Nation Going To Pot by Guest Writer TJ • Part 2

The United States continues down the Romans 1 path as the nation is going to pot.

Here are some evidences of some of the dire consequences to the course we're on:

A) Fatal crashes - a major increase:

https://newsroom.aaa.com/2016/05/fatal-road-crashes-involving-marijuana-double-state-legalizes-drug/

B) Children adversely affected:

     1. Daughter and son die in hot car while Mom does dope:

https://www.newsweek.com/mother-who-smoked-marijuana-watched-kuwtk-while-kids-died-hot-car-sentenced-20-907823

     2. Child nearly dies from marijuana in candy:

https://www.wisn.com/article/child-almost-dies-from-marijuana-laced-candy/6249011

     3. It started with weed and wound up with child abandonment:

https://www.wjhl.com/local/grandparents-raising-grandchildren-caregivers-behind-the-opioid-crisis/1306482973

     4. Four-year-old boy found wandering alone while elementary school teacher had gone out to get dope:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-teacher-arrested-marijuana-child-neglect-20180319-story.html

     5. "Until recently, it was rare for children to have major symptoms from swallowing marijuana.
It might be that they didn't swallow much and so didn't get very sick.  This has changed with medical marijuana." *

"Young children have been poisoned by swallowing medical marijuana.  Some have needed treatment in an intensive care unit."

https://www.poison.org/articles/2013-dec/medical-marijuana

     6. "The 2017 report said marijuana was the most-used substance connected to child abuse and neglect deaths, followed by alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine — and sometimes a combination of substances." *

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/20/texas-drugs-alcohol-child-abuse-deaths/

C) Study has demonstrated a link between ongoing use of cannabis and violence.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-brain/201603/marijuana-use-increases-violent-behavior

A Reagan era study examined multiple convicts in the state of New York. "..one-third of respondents who had ever used marijuana used the drug in the 24-hour period before the homicide; and that almost three-quarters of those respondents were experiencing some type of effect from the drug when the homicide occurred."  Some of them claimed the homicide was related to their cannabis use.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8144275

D) Dogs getting stoned accidentally, including an example of one who licked up "medical" marijuana: 

E) Often, cannabis is a gateway entry to other harmful drugs:

1.  "As more U.S. states legalize the use of marijuana, Mexico's violent drug cartels are turning to the basic law of supply and demand."

"Laws allowing marijuana in states like Colorado, Washington and California are causing shifts in the Mexican underworld that have also led to increased violence as the cartels move away from its cash cow of marijuana to traffic more heroin and methamphetamines."

"..the cartels 'saw a lot more demand for heroin (in the United States) and responded.'"

See source of quotes in the following link:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/02/20/mexican-cartels-switch-gears-after-u-s-states-relax-u-s-states-legalize-marijuana-mexicos-cartels-sw/343389002/

For more on the subject:
https://www.businessinsider.com/sinaloa-cartel-sending-mexican-herion-to-the-us-2017-11

     2. Gateway Drug studies:

          a)  Based on a National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2011-2013, those using cannabis were three times more likely to be addicted to heroin:
https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/heroin/infographic.html

More: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHresultsPDFWHTML2013/Web/NSDUHresults2013.pdf#page=45

          b)  "The CASA study also links the use of gateway drugs by children with subsequent regular use of illicit substances as adults:

Adults who used marijuana as children are 17 times more likely to be regular cocaine users. (Ninety-one percent of adults who used marijuana as children smoked or drank first.)"

Source:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol20/vol20_iss10/record2010.24.html

     3. Examples of multiple types of drugs display that things don't always stop with marijuana:

          a)  A man who used both pot & heroin hit six other vehicles with his truck:

https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/tractor-trailer-driver-admits-to-using-heroin-marijuana-before-crash/646672076

          b)  Parents arrested, toddler hospitalized with cannabis & cocaine in his system:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2018-06-01/toddler-hospitalized-with-marijuana-cocaine-in-system

          c) Mother abandons her son, leaves grandma to raise him.

