that, as Cannon reminded his congregation, doesn’t conflict with their faith. “God said, ‘I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food,'” he said, quoting the Bible. “The plants of the earth are gifts to us from God, intended for our wellness.”

Original Article (Eastbay Express):
Church Integrates Faith with Education About Medical Cannabis
Artwork Fair Use: skhakirov

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