edgarshade
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Legalising drugs is the best way to promote the moral values that both Francis and I share
CatholicHerald
With reader commetns
By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith on Monday, 23 June 2014
The Church teaches that drug abuse is wrong but that doesn’t mean we should support the criminalisation of drug users.
The Pope has spoken out against the use of recreational drugs, and, it seems, against the possible legalisation and decriminalisation of recreational drug use. Or so it seems. The Zenit news agency carries the story, which reports the Pope’s remarks to a conference on drug law enforcement, at some length, without mentioning legalisation/decriminalisation. Associated Press, which has been copied widely the world over, as for example here gives one the impression that the Pope has waded into a contentious debate coming down decisively on one side. If that is the case, it would not be entirely surprising: the Pope recently spoke in favour of the Union and against Scottish separatism, a question on which the local Church has kept resolutely quiet, perhaps because they realise that this is a complex issue on which a plurality of equally Catholic opinions are possible.
Looking at what the reports say, a few observations are necessary.
First of all the Pope is against drugs. This is hardly a surprise. Everyone is. Taking drugs is deeply irresponsible. By this I mean of course drug taking without a proportionate reason. It is OK to take morphine when in severe pain, but it is certainly wrong to take heroin just for pleasure. Recreational drug use damages people, sometimes severely. So too does smoking tobacco; so too does drinking alcohol to excess; that tobacco and alcohol are legal today is not an argument for legalising all recreational drugs, but must at least give us pause before we advocate a blanket ban on all harmful behaviour.
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http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/com...e-moral-values-that-both-francis-and-i-share/