Drug Abuse

“Our guest today is Ben Hicks, the Associate Pastor at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana…. Ben has done a lot of work on the topic of Christian liberty and he brings his study of that topic to the issue of substance abuse.” - P&D

“Those previously diagnosed with cannabis addiction were almost twice as likely to develop clinical depression and up to four times as likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder.” - Breakpoint

“Increased potency of marijuana in the global market is a factor, and lawmakers have ‘decreas[ed] the public’s perception of its harm,’ according to the study’s lead author.” - Breakpoint

“Through a 12-month period ending in April, the CDC said, nearly 98,000 drug overdose deaths had been reported…Two primary factors drive that increase: a rise in the availability of fentanyl and isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.” - BPNews

“…after marijuana was legalized in Washington State, one of our congregants asked, ‘Is marijuana okay?’ We realized at that point that the typical answer—’No, it’s against the law’—would no longer suffice.” - C.Today

“In 2015… two Princeton economists, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, released a study documenting the frightening rise of “deaths of despair” among white non-college-educated Americans, showing even a decrease of life expectancy driven by alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide.” - N.Review

“One of the disturbing findings was that some 699,000 youth aged 12-17 have an addiction to marijuana in 2019 – representing 187,000 new youth with a Cannabis Use Disorder in 2019 versus 2018. Overall, more than 4.8 million people aged 12 or older reported Marijuana Use Disorder in 2019, up from 4.4 million in 2018.” - MCDaily

“Truett died of an accidental drug overdose and fentanyl was involved. Opioids are an American tragedy that, I’m afraid, may get lost in these tumultuous, news-heavy times. I’m also concerned that people may feel that the opioid crisis is just an extension of the drug scene that started has been a part of our national conversation since the late 1960s. It is not.

“Truett died of an accidental drug overdose and fentanyl was involved. Opioids are an American tragedy that, I’m afraid, may get lost in these tumultuous, news-heavy times. I’m also concerned that people may feel that the opioid crisis is just an extension of the drug scene that started has been a part of our national conversation since the late 1960s. It is not.

“Truett died of an accidental drug overdose and fentanyl was involved. Opioids are an American tragedy that, I’m afraid, may get lost in these tumultuous, news-heavy times. I’m also concerned that people may feel that the opioid crisis is just an extension of the drug scene that started has been a part of our national conversation since the late 1960s. It is not.