Is Smoking Weed a Sin? What the Catholic Church Teaches About Marijuana, Drugs and Drinking

"It's legal here. It's a plant. And you had two beers at your cousin's wedding, so what's the difference?"

Sometimes that question comes from a friend passing a joint, or a teenage son pushing back on his parents. Sometimes it is the voice in your own head after a long week, when the gummies are in the kitchen drawer and nobody would ever know.

It deserves a real answer, not a slogan. Here is what Scripture, the first Christians and the Catholic Church teach about marijuana, drugs and drinking, why it is true, and where to find help if you are already in over your head.

Short answer: Yes. Using marijuana to get high is a sin, and a serious one. The Catholic Church teaches: "The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense" (CCC 2291). The problem is not the plant. It is the high: deliberately switching off the reason and self-control by which we know and love God. Alcohol is permitted because it can be enjoyed without intoxication, but drunkenness is condemned too (CCC 2290). And no one is beyond Christ's mercy.

Key verses on drugs, drinking and sobriety

• "...wine to gladden their hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread to sustain the human heart." (Psalm 104:15)
• "Wine is arrogant, strong drink is riotous; none who are intoxicated by them are wise." (Proverbs 20:1)
• "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)
• "And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit..." (Ephesians 5:18)
• "In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22–23)
• "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What Protestants and Critics Believe

There is no single Protestant position, and the secular case has several strands.

1. "Christian liberty." Many Protestants defend moderate drinking as Christian freedom. John Calvin wrote, "nor was it ever forbidden to laugh, or to be full," and in the same sentence named drinking wine among the things never forbidden (Institutes 3.19.9). The Westminster Confession teaches that "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men" that are contrary to His Word or, in matters of faith or worship, beside it (20.2). Some Christians today extend that reasoning to cannabis: Scripture never forbids it by name, so no church may bind the conscience against it.

2. "Total abstinence." Other Protestants take the opposite view of alcohol. In 2006 the Southern Baptist Convention resolved to "express our total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages" ("On Alcohol Use in America"). To many Christians in this tradition, a Catholic who forbids marijuana but raises a glass of wine at a wedding looks inconsistent.

3. "God made it." Some believers quote Genesis 1:29 (KJV): "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth" (Genesis 1:29, KJV). A plant God gave us, they reason, cannot be sinful to use.

4. The secular case. Marijuana is legal in many places; adults should decide what goes into their own bodies; a quiet night with an edible harms no one; cannabis is no worse than alcohol; and for some people it is medicine.

Some of these points contain real truth. The Bible never mentions marijuana by name. Alcohol does affect the mind. The medical question is real. But none of them gets you to "a high is fine."

What Catholics Actually Teach

The Catholic Church starts not with a list of banned substances but with a virtue. Temperance is one of the four cardinal virtues (CCC 1805). The Catechism defines it: "Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable" (CCC 1809). It adds: "In the New Testament it is called 'moderation' or 'sobriety'" (CCC 1809).

The second starting point is that the body and its health are gifts: "Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good" (CCC 2288). A gift entrusted to you is not yours to damage on a whim.

From those two principles come the specific teachings:

• Excess is the sin. "The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air" (CCC 2290).
• Drug use is gravely wrong. "The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense" (CCC 2291).
• Dealing is gravely wrong too. "Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law" (CCC 2291).

The Catechism does not name marijuana; it speaks of "drugs." Does that leave room for "soft" drugs? Pope St. John Paul II answered directly. Of the popular distinction between soft and hard drugs, he said, "This distinction disregards and downplays the risks inherent in taking any toxic product," and he warned of "the loss of one's will and freedom, whatever the drug." He was blunt: "The drug phenomenon is a particularly serious evil" (Address to the Church Meeting on Chemical Dependency, October 11, 1997, 2–3).

Alcohol is treated differently because it can be used differently: wine is a good gift; drunkenness is the sin. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that drunkenness is a mortal sin when a person knowingly drinks himself into intoxication, "because then a man willingly and knowingly deprives himself of the use of reason" (Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 150, a. 2). The line is the same for every substance: the deliberate surrender of reason.

