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Volume I February 1969 Number 2
L E C H A Y I M
One of the pressing moral questions or today is the use of drugs and narcotics for other than medical purposes. It is fruitless to search the the legal codes in the Bible, the Talmud, the Shulchan Aruch , or any of the classical guides, for a clear statement on the subject, either for prohibition or sanction. The reason can only be that "turning on” was not, until recently, viewed as a threat to individual or social stability.
The ancients throughout the world knew about the effects of drugs like opium and marijuana. Priests and oracles among the Greeks and Romans used certain drugs to produce trance. It is possible that what the Bible refers to as “prophesying” and the “spirit of God” (e.g. I Sam. 10:10; 19:18) was some sort ot drug induced ecstasy. As for use by the common man, we have this description of a "high• written by Homer (9th cent. B.C.E. ) “There is a drug potent against pain and quarrels, and charged with the forgetfulness of all troubles; whoever drank this mingled in the bowl, not one tear would he let fall the whole day long."
Our Jewish forbears were, no doubt, acquainted with narcotics, but very likely used them in the same degree aa other peoples did, which is to say, not extensively. While there is evidence of alcoholism among the ancients, we know of no widespread drug addiction in those days. The early rabbis were not the sort to ignore a problem in any of its specifics, but while the Talmud discusses drunkenness in terms of legal liability, there is no mention of drugs.
It is my understanding that the use or drugs can be seen, at least in certain aspects, as analogous to the use of alcohol, and that a Jewish approach would be roughly the same in both cases. (For purposes of this essay, I distinguish between the use of marijuana and the like and addiction to heroin, amphetamines, or barbiturates, in the same way that an occasional drink or drinks is to be distinguished from chronic alcoholism. The "wino• and the “junkie” present a separate problem.)
What about alcohol? “Wine makes a man's heart happy" (Ps 104:15) and we thank God for having created “the fruit of the vine.” Every time we lift a glass of spirits we say “Lechayim!” I think the appreciation of alcohol can be summed up in the toast “To Life!” To be sure, our literature indicates nothing but disgust for drunkenness, but an occasional drink or so adds something or value to our lives. Alcohol must be used with care and moderation, but there is, for us, no virtue in leaving it alone. Quite the contrary: it is good to say •Lechayim!” once in a while.
Why then shouldn't there be a hearty “Lechayim” when we light a bit of marijuana? There is no need here to describe the effects of this drug to compare it with drink. Such knowledge is widespread by now. We shouldn't be intimidated by the terminology of “turning on,” “pot”, “grass,” “high”, "blowing your mind", etc., any more than we are upset by such boozy classics as “"mellow", “tight", “bombed,” “zonked”.
Why the great furor over “pot”? (A tempest in a teapot?) There is, of course, the matter of the law, which fails to distinguish between marijuana and heroin and prevents most of' us from something that might or might not be good for us. Those Americans who “got along" during prohibition must have a hard time condemning a new generation that so flouts the law of the land. There are some laws that do more harm than good.
T'he illegality of marijuana is not the main problem at all. The seriousness of the threat lies in the fact that drug use has become a fad among our our adolescents. I suspect that such youthful use of alcohol would have us just as upset. Our worry lest our “pot” smoking children become “junkies" is as justified as would be the case with "social drinkers" becoming alcoholics.
Why are our youth using drugs? It is a difficult question, and must lead us into psychological and sociological considerations. If’ they have become dependent upon narcotics, it is a greater pity for them than adults becoming dependent upon tranquilizers and other pills. Either case would be a "copping out," and a sad commentary on life, and far, far from a situation in which “Lechayim" would be appropriate.
An additional danger for children is their lack of restraint. Whatever the arguments about the relative safety of marijuana, the same cannot be said for the variety of pills that are to be had. Adolescents can and do cause themselves lasting damage playing with "ups" and "downs".
Just because a problem is not dealt with in the main body of Jewish codes is no reason we modern Jews should not attempt to reach a moral judgement. We are grounded in a rich source of humanistic values. God gave us the means to intelligence and understanding. Let us see where they lead. I think we can make a useful contribution to resolving: the current dilemma. over the use and abuse of drugs.
Rabbi David L Kline
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