Twenty-four U.S. states have legalized sales of recreational marijuana, yet parts of the Rocky Mountain West remain steadfast in their opposition to cannabinoids. One reason is state and local political domination by the LDS or Mormon Church. Starting in 1915 Mormons made marijuana taboo.
A hundred years later problems with Mormonism’s public image resulted in an attempt to rebrand itself exclusively as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Try as it may, Mormonism cannot outrun the history of its attitudes toward marijuana. It clearly outlined its position on cannabis and drugs in its out-of-print 1992 edition of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
In addition to avoiding tea, coffee, and alcoholic beverages, members should not misuse legal drugs, and should not use any substance that contains illegal drugs or other harmful or habit forming ingredients.
The Encyclopedia goes on to contrast Mormonism with the drug awareness of other religions in a holier-than-thou ranking system that uses marijuana legalization as its moral benchmark:
Legalization of Marijuana: Only one in ten Latter-day Saints supports the legalization of marijuana, compared with about two in ten among Protestants and Catholics. Forty-one percent of Jews and half of those with no religion favor legalization of marijuana. [NORC pooled surveys for 1972-1988]
If someone wanted to construct criminal laws in which a higher probability of arrest falls upon Jews, non-believers and people other than themselves, few better options exist than making marijuana illegal and creating draconian penalties for its use. Faith alone cannot justify the constitutionality of anti-marijuana laws. That would be an illegal establishment of religion by the government. Something more organic or scary is needed.
Prior to and after World War II, Jews and non-believers were often lumped together with Communists. Mormonism was strongly tied to the anti-Communist John Birch Society by one of its biggest fans, church president Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994). Benson and the Birchers believed legalizing marijuana and water fluoridation were Communist plots. Fluoridation has since been cleared of all charges of Communism by medical science.
Marijuana criminalization remains useful to religious isolationists living in remote towns and villages because its illegality discourages certain undesirables from traveling, working or retiring there. Anti-marijuana laws give Mormons and other prohibitionists an edge when it comes to government employment. Persons applying for a drug enforcement job with the DEA, or the FBI which also covers drug cases, will be summarily rejected if they have tried cannabinoids only once in their lives. Service in the military is unlikely with marijuana or other drug arrests. Security clearances will be denied. All it takes are polygraphs or a positive urine test to terminate a government career.
Persecuting marijuana consumers creates easier pathways for anti-marijuana religious groups to take over government agencies. In one example Mormon FBI managers attempted to usurp the bureaucracy—if not the whole of the FBI—only to be busted in 1989 for discriminating in the hiring, training and treatment of Hispanic job applicants. The offending agents also targeted FBI employees possessing seniority and perfect job performances based solely on skin color, culture, and ethnicity. The Book of Mormon labels darker skinned people as “Lamanites” who it says are “loathsome” since they are believed to be the descendants of Laman and are thereby allegedly cursed for their evil nature and corruption. It goes on to proclaim that Lamanites can repent and embrace the Book of Mormon and automatically become “white and delightsome”. A landmark lawsuit brought by Hispanic FBI agents, Mat Perez vs. FBI, resulted in the presiding judge ordering the FBI to clean up its act.
The LDS Church has experienced a declining membership since 2013 in contrast to cannabinoids which show a tolerance or popularity increase that now encompasses 70-percent of adult Americans. The Church’s declining membership has several sources: lower birth rates, modernism, science, secularism, eroding beliefs, its cover-up of its neglect of charitable functions, and a scandal in which shell companies were used to disguise its ownership of for-profit businesses and other organizations. Typically left out of the calculation is the Church’s disdain and persecution of consumers of a plant the ancient Egyptians referred to as the “branches of bliss”. It’s possible that many Mormons who once regarded Mormonism as their preferred drug switched to a better one. Certainly few of those who enjoy branches of bliss today would give it up merely to join the Latter-day Saints.
One thing the JBS never learned: the Communist regimes of the 20th century supported Marijuana criminalization, going as far as having users and dealers shot without trial. (Ditto for other drugs.) Just look up Operation Black Poppy that the Soviet Union enacted.
Mormonism’s rejection of tea and coffee consumption can have cancerous consequences:
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) focuses on psychedelic medications:
Servetus, any thoughts on whether tripping is essential to achieving therapuetic goals with psychedelics?
I take psilocybin microdoses that come conveniently encapsulated in precisely measured strengths (1532 micrograms) from Zide Door—Church of Ambrosia here in the Bay Area. The 20 capsules come in a small bottle labeled “Vibrant Minds—Makilla Gorilla”. I can take one capsule before bed and wake up feeling refreshed and more positive about things in general after experiencing longer and more enhanced dreams. I usually wait a few weeks before taking it again.