Finally, the Catholic Church distinguishes the act from the guilt of the person. "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent" (CCC 1857). At the same time: "Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors" (CCC 1735). Addiction is exactly the kind of habit and attachment that can lessen guilt. It does not make the act good, and it never puts anyone beyond mercy (see Are Mortal and Venial Sins in the Bible?).

What Catholics do not teach:

• That alcohol is evil, or that a glass of wine or a beer is a sin.
• That every Catholic must abstain. Abstinence is an honorable choice, and for some a necessary one, but not a universal law.
• That the cannabis plant is evil, or that every medicine affecting the mind is forbidden.
• That a person struggling with addiction is hopeless, or fully guilty of every relapse.

It all points to Christ. Jesus gave the best wine at Cana and gave His own Blood in the cup of the Last Supper. At Golgotha He refused the wine drugged with myrrh (Mark 15:23) and met His Passion awake and free. He does not ask for a numbed disciple. He asks for your whole heart, soul and mind, filled with His Spirit and alive with His joy.

The Biblical Case

The Bible never mentions marijuana. What Scripture gives us is a clear set of principles about creation, the body, the mind and sobriety. Applying those principles to new questions is the work Christ entrusted to the apostles and their successors in the Catholic Church: "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 18:18), and "Whoever listens to you listens to me" (Luke 10:16). St. Paul calls the Church "the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15; see Is the Church the Pillar and Foundation of Truth?).

1. Creation is good, and wine is God's gift

Scripture is not puritanical. The psalmist praises God for "plants for people's work to bring forth food from the earth" and "wine to gladden their hearts" (Psalm 104:14–15). Sirach, one of the seven books Protestant Bibles omit (see Why Catholic Bibles Have 7 More Books), says, "Wine is very life to anyone, if taken in moderation" (Sirach 31:27). St. Paul tells St. Timothy, "Stop drinking only water, but have a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses" (1 Timothy 5:23). Jesus' first sign was turning water into wine (John 2:1–11). And St. Paul insists that "everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:4). Notice the condition built into the gift: "if taken in moderation."

2. Scripture condemns drunkenness

The same Bible that praises wine warns against drunkenness again and again. "Wine is arrogant, strong drink is riotous; none who are intoxicated by them are wise" (Proverbs 20:1). Proverbs paints the drunkard's portrait: strife, wounds for no reason and bleary eyes; a drink that goes down smoothly but in the end bites like a serpent; a man beaten without feeling it, who wakes up only to look for more (Proverbs 23:29–35). Isaiah pronounces woe on those who chase strong drink from morning until late at night, and on "those who are champions at drinking wine" (Isaiah 5:11, 22).

The New Testament is just as clear. Christians must live "not in orgies and drunkenness" (Romans 13:13). St. Paul lists "drinking bouts" among the works of the flesh, with a warning: "I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19–21). Neither will "drunkards" (1 Corinthians 6:10).

What makes drunkenness evil is not the grapes. It is the choice to lose command of one's own mind and will. A deliberate high is a different chemistry but the same choice.

3. Your body is not your own

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). In the same chapter St. Paul quotes a popular slogan and answers it: "'Everything is lawful for me,' but I will not let myself be dominated by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Christians are called to "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1). A temple is not a place you rent out to whatever feels good tonight (see also Is Getting a Tattoo a Sin?).

4. Your mind belongs to God

The greatest commandment includes the intellect: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). St. Paul tells us to "be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2).

Reason and free will are what make us like God. "God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions" (CCC 1730). St. Irenaeus said the same around AD 180: "man, being endowed with reason, and in this respect like to God, having been made free in his will" (Against Heresies 4.4.3). Getting high deliberately dims the very faculties by which we pray, choose and love. That is why it is grave, even when it feels harmless.

5. Sobriety and vigilance are commands, not suggestions

"Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). "Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6). Jesus Himself warned: "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life" (Luke 21:34).

