Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 22
October 1, 1970
NUMBER 21, PAGE 9a

Drug Abuse: The Escape To Eternal Damnation

[Number III.]

Glenn Reeder What You May Do To Help Alleviate The Problem

How to detect a drug user. It is difficult to do, but it is not impossible. If the user is someone close to you, you probably notice a break in the usual pattern of the person's life. . . Suddenly a good student begins to fail; he has friends that he won't bring home; he stays away from home frequently and for long periods of time; he spends more money than usual; he has more energy than usual; conversely he becomes lethargic. You would also look for some of the symptoms peculiar to the items mentioned in article number two.

What can you, as parents, do? Listen to the problems of your children. Preventive medicine is better by far than trying to find a cure. Keep your children and the young people of the community busy. Be firm but fair in discipline. Set good examples. Get the facts about drugs and share them with your children. Young people of today know about drugs whether you talk about them or not; make sure that they know the correct facts and that they know all the facts. Above all, teach them Christian principles.

If someone you know is becoming dependent on drugs, encourage them to talk to someone whom they respect about their problems. Those 18 years old and younger can get help from the Child Guidance Centers. As a last resort, the individual must be committed to psychiatric care or face almost certain confrontation with the law. If the person is "hooked" on drugs, about all that can be done is some type of rehabilitation under professional care. Rehabilitation is very difficult due to a lack of facilities and a lack of trained personnel plus the fact that a drug user is extremely hard to rehabilitate because of his weakness which started him on drugs in the first place.

Turning to God's word, spiritual application can be both directly and indirectly applied to drug abuse. Laws regulating drugs are on both national and state levels. All drugs which have therapeutic value are covered by the Durham-Humphrey Act of The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act which, in effect states: the only legal way to obtain the drug is by the prescription of a licensed practitioner. In addition, barbiturates, stimulants, and some tranquilizers are further controlled by the Drug Abuse Amendments. This act, although primarily aimed at the illegal supplier, also attempts to regulate the indiscriminate use of legally obtained drugs. Narcotics are further restricted by the Harrison Narcotic Act. Drugs such as heroin, marijuana, LSD, etc. which are not used in medicine have been specifically spelled out by the Congress and declared illegal. We must obey these laws to be in harmony and obeisance with the scriptures. Romans 13:1-7 and I Peter 2:13-15 teach us that we must obey civil laws and civil rulers.

Harmful effects of drug abuse have previously been shown. This in conflict with the teachings of Paul in I Corinthians 6:19-20 where he states that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and belong to God. Therefore, any willful abuse of the body would be sinful.

Brethren, let us remember that "Not all drugs lead to physical dependence; but all abused drugs lead to emotional dependence. "Thus a drug abuser has lost control of his life and his body while he is physically living. One who fails to "buffet his body and bring it under subjection" will certainly become a "castaway." He will lose his soul in eternity. He will have escaped reality for a short period of time only to find himself in condemnation for an eternity.

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