 [62] TALK.POLITICS.DRUGS (1:375/48)  TALK.POLITICS.DRUGS 
 Msg  : #8066 [219]                                                             
 From : Pete Zakel                          1:2613/335      Wed 10 Aug 94 05:40 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : Pandora's Box (Re: Drug prohibition)                                    

From: phz@cadence.com (Pete Zakel)
Organization: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

In article <ak10.176.011233A6@cornell.edu> ak10@cornell.edu (Allen Kim) writes:

>So let me ask this: Are there any Christians out there that support
>legalization, and if so, would there be any biblical basis for it?

I'm not technically a "Christian", although I do try to follow Christ's
teaching, but there are (arguably, of course, as everything in the Bible
is arguable) some Biblical bases for legalization:

Genesis 1:29
  God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is
  upon the face of of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its
  fruit; you shall have them for food."

Sirach 31:27-28
  Wine is very life to human beings if taken in moderation.  What is
  life to one who is without wine?  It has been created to make people
  happy.  Wine drunk at the proper time and in moderation is rejoicing
  of the heart and gladness of soul.

Sirach 37:27-28
  My child, test yourself while you live; see what is bad for you and do
  not give in to it.  For not everything is good for everyone, and no
  one enjoys everything.

Sirach 38:4-5
  The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and the sensible will not
  despise them.  Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that its
  power might be known?

Sirach 39:25-26
  From the beginning good things were created for the good, but for
  sinners good things and bad.  The basic necessities of human life are
  water and fire and iron and salt and wheat flour and milk and honey,
  the blood of the grape and oil and clothing.  All these are good for
  the godly, but for sinners they turn into evils.

Sirach 39:32-34
  So from the beginning I have been convinced of all this and have
  thought it out and left it in writing:  All the works of the Lord are
  good, and he will supply every need in its time.  No one can say,
  "This is not as good as that," for everything proves good in its
  appointed time.

(Sirach is an Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical book that appears in Roman Catholic,
Greek and Slavonic Bibles.)

And of course Jesus speaks of wine quite a bit, and even turns water to wine
in a wedding feast when the host runs out.  There isn't much talk of other
drugs, as far as my Biblical knowledge goes, but I would think the lack of
condemnation of other drugs, and the specific condemnation of OVER-indulging,
as opposed to indulging at all, would be the sensible extension of the
references to wine.

I also remember a passage that speaks about letting those who are depressed
have their wine in order to ease their depression, but I couldn't remember
where the passage is.

-Pete Zakel
 (phz@cadence.com or ..!uunet!cadence!phz)

"Give a small boy a hammer and he will find that everything he encounters needs
 pounding."
          -Abraham Kaplan

---
 * Origin: COBRUS - Usenet-to-Fidonet Distribution System (1:2613/335.0)

