<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">I'd be curious to know when Rav Moshe Feinstein, ztl, wrote about marijuana.<BR>
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>From about the 50s through the 70s, marijuana was more of a protest symbol, than a recreational drug The protest was Vietnam, civil rights, feminism, the generation gap, materialism. Young people got high for a reason, especially those in college. I speculate that in declaring marijuana assur, and stating the reasons, dina d'malchus dina was not weighing on the mind of Rav Feinstein, because Jews were mostly law abiding then - I would say mentchlich.<BR>
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Today, there is simply no validity for anyone to smoke marijuana, other than for medical reasons. Its a crime. Also, if your're caught, you'll have a permanent criminal record, and in these days of easy background checks, you're limiting yourself in getting a job. If Rav Moshe were writing today, I speculate that dina d'malchus dina would be addressed.<BR>
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Elliot Pasik<BR>
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