My experience from Zide Door’s DMT vape pen is different. I get a slight body effect from it immediately and then a more relaxed mindset follows. An interesting thing I notice in the days following its use is that my startle reflex has changed. For instance, my cat can jump onto my desk unexpectedly without me being surprised or tensing up about it. I seem to instantly recognize what is happening and I don’t react emotionally.
Neither DMT nor psilocybin causes me to hallucinate, even when I take a full mushroom dose (about 22,000 micrograms). The two drugs’ physical and mental effects are nowhere near the space launch I experienced with my first LSD trip in the 70s. If I were to find a source and take acid again I would take it in microdoses.
My thoughts on the article “Mountain states Mormonism misleads on marijuana” are that it highlights the complex relationship between Mormonism and marijuana laws in mountain states. The article suggests that Mormonism has played a significant role in shaping public opinion and policy on marijuana, often in ways that are misleading or inaccurate. As someone interested in drug policy, I appreciate the article’s nuanced exploration of this topic and the ways in which religious beliefs can influence political decisions. I hope that this article will contribute to a more informed and thoughtful discussion about marijuana policy in these states.
Happy New Years guys. The psychedelic affect might be necessary for a faster result. Small amounts (micro-dose) might be nearly impossible to notice therapeutic effects right off, unlike a psychedelic dose. For emergencies, it might be necessary to take enough to trip, but afterwards, a smart move to take small amounts twice a week/once a week for long term therapeutic effects. Like the difference between a little bit of sugar or a lot in a tea to give it the true flavor of ‘Sweet Tea’ . . . like one table-spoon of sugar in a gallon of tea will still taste bitter to the point one may not even notice the sugar added . . . keep adding sugar and the taste becomes obvious to just overbearingly sweet.
You don’t hallucinate at all on Mushrooms, Servetus? I hallucinate on doses as small as two grams and often get killed in WWII on doses as high as seven grams (twice, I’ve died in WWII, once on D-Day in the water on the beach and another time while flying a bomber over Germany) . . . ten grams, I witness the creation of the world. My standard dose is between 2.5 and 4 grams. Anything from colors, chasers, walls melting/pulsating, patterns moving/altering on the floor, . . . amazing closed eye visuals, with thick reverberating sound distortions one can almost feel, like wind or a pulsating beat hitting the ear and hair . . . and warm massages up and down my sides, like the feel of fingers on the skin.
I wonder if you have a tolerance to mushrooms, where the ‘whole’ affect won’t kick in. Example, for me, there is no difference between eating 1mg of THC and 2,000mg of THC. But give my wife as low as 25mg, she’s on another planet, and desperately finding the safety manual connected to the couch for safe reentry back to earth . . . 50mg and she’s high two days in a row.
Do you soak your dried mushrooms in lemon juice for at least fifteen minutes? I only Lemon-tek my mushrooms, which allows them to kick in about twenty minutes and in no time, you are peaking and after three hours, your trip is done. Who has six hours to trip?
If I’m at home and I keep my eyes open, then my trip can usually cause me uncomfortable emotions/anxiety in regards to life in general, but if I close my eyes, then my consciousness doesn’t try to wreck my mood. I’m sure its different when I’m out in nature.
I hear mescaline is more geometric in visuals and is less likely to create any negative or bad trips.
I don’t know why I don’t react more strongly to psilocybin. I took a lot of acid in my early days and I noted that the later trips were never as intense as my first one. In the first trip my brain separated into three minds with one producing a laser light show before laser light shows existed, another composing classical music that I couldn’t remember afterwards, and the third objectively observing it all in absolute awe of what my brain was capable of doing. That never happened again. It could be the brain develops a tolerance to psychedelics. I have no way of knowing.
I haven’t tried a lemon juice magic mushroom cocktail, although it sounds interesting. Drinking grapefruit juice is known for speeding up the intake of drugs, maybe that’s it.
A British company with a manufacturing plant in Bulgaria was sent a warning letter by the FDA because it is selling a CBD infused tampon in the U.S. that has not undergone FDA approval:
A single dose of psilocybin is effective for treatment-resistant depression:
Opioid misuse is less in states with medical marijuana availability:
Mormons need to reconsider their prohibition of coffee now that a team of scientists has demonstrated that morning coffee intake results in a lowered risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality:
Higher green tea consumption in Japan is associated with fewer cerebral white matter lesions and may be useful in preventing dementia:
DEA releases Telehealth Special Registration Proposal:
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Smoking opioids is associated with a two-thirds lower mortality rate compared to injecting:
I strongly disagree with Bill O’Reilly’s stance on marijuana. His views are outdated and not supported by scientific evidence. Marijuana has been shown to have numerous medical benefits and should be legalized.
The Trump administration has rescinded a proposed ban of menthol cigarettes: