A Growing Concern

Most Reverend Francis Y. Kalabat, Bishop of the Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle, joined Dr. Omar Francis, D.O., Simen Savaya, and Saif Dawood for a special edition of Shepherd’s Call live on Facebook— addressing the morality of growing and using cannabis (marijuana) in the community.

Shepherd’s Call holds roundtable on the cannabis industry

By Sarah Kittle

On Tuesday, July 14, Bishop Kalabat and a small group of interested parties took to the internet to discuss an extremely hot topic in the Chaldean community – the cannabis business. Not surprisingly, the Church is against it.

Although Bishop Kalabat conceded that marijuana is a drug that has its uses, he emphatically believes that the current unrestricted recreational distribution is unhealthy and immoral, creating an epidemic that is sweeping through the community.

“There is nothing intrinsically wrong with marijuana,” stated the bishop. “But when it is being used for non-medicinal purposes, its brain-altering properties do more harm than good, and it becomes escapism. That’s a moral issue that needs to be addressed.”

He made sure to emphasize that the thoughts he was expressing were his own. “It should never have been legalized for recreational use,” said Kalabat. The legality is undisputed in Michigan, and it might soon be legalized at the federal level, but the morality of cannabis use and distribution is a different story.

In the bishop’s opinion, there are very few instances where its use is moral, such as treatment for cancer pain and end-of-life situations. When asked why the Church was commenting on this issue, the bishop countered with a question of his own: “If the Church does not speak about this moral issue, who will?”

Dr. Omar Francis, who works in the ER at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, has grave concerns about the use of the drug by younger patients. Anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation have increased among that age group, and he attributes that, at least in part, to increased marijuana use.

“It won’t kill you,” Dr. Francis states, “But it will kill your potential. When we realize that’s ‘bad enough,’ these laws will be curtailed.”

Although the studies are somewhat controversial, cannabis use has also been linked to increased risk for psychiatric disorders, including psychosis (schizophrenia), depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder.

Other adverse effects include cannaboid hyper emesis syndrome, a condition that results in repeated and severe bouts of vomiting. It typically occurs in long-term users. Once rare, Dr. Francis sees such cases on a daily basis. Marijuana affects the brain, stomach and digestive tract, binding THC to molecules in those areas. “And today’s THC is more potent than ever,” he reported.

“People are growing in basements, garages and barns, and you don’t know what’s in there,” said panelist Saif Dawood, who admitted he started smoking marijuana as an adolescent. “For me, it was an addictive drug.” Once when he shared a THC gummy with a friend, he swears he saw Jesus.

Cannabis is big in the Chaldean community. Many are making money hand over fist in this burgeoning business. And what is wrong with supporting your family in this way? Simen Savaya, a former grower, points out that not all stories regarding cannabusiness have a happy ending. “Many families have been destroyed by this industry,” he states.

Not a cannabis user, his problems started several years into his entry into the business. “Pandora’s box is open,” said Savaya, in regard to the legalization of marijuana. “But it’s not all money, money, money.”

Debt, marital problems and threat of robbery are prevalent among those who are involved in the business.

The panelists all agree that they are not condemning those who use or grow marijuana. “We’re not here to pass judgement on anybody,” Dawood explained. But he does believe that those growing in their own homes are putting their families in danger.

Dawood, who was incarcerated for possession and distribution of marijuana when it was still illegal, is focused on the consequences of getting involved in the marijuana trade. He served 3 and a half years in prison for selling about a gram of weed to an undercover cop, and he thinks that people today, especially young people, don’t believe that there are consequences any longer now that it’s legal.

Decriminalization

vs. Legalization

“There are people who have been sitting in prison for decades due to marijuana,” says Simen Savaya.

What about comparing smoking marijuana to cigarettes or alcohol? “Even smoking cigarettes today is not politically correct,” says the bishop. But parishioners and their children are coming to church and smelling like weed. “Where’s your social decorum?” asks Dr. Francis.

Cannabis use disorder is when users experience withdrawal symptoms upon quitting. Some studies suggest that nine percent of people who use marijuana will become dependent on it, with higher rates in those who start using in their teens. Jasleen Chhatwal, MD, chief medical officer and director of the Mood Recovery Program at Sierra Tucson, says, “almost 30 percent of people who use marijuana meet the criteria for cannabis use disorder.”

While the medicinal benefits of THC remain controversial, the benefits of CBD, or cannabidiol, the non-intoxicating component of the cannabis plant, have been more widely accepted. Marijuana products have been found to provide a wide variety of benefits, from pain control and stress management to the treatment of seizures and PTSD.

“There are pretty clear areas in medicine–non-mental health–where marijuana has been found to be beneficial,” Dr. Chhatwal says. “For example, relieving nausea from chemotherapy and muscle spasms from degenerative diseases, relief from irritable bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal discomfort, and improvement in appetite, which makes it useful in end-of-life care.”

The problem, she adds, is that research on these benefits is small, and much more needs to be done over a longer time period to fully understand the risk versus the reward.

“As a physician, I try not to be on either side. Still, seeing cannabis legalized recreationally throughout the country is a little scary for me,” Dr. Chhatwal concludes. “People want an easy answer, and there is no easy answer – we have to do a risk-benefit analysis and do our due diligence. I don’t even prescribe ibuprofen to people and say take as much as you want!

“When it comes to marijuana it needs to be the same way. We have to do long-term research and there has to be a safety net,” she continues. “People are thinking it’s a panacea because it grows out of the ground, but the truth is, you can’t eat everything that grows out of the ground.” (www.psycom.net)

For Bishop Francis, it comes down to one question: “Do you want your children to smoke marijuana?”