Good grief. Nothing like news that’s been filtered two or three times.
Here it is more in context: [took a bit of searching]
If you can use 5th grade Inference skills, he’s primarily talking about NARCOTICS and inferring about the use of Methadone to treat NARCOTIC addiction.
Marijuana is not a narcotic. In the USA we’re very specific to refer to recreational drugs as meaning pot-only. Also, he was speaking to the Roman equivalent of the DEA.
Let’s imagine if he specifically stated, “Except for the poor little pot plant – that’s fine” and kept the rest the same, or was specific about referring to methodone and heroine/opium, which are the primary narcotic addictions that seem to be a problem in the drug trafficking trade… would you still have a problem with what he said?
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“Let me state this in the clearest terms possible: the problem of drug use is not solved with drugs! Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise,” Francis said.
“To think that harm can be reduced by permitting drug addicts to use narcotics in no way resolves the problem. Attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called ‘recreational drugs’ are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects.”
The pope said drug use was fed by a “deplorable” international commerce that put the lives of adolescents and young people in danger. “Faced with this reality, I can only manifest my grief and concern,” he said.
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I’m not saying that the Pope is “for pot” or “against pot”. But going by all the context, it sounds like he’s talking about the heroin/opium trade, which is a HUGE problem and can leave people destitute.