A New Risk for Today’s Generation
There has been an avalanche of stories, based on multiple surveys, that people are drinking less today than they used to. Particularly, young people.
But while they aren’t drinking,
... they are toking (smoking marijuana).
And that’s not a good thing, even in moderation. Let’s bracket off how it might be against the law where that teenager lives. Instead, let’s just think about it in terms of our bodies. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he writes:
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (I Corinthians 6:19-20, NLT)
Wait, isn’t it legal?
Yes, in many places.
Then isn’t it safe? Isn’t it just like having a glass of wine?
No, it’s not, not at any age, and particularly not if you are young.
Marijuana is a psychoactive drug. What you’re smoking is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC. It creates altered senses, an altered sense of time, hallucinations—sensations and images that seem real though they are not. It can bring about temporary paranoia.
And that’s just in the short term.
Long-term use may reduce thinking, memory, and learning functions and affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions. Smoking marijuana affects your lungs like any other kind of smoking, including breathing problems, lung illness, and a higher risk of lung cancer.
Because of its effect on the heart, you increase your chances of a heart attack. It affects almost every organ of your body, as well as your nervous system and your immune system.
Except for medicinal use for pain, there is no benefit whatsoever—only damage to your physical life.
And the rest of your life, too.
Users report less academic and career success and a higher likelihood of dropping out of school. It’s linked to more job absences, accidents, and injuries.
The younger you start, the more debilitating it becomes; the more addictive it becomes. And contrary to what a lot of people think, it can be very addictive. One out of every three users develops some degree of problem use.
Some people say it’s not a gateway drug, but when listening to a documentary on the opium crisis that swept America, and how heroin is having a resurgence, a health expert was asked whether marijuana is a gateway drug. “Here’s the simplest answer I know,” he said. “Every single addict I deal with started with marijuana. I don’t know the reports. I don’t know the science. I just know that every single addict I deal with started with marijuana. You do the math any way you want.”
Seldom discussed is how the amount of THC in marijuana has gone up in recent years. According to WebMD, most leaves used to contain between 1 and 4% THC. Now most have closer to 7%. Experts say this increases the chances of addiction even more, not to mention its mind-altering effects.
And about those effects....
A massive study was just released that found a link between cannabis use in teens and psychosis later. As reported by National Public Radio (NPR), “a new longitudinal study finds that cannabis use among adolescents increases risks of being diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders, as well as anxiety and depression, years later.” A psychiatrist and cannabis researcher at Columbia University, who was not involved in the new study published in the latest JAMA Health Forum, said, “This is very, very, very worrying.”
The author of the new study, Dr. Lynn Silver, a pediatrician and researcher at the Public Health Institute, notes, “With legalization, we’ve had a tremendous wave of this perception of cannabis as a safe, natural product to treat your stress with.”
“That,” she says, “is simply not true.”
James Emery White
Sources
Joseph Hudak, “People Are Drinking Less Than Ever. What’s Country Music to Do?” Rolling Stone, March 1, 2026, read online.
Rhitu Chaterjee, “A Huge Study Finds a Link Between Cannabis Use in Teens and Psychosis Later,” NPR, February 21, 2026, read online.
Related Article
10 Things Christians Should Know about Marijuana
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Comstock
James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook, and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.
Originally published March 05, 2026.