St. Paul makes self-control a mark of every Christian at every age: older men "temperate, dignified, self-controlled," older women "not addicted to drink," younger men urged "to control themselves" (Titus 2:2–6). A watchman who drugs himself has abandoned his post.

6. Christian joy comes from the Spirit, not a substance

"And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). St. Paul sets two kinds of filling side by side. Preaching on this passage, St. John Chrysostom said: "Wine has been given us for cheerfulness, not for drunkenness" (Homilies on Ephesians 19).

At Pentecost, when the apostles were filled with the Spirit, scoffers said, "They have had too much new wine." St. Peter answered, "These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning" (Acts 2:13, 15), and then preached with perfect clarity. The Spirit's joy does not cloud the mind. His fruit includes not only "love, joy, peace" but "self-control" (Galatians 5:22–23). A high offers a counterfeit peace without the self-control.

7. Freedom is for love, not for the flesh

The Bible does proclaim Christian liberty: "For freedom Christ set us free" (Galatians 5:1). But in the same chapter St. Paul defines it: "For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love" (Galatians 5:13). Even good things must yield to love: "it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble" (Romans 14:21). And the test for everything: "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Ask honestly whether a high glorifies God.

Objections Answered

(a) "Marijuana is natural. God made the plant."

At its strongest: God gave us the plants, and everything God created is good. Catholics happily use God-made grapes and barley. Why should another God-made plant be off-limits?

Answer: God did make the plant, and the Catholic Church does not call it evil. But "natural" has never meant "good to use however I like." God also made hemlock and the opium poppy. Genesis 1:29, in fact, gives the seed-bearing plants and fruit trees "to be your food" (Genesis 1:29); it says nothing about getting high. The question is not "Is it natural?" but "Is this use of it good?" St. Augustine put the fault exactly where it belongs: "It is not the uncleanness of meat that I fear, but the uncleanness of lusting" (Confessions 10.31.46). St. John Chrysostom said the same about wine: "Wine makes not drunkenness; but intemperance produces it" (Homilies on the Statues 1.11). The creature is good. The disordered use is the sin.

(b) "It's legal now where I live."

At its strongest: Christians respect lawful authority. If the law now treats marijuana like alcohol, why should the Church be stricter than the state?

Answer: Civil law and the moral law do different jobs. St. Thomas Aquinas explained that "human laws do not forbid all vices, from which the virtuous abstain, but only the more grievous vices" (Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 96, a. 2). In most places, getting drunk at home or lying to a friend breaks no law. Neither is good. The law is a floor, not a ceiling. A Christian's first question is not "What will the state allow?" but "What does God ask?" As St. Peter said, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). And on the civil question itself, the Holy See "firmly rejects the use of illegal drugs and the legalization of the use of narcotics" (Holy See statement to the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem, April 21, 2016).

(c) "Alcohol is legal and Catholics drink, so weed is no different."

At its strongest: This is the best objection. Alcohol affects the mind too, and some argue that a small dose of cannabis impairs a person less than several drinks do. If the Church allows the beer, singling out the joint looks like cultural habit, not principle.

Answer: The Catholic Church does not apply a double standard. She applies one standard to both: you may not deliberately surrender your reason. That standard condemns getting drunk on beer as firmly as getting high (Ephesians 5:18; CCC 2290).

The difference lies in the act. Alcohol can be used without intoxication: a glass of wine with dinner, a toast at a wedding. Around AD 200, Clement of Alexandria, even while allowing older men to drink more freely, set their limit at "the point up to which they keep their reason unwavering, their memory active, and their body unmoved and unshaken by wine" (Paedagogus 2.2). Recreational marijuana use, by contrast, is sought for the high; that is what makes it recreational. The CDC describes THC as "impairing or mind-altering" (CDC, "About Cannabis"). In recreational use, that effect is not a side effect to be avoided. It is the point.

