On the stance of marijuana I believe that nothing in nature is without purpose. I do not think it is right of a government to illegalize something that has been shown to be no more harmful than alcohol, tobacco use, or even a lifestyle of wrong food choices. That being said I do not use marijuana at all for several reasons. Number one would be the obvious fact that it IS illegal, regardless of whether I think it should be or not, and another is that even though I could probably get away with using it on the legal side, I would not be able to get away with it at my current job nor the employer that I am looking at starting with later this year.
If your religion uses marijuana for some spiritual purpose then I say good on you, no really I am not familiar with the teachings and purpose of that religious practice but as long as it's not harmful to others I would never oppose it. However, people who use marijuana or any other illegal drug in an attempt to find happiness or escape reality for a while are only deluding themselves. They are using the drug as a crutch to limp along in life. Nothing can make you happy in this world if you are not first happy with yourself. Obviously I'm not referring to people seeking relief from a medical condition, what they do is between themselves and their morals and I would never stand in the way. There are many crutches in people's lives in an attempt at some shred of happiness, drugs are no different in this aspect than food or gambling or adrenaline events (Sky diving, bungie jumping, you get the picture)
In the end, if what you do harms nobody but potentially yourself then I say go for it. Your life is too short to be miserable. But if you're only using these drugs to dull reality then you'll never be happy.
Just beware any religion that wants you to drink their Kool-Aid...
