In 2012, Colorado led the way in legalizing recreational marijuana. A decade later, as more states vote to do the same and popular opinion grows in its support, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has published a new Pastoral Letter analyzing the effect that these measures and the broad acceptance of drugs in general have had on individuals, families and society in Colorado and beyond.
“I write to you out of pastoral concern for the salvation of souls,” Archbishop Aquila says. “In Colorado, we are now a decade into this experiment. As more studies come out… we now have an overwhelming amount of data that reinforces what we have known to be true all along: the legalization of marijuana and cultural acceptance of drug use have been disastrous to our society.”
The letter, titled “That They Might Have Life,” approaches the subject from the lens of faith and reason; it synthesizes Church teaching, principles of the natural law, and recent, relevant scientific data. Archbishop Aquila intends to help Catholics intelligently dialogue with the 70% of Americans who believe marijuana should be legal.
How do we judge drugs?
To understand how the subject of drugs is to be judged, the archbishop lays the philosophical foundation for the research he will later present. “We can only judge whether an action is good or bad for a thing when we understand its purpose and how it pursues that purpose,” he writes.
The human person was created with a specific purpose: to be in relationship with God, in a communion of love. We received an intellect to know him, a will to love him, and emotions to lead our actions to that communion, he explains. Drugs are only an “apparent good” because they downgrade our ability to enter into communion: “Drugs inhibit our use of reason, weaken our will’s orientation toward the good, and train our emotions to expect quick relief from artificial pleasure.”
Since the human person was made “for love by the God who is love,” and since he or she has such high dignity, “it is wrong [for a person] to use any substance that is harmful” to him — or herself. Even if certain drugs are considered “soft,” meaning that they should be permissible because the risks of bodily harm are minimal, they still “assail” the person’s dignity because they diminish his or her reason, Archbishop Aquila explains. They weaken or even destroy the person’s ability to make free choices.
Archbishop Aquila goes on to address the issue of drugs in theory and practice. Regarding the common distinction between “hard” and “soft” drugs, often used by drug advocates, Archbishop explains that not only does it not exist at the pharmacological level, but it also minimizes the dangers associated with certain drugs, something that “teaches the culture to view drugs as an answer to its problems.”
Among the oft-minimized dangers of “soft” drugs, such as marijuana, experts point out psychological dependency and a wide range of mental disorders. We have witnessed this phenomenon in Colorado, with “marijuana use disorder” affecting 1.6% of the population in the early 2000s but jumping to 3.3% as of 2019 — more than doubling in less than 20 years. Additionally, a global survey found that 36% of active marijuana users did not know they had a 10% chance of becoming addicted, the letter explains.
Not only have the THC levels contained in marijuana increased from 2% to at least 15%, making it more potent, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that “Recent research suggests that smoking high-potency marijuana every day could increase the chances of developing psychosis by nearly five times compared to people who have never used marijuana.”
The truth about marijuana
The letter goes on to cite numerous sources that illustrate the impact of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and beyond. One study found that those who started using marijuana in their teens experienced a drop in IQ, even if usage was not regular. Another study that tracked UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital found marijuana-related emergency room visits tripled after the sale of recreational marijuana began in January 2014. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine indicate that “there is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and increased risk of motor vehicle crashes.” Even more, “an analysis of survey data from more than 280,000 young adults ages 18–35 showed that cannabis use was associated with increased risks of thoughts of suicide (suicidal ideation), suicide plan, and suicide attempt.”
Besides the numerous negative consequences of marijuana on the human body and mind, the letter indicates that the economic arguments in favor of its legalization also fail to stand up to scrutiny. After calculating all related costs associated with marijuana, the results show that “society spends much more than the government collects in taxes,” Archbishop Aquila states. “In Colorado, one study found that ‘for every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization,’ after accounting for additional costs in healthcare, crime, traffic accidents and fatalities, environmental impacts, and more.”
Another common argument for the legalization of marijuana addressed in the letter is the belief that legalization would hurt the illegal market for drugs. New data, however, point to the opposite: “Both Colorado and California have seen massive growth in the marijuana underground market since legalization.” In California, where the problem is more acute due to its favorable weather, it is estimated that illegal dispensaries outnumber legal sellers by almost three-to-one simply because they sell a much cheaper product.
The Christian response to drugs
As more states vote to legalize marijuana and other drugs, Archbishop Aquila calls citizens to look beyond the usual argument that if an adult’s drug use does not hurt anyone else, the person should be free to do as he or she wishes without government interference. Yet, if a “soft” drug like marijuana can cause such physical, psychological, societal and economic harm, it is even more true of other drugs. After all, something that is legal is regarded by society as normal and moral. Adopting such a view on any drug that harms the individual “inevitably harms society as well,” Archbishop Aquila says.
Lastly, he calls on Christians to help address the causes that lead many people to fall into drug addiction. Drug use, he says, is much more likely when a person lives without a purpose and does not believe life has meaning. Drugs provide instant gratification without addressing the root issues. He continues: “The most important thing we can do as Christians in response to a drug culture is proclaiming the Gospel. It is through the love, mercy, meaning and hope found in Jesus Christ that people will be deterred from drug use or inspired to break free of its influence.”
He encourages the faithful to participate in the Church’s three-pronged effort against drugs: prevention, suppression, and rehabilitation. “The family is one of the first places for the prevention of drug use.” Suppression includes voting against the legalization of drugs. And while the Church has and will always proclaim the truth about the dangers of drugs, Archbishop Aquila says, “We gladly join in society’s efforts to aid those suffering from addiction by following the example of Jesus Christ, who came not to be served but to serve and sought out the sick.”