Grandma says:

"It was marijuana but that lead to opiate abuse, my daughter was actually shooting up Opana," a tearful Martin recently told WJHL.  "She took off up north to avoid child support...she's abandoned her child, just like his biological father abandoned him at the age of two...I'm angry at her for what she and his father have put him through.” *

See full article the above quote came from linked below.
https://www.wjhl.com/local/grandparents-raising-grandchildren-caregivers-behind-the-opioid-crisis/1306482973

          d) Babysitter warned by mother not to let five-year-old girl go near pool because she couldn't swim.  The babysitter does marijuana and meth. & allows child to drown.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/palm-bay-babysitter-arrested-in-5-year-olds-drowning-police-say

*Emphasis Added (italics &/or bold).

Duped by Dope by Guest Writer TJ • Part 1

I was a kid during the Reagan era, when the Just Say No to drugs was in full swing.
I don't remember the campaign continuing under the 1st Bush presidency. By the time Clinton, "I did not inhale," was in office I noticed a shift about drugs.
While Joe Camel was attacked and alcohol ads were banned in certain instances, illegal drugs seemed to gain some ascendancy, prompting me in part of a poem I wrote to say:

Strained out is the Camel; let in is drugs, the charging bull,

While the matador is smiling since Joe's no longer cool.

The 2nd Bush did not make the war on drugs an issue and when Obama got in, he didn't want the government to bother enforcing federal laws on marijuana as states began to legalize the drug.

Meanwhile, Libertarians are libertines when it comes to the federal government's right to restrain people from certain immoral behaviors which are detrimental to society.
They think it is the states' rights to forbid or allow murder by abortion or to outlaw or permit harmful drugs (if people so desire).  I wonder if they ever asked themselves - should I not take this same states' rights position on theft, other murders, fraud, etc.?

Homosexual activists took incremental immoral steps regarding benefits.
Some opposed homosexuals' radical demands to receive special rights not afforded to other singles. Some people fought against demands to accept deviant sexual behavior as normal by acknowledging in state constitutions the definition of marriage - that being as the Author of marriage defined it.
Judges over-ruled the will of these people in various states.

But later, Christians overall seemed to have given up when the Supreme Court made the outrageous immoral ruling that sexual immorality should be permitted to be called marriage, which in truth is an institution God invented and defined as only being between a man and a woman.

And now, on another immoral front, while the goal of many people in this country is to legalize recreational marijuana, using the incrementalism of "medical" marijuana as a springboard, some Christians are actually being sucked into accepting marijuana (now said to be even stronger than the detrimental dope of old) legalization.

Is marijuana a sin?  Here is where some Theologians answered:

From The Shepherds' Conference Q & A On Marijuana

Christians need to be sharing the Gospel with people who are thinking about/are turning to dope a road which can have dire consequences.

Part 2 will deal with specific consequences of marijuana.

Marijuana - Gateway To Danger

Recently, my family learned that a favorite small country store was going to be selling cannabis oil.
It was bad news. A family member was so unhappy that they reported it to the DEA.
Yes, and it was the right thing to do. 
It needs to be checked into whether the law would be being broken.
Marijuana is not legal in our state, but the store's supply people are claiming an exception under the Farm Bill.
We shall see, but we won't be going back unless they take it off the shelf.
Harsh? Not really.

While some argue that it's not true that marijuana is a gateway drug,  I believe that they are wrong.
Do all people go on to use other drugs? 
It would seem not from what I have read online, but many do seem more receptive (and some do both marijuana and alcohol) & there are enough people who do go on to harder drugs. 
It seems it may be more likely for those in certain circumstances (started young or are poor, etc. ), but it is not uncommon.
The problem is that some people don't even know what the word "gateway" means.
A gateway doesn't mean that all people automatically start using something else.
It means that it cracks open the door making people more receptive to using other substances to get the effect they want.

