Devoured by Cannabis: Weed, Liberty, and Legalization

A blunt rebuke of high society. The cultural tide on marijuana has turned, and many conservatives, exhausted from decades of losing the drug war, are ready to wave the white flag. Libertarians frame the surrender as a matter of principle: people should be free to do what they want, so long as they harm no one else. But Douglas Wilson isn't buying it, and he's not interested in making the argument with junk science or Reefer Madness hysteria either. He makes it from Scripture. In Devoured by Cannabis, Wilson argues that marijuana is not analogous to alcohol or tobacco, getting stoned is categorically different, and it is not a viable option for the Christian believer. But the argument doesn't stop there. Wilson moves from the individual to the civic, making the case that keeping marijuana illegal is not a lost cause but a meaningful cultural watershed. Law doesn't just restrict behavior, it shapes industries, creates incentives, and forms the moral imagination of a society. Liberty for those who want to get high comes at a cost borne by everyone else. Wilson names that cost clearly, without apology, and without pretending the battle isn't worth fighting.