10 Steps to Find Freedom From Marijuana, Drug Addiction
This year the state of Colorado is expected to generate more than $40 million in tax revenue from the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana.
But the profits are proving costly.
"We've seen lives damaged. We've seen deaths directly attributed to marijuana legalization. We've seen marijuana slipping through Colorado's borders. We've seen marijuana getting into the hands of kids," according to the executive director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
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The whiff of a windfall is leading some in Colorado to experience financial euphoria, but one has to wonder if it will be a temporary "high." Among numerous problems with legalization, hospital officials report increasing numbers of adults and children suffering from potent doses of edible marijuana. When little Joey swipes a brownie off Grandma's kitchen counter, it may contain too much THC along with too much sugar.
And child advocates are concerned about the brightly colored, seemingly "child-friendly" packaging for edible marijuana. It is further leading to the destigmatization of marijuana as a drug, camouflaging the harmful physical, mental and emotional side effects that come with ingestion or inhalation. One astute observer notes: "As marijuana is increasingly normalized and seen as relatively harmless, some experts doubt whether we know enough to justify rapid shifts in policy and behavior in pot usage."
And there are other troublesome issues … arrests are up in neighboring states for drug possession and impaired driving, and many Colorado employers are in a quandary about how to handle pot-smoking employees because by law they can still fire them even for off-duty use.
The state of Washington also has legalized recreational pot, and 14 other states are considering following suit, but the question needs to be asked: Will these states ultimately be traumatized … by toking?
Like all mood-enhancing drugs, marijuana has an allure for many that beckons on the front end but then bites on the back end. Who knows how many people are becoming more and more dependent on marijuana in Colorado … in Washington … and need to find deliverance?
Maybe this predicament is something you can relate to. Perhaps you fear a growing preoccupation with marijuana or some other drug and it's consuming your life, even destroying your relationships. You know you need help … you need to be set free.
Consider the following 10 steps to find true, lasting independence, and may they lead you down a path of peace and blessing in the power of the Lord.
1. Acknowledge you are powerless over your dependency.
"Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:9).
2. Realize that the God who made you wants to save you spiritually and has the power to restore you both physically and emotionally.
"Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more" (Psalm 71:20-21).
3. Yield your will to the will of the Lord.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
4. Admit your struggle with sin, both to God and to someone else.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).
5. Accept God's help to change your patterns of the past.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7).
6. Confess your daily failings.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
7. Ask forgiveness from those you have offended.
"If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24).
8. Make restitution where you have wronged others.
"If they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil – that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live" (Ezekiel 33:15-16).
9. Pray to know God's path for your life.
"Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" (Psalm 25:4-5).
10. Reach out to others with your hand and your heart.
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
Many who have pushed for the freedom to use marijuana legally may not have realized that their desire for "freedom" actually leads toward bondage to a powerful substance. Determine to live your life dependent only on the Lord.
