A medical marijuana dispensary in California expresses evangelical Christian views and is known to hand out Bibles along with the controversial drug.
Canna
Care of Sacramento, a family owned dispensary known for supplying
medical marijuana and advocating for decriminalization, evangelizes and
prays with its customers. Canna Care oversees group prayers in a typical
day around 6:00 p.m. and has handed out an estimated 3,000 Bibles to
those who come for their services.
Kris Hermes, spokesperson for
the nationwide pro-marijuana legalization group Americans for Safe
Access, told The Christian Post about its ties to Canna Care.
"Canna
Care has been a supporter of Americans for Safe Access as have scores
of dispensaries across the country," said Hermes. "We have also worked
with the operators of Canna Care on a number of political campaigns over
the years, given their active involvement in advancing medical
marijuana policy."
Hermes also told CP about the building of
bridges between ASA and faith communities in the United States in the
effort to decriminalize the drug.
"As an advocacy organization, we
try to build bridges with many different communities, including those
organized around faith, labor rights, healthcare reform, and many
others," said Hermes.
"The
relationship between faith-based groups and medical marijuana is
certainly healthier and more focused on compassion than the relationship
between medical marijuana and law enforcement."
Hermes also added
that ASA "has also worked with the Universal Life Church on various
political campaigns. The ULC is promoting us and our efforts to bring
medical marijuana access to patients nationwide."
The debate over
marijuana legalization has not only come to mainstream American society,
but also before public Christian leaders.
Pat Robertson, founder
of the Christian Coalition and host of "The 700 Club," gained headlines
when he expressed his support for decriminalizing pot.
"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," said Robertson to The New York Times.
"If
people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink
it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other
substance is somehow criminal?"
However, Mark Driscoll, lead pastor of the Seattle-based megachurch Mars Hill, recently published an e-book wherein he found the practice to be an example of immature foolishness.
"Young
men are the most likely to smoke weed and, by seemingly all measurable
variables, are immature, irresponsible, and getting worse," wrote
Driscoll. "There is nothing wrong with being a boy, so long as you are a
boy. But when a man acts like a boy, that’s a real problem."
Last month, Washington
State and Colorado voted by popular referendum to decriminalize
recreational pot; these measures go contrary to present federal
government drug enforcement law.
