Is smoking marijuana assur?

Marijuana is not considered physically addictive according to the book I borrowed from the library.

I am appalled at the azus of some people that claim that Rav Moshe ZT”L was mattir smoking tobacco. Chas veshalom! The question posed, relevant to the extent of scientific knowledge at the time, was whether giving a match to someone to light up was considered ???? ??? ?? ??? ?????. He felt that the evidence to go that far was not there (in approximately 1962). But he clearly stated that those not smoking should not begin, and those who already were smokers should stop. A link to the tshuva above should help identify what Rav Moshe really said. I also heard from others who quoted Rav Moshe as having stated (verbally, not known if in writing) that smoking was clearly assur.

There is a sefer bearing a large number of haskamos of well known, universally recognized Gedolei Hador in which the subject is discussed in full length, referenced with quotes from poskim (not anonymous commenters like me). ???? ??? ????? – ?????? ??????. There was a prior sefer that addressed this: ??? ??? ??? – ??’ ?? ?????? bearing haskomos from Rav Shteinman ????”? and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ZT”L. It contains tshuvos from a wide range of Poskei Hador. There are countless other references, but the comment feature here would be overwhelmed by a catalogue of all these references. Just try the above two. Then we’ll deal with smoke by a substance undeniably far more serious that tobacco.

As for medicinal marijuana, and the interest of having a hechsher available, there is a simple comment. Medicines all involve some form of toxicity, making them effective at “killing the disease”. It becomes a highly professional judgment call if the negative aspect of the medicine is worse than the potential benefit or vice versa. It would be wise to view all medications as a subject requiring a balance between the benefits versus the risks. Same goes for marijauna. Taking it casually is not different from ingesting a medication used for chemotherapy for cancer just for fun. Stupid, dangerous, and against halacha.

“Why would anyone one assume that marijuana is safer than alcohol or cigarettes? “

One would not assume that, but the actual evidence is clear that it does not cause the social and physical harm that alcohol and cigarettes cause.

“isnt it addictive?”

Not in the same way that alcohol or cigarettes are, or even heroin or cocaine are. Millions of people have quit smoking marijuana with little struggle.

” Does smoking it have less an effect on the lungs than tobacco? And it’s usually not even filtered?”

Filters don’t prevent the damage to ones health that smoking causes. And while in theory a marijuana cigarette can be as bad as a tobacco cigarette, it is extremely rare for a pothead to smoke 30 marijuana cigarettes a day!

“As far as I know, there is no other purpose to smoking marijuana other than to get high, an altered mental status”

Actually there is now a lot of evidence for marijuana having numerous medical uses, and it is safer to smoke a marijuana cigarette than to take the active ingredient in pill form.

I absolutely do not support smoking marijuana to get high. A college roommate of mine flunked out because he was high all semester. But discussions should be grounded in fact, and the anti-marijuana folks are fact-impaired.

ZD, there are already hecsherim on some medications. Although there are heterim, kosher oral medications are still better than nonkosher. Also, they may market the medical marijuana as part of a food product, in which case it would certainly need to be kosher.

It wasnt clear what the OU wants a hechsher for. Marijuana ciggarettes, Marijuana Pills or baked goods. Obviously the baked goods need a hechsher, but my questions is just for the ciggarettes or pills

Ask a shaila;)