That is why the Catechism speaks of the "abuse" of alcohol (CCC 2290) but of the "use" of drugs (CCC 2291), and why St. John Paul II rejected the soft-versus-hard distinction (see above). The honest comparison is not "a beer versus a joint" but "drinking to get drunk versus smoking to get high," and the Catholic answer to both is no.

(d) "It's medicine."

At its strongest: Doctors recommend it for some patients, and Catholics accept powerful painkillers. Why should cannabis be different?

Answer: The Catechism agrees that therapeutic use is a different act. Its condemnation of drug use comes with an exception: "except on strictly therapeutic grounds" (CCC 2291). The Catholic Church is not against medicine that affects consciousness; she even permits painkillers for the dying "even at the risk of shortening their days," as long as death is not intended (CCC 2279).

But the word "strictly" carries weight. It means a real medical condition, real medical care, and use for that medical purpose, not a medical card obtained as cover for getting high. St. Augustine modeled the honesty this takes. He wrote, "This much have You taught me, that I should bring myself to take food as medicine," and he admitted that "there joins itself as an hand-maid a perilous delight" (Confessions 10.31.44). Ask yourself: Am I following my doctor, or my appetite? For your own situation, talk with your doctor and with a priest.

(e) "It's my body, and it hurts no one else."

At its strongest: An adult, at home, not driving, harming no one. Why is that anyone else's business?

Answer: Scripture denies the premise: "you are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19), and "None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself" (Romans 14:7). Even our care for our health must take "into account the needs of others and the common good" (CCC 2288).

And others are affected. Children learn from what they watch their parents do, and "Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil" (CCC 2284). Anyone who drives impaired endangers "their own and others' safety" (CCC 2290). Buying from the illegal trade supports what the Catechism calls "direct co-operation in evil" (CCC 2291). And the person most harmed is you, in the very faculties you need to pray and love.

(f) "Jesus turned water into wine."

At its strongest: At Cana, Jesus filled six stone jars "each holding twenty to thirty gallons," after the guests had already been drinking. His enemies even called Him "a glutton and a drunkard." Surely Jesus was no killjoy.

Answer: Cana is one reason the Catholic Church has never demanded total abstinence. It proves that wine is good. It does not prove that intoxication is good. The headwaiter describes a general custom: "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now" (John 2:10). St. John tells us why Jesus acted: "Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee," and He revealed His glory (John 2:11). The abundance is a sign of the kingdom, and it points ahead to the cup of His Blood (see Is the Eucharist Really the Body and Blood of Jesus?).

As for the insult, Jesus quoted it Himself: "The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard...'" (Matthew 11:19). It was slander. And the same Lord who made wine at Cana inspired "do not get drunk on wine" (Ephesians 5:18). Scripture does not contradict itself: wine is a gift; drunkenness is a sin. That is exactly the Catholic position.

The Early Church Agrees

• Tertullian (Apology 39, AD 197), describing the Christians' common meal: "as much is drunk as befits the chaste" (ccel.org). In the second century Christians drank at their feasts, and they drank soberly.
• Clement of Alexandria (Paedagogus 2.2, c. AD 200): "I therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are fond of water, the medicine of temperance" (newadvent.org). In the same chapter he permits wine in moderation but sets the limit where reason stays "unwavering," the line the Catholic Church still draws.
• St. John Chrysostom (Homilies on the Statues 1.11, AD 387), preaching on 1 Timothy 5:23: "Let there be no drunkenness; for wine is the work of God, but drunkenness is the work of the devil" (newadvent.org). The gift is God's; the abuse is the enemy's.
• St. Augustine (Confessions 10.31.45, c. AD 400): "Drunkenness, it is far from me; You will have mercy, that it approach not near unto me" (newadvent.org). Even a Doctor of the Church relied on God's mercy, not willpower alone, to stay sober.

These texts are about wine, not marijuana. But from the second century on, Christians drew the same line the Catechism draws today: the creature is good, moderation is a virtue, and the deliberate loss of reason is a sin. As St. John Chrysostom put it, wine was given "to restore the body's weakness, not to overturn the soul's strength" (Homilies on the Statues 1.12).

