The title of this discussion was a question asked by a very agitated lady at a lectureship. It followed a lengthy and heated discussion I had been engaged in with a young man who was advocating the use of marijuana as a recreational drug. It turned out that the young man was this lady's grandson, and his use of pot had caused enormous pain to her and her entire family. She was angry with God for creating something that could cause so much pain to her and those she loved. I responded to her with an explanation that involved the idea that things we think are useless are not always as useless as we think, and that misuse was the issue. Since that discussion I have found out that marijuana is one of the most useful plants in the creation.
The plant that the drug called THC comes from is called hemp. The stalk of hemp has long stringy fibers which make it ideal for fabric, and in fact the first use of hemp was apparently for rope. Hemp clothing feels like burlap. It is tough, poses no environmental threat, and can be woven in a large number of different ways, making hemp clothing that feels like linen or like canvas.
The woody core of the hemp plant is an ideal material to make fiber board, paper, and other construction products with! Leaders of the Navajo Nation are forming a corporation called Arizona City of Sawmill to commercially produce fiberboard. The seeds of the hemp plant can be used to produce an industrial oil which has a variety of uses including a diesel fuel. The seed casing can be ground into a flour which is 25% protein, and the oil itself has eight essential proteins and is low in saturated fats. In addition to the stalk and seeds the leaves can be turned into alcohol for fuel, making the plant 100% useful. Whether the active drug ingredient THC helps nausea in cancer patients or has other medical uses is still being debated, but unlike tobacco which has very limited use the hemp plant has an incredible number of uses.
Over the years we have seen people sniff glue, mainline peanut butter, and breath gasoline fumes. Mans' ability to think up ways to abuse his body is incredible. To accuse God of making an error in creating substances that can be misused would leave God with nothing to create. The hemp plant has the potential for incredible good. What we need to do is to convince people to treat their bodies with respect and care since it is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16f). The abuse will not end until people depend on the Lord and His way of life for the things that really have meaning in life.
Back to Contents Does God Exist?, SepOct97.