Wake up, America, you are headed down the drain with the "medical marijuana" idea!
"Medical marijuana" only leads to full out recreational legalization.
Medical uses are just excuses!
It's happened in enough states already.

I'm not saying that some people who have seizures might not get some help from the oil (although the jury is out due to some using more than one medicine as well).
I would question that being a long-term or highly effective solution from looking at research a couple of places online (one site was a government health site), and there is also a question about the safety of the oil.

Marijuana is not a victimless harmless drug, and the marijuana today may be stronger than what people used at the time of the videos on this blog.

The following one is about a baby that drowned in a bathtub.
The parent was smoking marijuana. These programs were based on true stories, so this isn't just fiction.


Studies on marijuana show that it also does harm to the juvenile brain and impairs the adult.
Study Results

Don't let people fool you into thinking that marijuana is an innocent substance to use. It has had ill effects in the past, and it does today.
Weapon offenses.

For those of us who are Christians, we should be sober. We also shouldn't be so gullible into thinking that medical marijuana won't lead to recreational marijuana.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 NASB

"Marriage", Marijuana, Mandate, & Mortality %

Judge's Opinion On "Marriage"

Last night, Federal Judge Arenda Allen in the state of Virginia ruled that the ban on homosexual so-called "marriage" is unconstitutional. 
See newspiece here 

The judges making these decisions claim that it is based on the equal protection clause of the Constitution as though behavior and skin color are equivalent.  They are not.   Homosexuality is a behavior rather than something that came from God...just like fornication/adultery is a behavior. 

Racism is a terrible thing, but homosexuality is not a natural thing like race.  People are not born having intimate relations, and marriage is defined by God not man.  It is a reflection of Christ's relationship with the church.  Every adult in the U.S. had the right to marry someone of the opposite sex.  So, homosexuals had the same rights as everybody else, but they wanted special rights. Homosexuals have chosen to rebel against God's character just as those who worship idols, those who steal, those who commit adultery, etc..   There is a problem when people try to get others to accept and sanction behavior that God calls sin.
 
See Albert Mohler's article on Kentucky's U.S. District Judge's decision which included recognition of other states so-called "marriages".
Albert Mohler Article

Marijuana

The subject of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes has become a popular yet controversial issue in the U.S.  Not long ago the Gospel Coalition had a much discussed article about whether the use of recreational marijuana is a sin.
Is Recreational Marijuana Use A Sin?

A couple of days ago, a New York Times article had this to say even about the idea of the use of marijuana for medical purposes:

"The truth is we lack evidence not only for the efficacy of marijuana, but also for its safety."
We Need Proof On Marijuana --NY Times

Obama Mandate

President Obama has now made another executive order decision which would include mandating some businesses swear that lay-off decisions were not made based on Obamacare.  President Obama seems to believe that he is above the law, and the Congress seems to be too weak, fearful, or not motivated enough to assert their Constitutional power to stop his unchecked power-grabbing.

See Fox News Article

Here's a list of some of the over-stepping executive decisions Obama has made.
7 Times Obama Ignored the Law to Impose His Executive Will - Heritage Blog

The ACLJ has put out a petition for those who want to voice their opinion to Obama:
Say No to Unconstitutional Orders

Mortality

This past week, Shirley Temple Black and Ralph Waite with an e both died at the age of 85.  There were some positive and negative elements in the things they acted in.  I have watched most of  Shirley Temple's old movies and saw some of the Waltons episodes.  There were some elements that I didn't approve of but Shirley was cute and Ralph Waite was good at playing the part of the father on the Waltons. 
 
The percentage of physical death in this world has held pretty steady throughout history. 
No matter if someone dies at a young age or lives their full life expectancy here on earth, each one will face either God's wrath or mercy, love and forgiveness.  It won't matter how famous or idolized a person is or how giving and selfless they may appear, it will only matter your standing before God. 

Do you know where you will go when you die? 
If you have any doubts, please view the following link:

Bad News And Good News