There isn’t any direct connection between marijuana use and people praising the Dark Lord. In fact, most traditional Satanists do not support the use of cannabis at all. 

Despite all of the momentum the marijuana movement has experienced over the past few years, make no mistake about it, there are still plenty of naysayers-of-the-nug out there, fighting against it at every turn.

Some of them have legitimate concerns. They are worried that more access will create an uptick in minor consumption, while others are afraid that stoners will take over the roadways and kill everything that moves. There are those, however, whose trouble with the cannabis plant is entirely off the rails, bat-crap insanity. To say it goes above and beyond the antiquated ethos of reefer madness would be the understatement of the decade. 

During a recent marijuana legalization meeting in North Dakota, where cannabis advocates are trying to get the issue of adult-use on the ballot in 2020, residents were allowed to provide testimony regarding the measure. Many, of course, were all for it, while others came with negativity.  

One protester, a man by the name of Winston Satran, a former warden at the North Dakota State Penitentiary, told the group that “marijuana-related convictions and the prevalence of the drug in the prison system” was responsible for “the suicide deaths of two inmates, including one who was ‘obviously mentally ill and also a Satanic worshiper,'” according to the Grand Forks Herald. 

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Whoa! It’s almost as if Satran is trying to convince the fine people of the 701 that legalizing marijuana may cause an uprising in Satanism in their neck of the woods. Sure, it might sound utterly outlandish to those people in-the-know, but to others, the God-fearing residents of the state and abroad, it may invoke enough fear to keep them from so much as uttering the word “marijuana” for many years to come. It could also prevent them from ever supporting such a common sense idea as marijuana reform. 

The thing is, though, there isn’t any direct connection between marijuana use and people praising the Dark Lord. In fact, most traditional Satanists do not support the use of cannabis at all. 

The Church of Satan, an organization established in the mid-1960s by Anton LaVey, is against all drug use. Despite the Satanic Panic perpetuated by the media in the early 1980s — one that struck fear in daytime television-watching Americans by convincing them that Devil-worshippers were using heavy metal music and drugs to recruit teens — the church has always maintained a strict no drug policy. LaVey felt “drugs are great for slaves, but no good for the masters.”

“If a substance is legal, a Satanist may or may not choose to indulge in it. “Indulgence, NOT compulsion” is your guide. Since survival is the highest law, the Satanist will not ruin or poison his or her body, even if it is legal to do so,” reads a passage of the Church of Satan’s drug policy. “This is an important distinction. Self-destructive, suicidal hedonism — via whatever means — is ultimately un-Satanic as it threatens the very thing a Satanist holds most dear: his own life. There is no mystical Scoreboard in the Sky dictating whether such an act is wrong or right; it simply is, and dead brain cells, blackened lungs and non-functional livers are not a matter of opinion.”

Still, some Satanic groups do not share in Lavey’s views on sobriety. The Satanic Temple, a 100,000-plus member organization out of Massachusetts, does not support any illegal activity. Yet, the church recognizes unjust laws, such as marijuana prohibition, and believes that citizens should be given the right to use it in a responsible fashion. So, the church does not forbid its members from ingesting chemicals or plants. It believes in free will. The only stipulation is that a person not put themselves at risk with their drug-idled behaviors. It’s about freedom, not debauchery. 

So, you can rest easy, America. Satanists are not out there trying to recruit your teens by getting them stoned on pot. Furthermore, just because someone uses marijuana for one reason or another doesn’t mean that they will soon be dressing in all black and acquire an affinity for fire. Marijuana might have some negative connotations, but turning people into Satanists is not one of them.