Conclusion

The real question is not "Is this plant evil?" but "What is my mind for, and whose is my body?" The Catholic answer is freer than total abstinence, because wine is God's gift and Jesus gave it at a wedding. It is stricter than a "Christian liberty" stretched to cover anything Scripture does not name, because no gift may be used to switch off the reason God gave us to know and love Him. One principle, applied evenly to every substance: enjoy God's gifts, and never surrender the mind that belongs to Him.

If you have been using, this is an invitation, not a lecture. Right after St. Paul lists "drunkards" among those who will not inherit the kingdom, he writes: "That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). "If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing" (1 John 1:9). Christ is waiting for you in Confession.

Come home. The Church that has called Christians to sober joy since the apostles, and that meets every struggling sinner with Christ's mercy in Confession, is the Catholic Church. Christ did not found many churches. He founded one, on St. Peter and the apostles (Matthew 16:18), and that Church is the Catholic Church. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). If you are a baptized Christian, you already share "a certain, although imperfect, communion" with her (CCC 838). Every truth you already hold is a call to the rest of the way. If you are not yet a Christian, we invite you to come and see. Christ is calling you into the Catholic Church.

Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.

FAQ

Is drinking alcohol a sin? No. Scripture praises "wine to gladden their hearts" (Psalm 104:15), and Jesus made wine at Cana. Drunkenness is the sin (Ephesians 5:18; 1 Corinthians 6:10), and driving drunk incurs "grave guilt" (CCC 2290). If you cannot drink without getting drunk, the loving choice is not to drink.

Is medical marijuana allowed? The Catechism condemns drug use "except on strictly therapeutic grounds" (CCC 2291). Use for a real medical purpose, under real medical care and as directed, is a different moral act from recreational use. The Catechism does not list which treatments qualify, so talk with your doctor and a priest, and be honest about whether "medical" is the real reason.

Is vaping or smoking tobacco a sin? The Catechism does not condemn tobacco as such; it condemns "the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine" (CCC 2290). The moral questions are excess, dependence and harm to the health we must take "reasonable care" of (CCC 2288). Vaping THC is different: it falls under the teaching on drugs in CCC 2291.

What if I'm addicted? Do not despair. Addiction can lessen guilt (CCC 1735), and "Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church" (CCC 1446). Go to Confession and get real help from your doctor and a recovery program. Pope St. John Paul II said: "Drug abusers must be helped to re-establish trusting relationships with their family and friends" (Address, June 4, 1987). The Calix Society, "an association of Catholic alcoholics, drug addicts, and family members and friends affected by addiction," pairs the Catholic faith with a 12-step program.

Sources

Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Genesis 1:29; Psalm 104:14–15; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 23:29–35; Sirach 31:27; Isaiah 5:11, 22; Matthew 11:19; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 18:18; Matthew 22:37; Mark 15:23; Luke 10:16; Luke 21:34; John 2:1–11; Acts 2:13, 15; Acts 5:29; Romans 12:1–2; Romans 13:13; Romans 14:7, 21; 1 Corinthians 6:10–12, 19–20; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Galatians 5:1, 13, 19–23; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Timothy 4:4; 1 Timothy 5:23; Titus 2:2–6; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 1:9.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 816, 838; 1446; 1730; 1735; 1805, 1809; 1857; 2279; 2284, 2288, 2290, 2291.

Church documents: Pope St. John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the Church Meeting on Chemical Dependency (October 11, 1997); Pope St. John Paul II, Address to the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (June 4, 1987); Holy See, Statement at the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (April 21, 2016).

Church Fathers: St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.4.3; Tertullian, Apology 39; Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus 2.2; St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Statues 1.11–12; St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Ephesians 19; St. Augustine, Confessions 10.31.44–46.

Other sources: St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 150, a. 2 and I-II, q. 96, a. 2; John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 3.19.9; Westminster Confession of Faith, 20.2; Southern Baptist Convention, "On Alcohol Use in America" (2006); Genesis 1:29 (KJV); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About Cannabis"; Calix Society.