Marijuana and Church teaching
With recreational and medical marijuana legal in states across the country, and the Minnesota Legislature considering a regulatory framework for production, sale and possession of the drug for recreational use, The Catholic Spirit is preparing a four-part series to look at some of the issues involved from a Catholic perspective.
That look begins here, with a story package that includes an article on the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s opposition to recreational marijuana and its neutral stance on medical marijuana, which has been legal in the state since 2014, and some of the politics involved. A second article looks at the moral grounds for the Catholic Church’s opposition to recreational use of marijuana and other drugs. A third element is Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ April 15 address on recreational marijuana at MCC’s Catholics at the Capitol event in St. Paul.
Future series installments will explore the impact recreational marijuana has had on minority, poor and vulnerable populations in states where it has been legalized; outline ways big alcohol and tobacco companies are investing in the push to legalize recreational marijuana; and, following the 2022 legislative session, review efforts to legalize recreational cannabis in Minnesota and what that might mean for the future.
