iStock
NASHVILLE (BP) – Americans may be rethinking their affinity for marijuana, evidenced by a New York Times reversal on the issue and a study suggesting scant evidence supporting medical marijuana’s use in mental health.
Motives for the reconsideration vary, said Ray Hacke, an attorney with the Pacific Justice Institute, a Christian legal organization.
“I don’t know that marijuana is a moral good any more than alcohol is a moral good,” Hacke told Baptist Press. “People are looking at it and seeing some of the real-world effects on people’s moods and behavior. People are thinking, there is a reason why this stuff is restricted. Maybe we need to hit the reset button a bit.”
The Times sounded a similar note in a February editorial titled “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.”
“The unfortunate truth is that the loosening of marijuana policies – especially the decision to legalize pot without adequately regulating it – has led to worse outcomes than many Americans expected,” The Times editorial board wrote. “It’s time to acknowledge reality and change course.”
The editorial represented an about-face from more than a decade of support for marijuana legalization. Previous editorials “described marijuana addiction and dependence as ‘relatively minor problems’” and claimed “marijuana was a harmless drug that might even bring net health benefits,” The Times stated.
But “it is now clear that many of these predictions were wrong,” according to The Times. “Legalization has led to more use. Surveys suggest that about 18 million people in the United States have used marijuana almost daily (or about five times a week) in recent years. That was up from around six million in 2012 and less than one million in 1992. More Americans now use marijuana daily than alcohol.”
Marijuana use is legal for adults in 24 states plus the District of Columbia, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-marijuana group. Thirty-one states have decriminalized cannabis, and 40 permit medical cannabis.
The way forward is not to recriminalize marijuana, The Times wrote. Rather, it should be taxed heavily, the most harmful forms should be banned and false claims about medical marijuana should be prohibited. The Times dubbed its new approach “legalize and regulate.”
The Times’ caution regarding medical marijuana dovetails with a study in the medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry that concluded, “Given the scarcity of evidence, the routine use of cannabinoids for the treatment of mental disorders and [substance use disorders] is currently rarely justified.”
In the study, scientists from the University of Sydney analyzed 45 years of peer-reviewed data on medical marijuana from 1980-2025.
Could the current rethinking of marijuana open a window of opportunity for concerned citizens to stifle the advance of marijuana culture?
If so, the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is ready to capitalize on the opportunity. Its 2026 Public Policy Agenda lists opposition of marijuana expansion as a means of upholding human dignity in the public square.
“Increased marijuana usage has been shown in numerous studies to have deleterious effects on families and communities,” the ERLC stated. “Despite popular narrative, there is no approved medical use for marijuana, and its legalization will create financial incentives and tax breaks for cannabis companies, perpetuating use and abuse of the drug.”
The ERLC “will continue to oppose all efforts – from the executive and legislative branches –to expand the availability of marijuana in our nation,” according to the Public Policy Agenda.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December directing his administration to begin the process of reclassifying marijuana as medically useful and less dangerous than previously thought. The reclassification would place marijuana alongside codeine and steroids as a Schedule III drug possessing accepted medical use and moderate to low potential for physical dependance. For years, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug, defined as having no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse.
The SBC adopted at least six resolutions on drug use from 1920-2018. The only one to mention marijuana specifically was a 1973 resolution “on alcohol and other drugs.” It noted “an alarmingly developing culture involving marijuana and other illegal drugs.”
The resolution urged the federal government “to take action to control advertising of alcohol, tobacco, and other addictive drugs which perpetuate the drug orientation of the culture.”
RaShan Frost, the ERLC’s director of research and senior fellow for human dignity, said the current discussion of marijuana should prompt Christians to “a higher moral standard that reflects the lordship of Christ in every area of life.”
“When it comes to marijuana and other recreational drugs, it is wise to consider the call to demonstrate sober-mindedness and self-control in our conduct,” he said, referencing 1 Peter 4:7. “Marijuana usage is the opposite of that biblical command, as it distorts judgment, motor function and inhibits moral restraint. Furthermore, we are commanded to avoid drunkenness, intoxication and impairment.”
Hacke suggested steps for churches and individuals hoping to stymie the normalization of marijuana. First, they should ask local officials to enact zoning laws prohibiting marijuana sales in areas with children, including schools and houses of worship. Churches and individual believers also should minister to drug users, helping them become clean and sober.
“There might be some who are resistant” to help, Hacke said, “but there are some who want out of addiction and don’t necessarily know a way out.”
Ultimately, confronting marijuana use is important, Frost said, because substance abuse lures people away from knowing and serving Jesus.
“The harmful effects of recreational marijuana use not only foster sin, but may draw us to sinful patterns of addiction, impacting our lives and those around us,” Frost said. “The Gospel calls us to a better way of life. Our churches need to be prepared to shepherd and disciple people in finding fulfillment and satisfaction in Christ rather than the temporary pleasures of recreational drug use.”
David Roach is a writer in Mobile, Ala.
© 2026 Southern Baptist Convention. Site by Mere.