[Avodah] Marijuana is kitniyos?

[Dr. Josh Backon]

>See http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/842733.html
><<Later injunctions by European rabbis extended those rules to forbid
>other foods like beans and corn, and more recent rulings have further
>expanded the ban to include hemp seeds, which today are found in some
>health oils - and in marijuana.>>

[Moved from AREIVIM at the request of the moderators]

I don't understand why. All jokes aside, It's not exactly a substance that was
used in East Europe 150 years ago.

See the definition of KITNIYOT by the Rambam in Hilchot Kilayim 1:8
"ha'zaronim nechlakin l'shlosha chalakim: . .. .kitniyot,  v'heyn
kol zeraim ha'ne'echal l'adam chutz min ha'tevua. K'gon..(list follows).".
[KITNIYOT are defined as any edible seed apart from TEVUA (which is wheat,
barley, etc.). He does list: beans, peas, lentils, spelt, rice, sesame,
poppy seeds, sapir [I don't know what this is], etc.

No one eats hemp seeds.

That a derivative is made from the oil extract is not kiniyot but
"mei kitniyot". And I doubt this is even "mei kitniyot" since the THC
(active ingredient in marijuana)  from hemp must be extracted by complex
chemical means [the guy who discovered THC in the 1970's, Professor Rafi
Meshullam, sits one floor below me at the Faculty of Medicine].

1) "mei kitniyot"  is subject to rabbinic debate [especially as the prohibition
of kitniyot is simply a strong custom rather than a talmudic rule]. There were
many rabbis who permitted oil derived from Kitniyot (see: Beer Yitzchak
OC 11; Tshuvot haMaharsham I 183; Yesodei Yeshurun VI 424).

2) nullification of kitniyot in a mixture: Simple "bitul b'rov" (nullification
by having the non-kitniyot food in the majority) is permitted (see: Shulchan
Aruch ORACH CHAYIM 453:1 in the Rema "im naflu toch ha'tavshil" if it occurs
accidentally; Mishna Brura 453 # 9; Aruch haShulchan OC 453 #6)

3) although "ein mevatlin issur d'rabban l'chatchila"  there are instances
where it may be permitted (see: Yoreh Deah 99:6-7 based on a gemara
in Beitza 4b and according to the RASHBA there). With regard to
Kitniyot, we're not even dealing with a rabbinical prohibition but a custom.


But kids, don't do this at home :-)

KT

Josh [who states that every Jew has to take LSD every day: Lox for breakfast,
         Salami for lunch, and a cheese Danish for supper :-) ]