Since 2012, eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. While advocates and opponents continue to debate the consequences of these decisions, Don Holder of Hebron Colony Ministries has no doubts.

“I think it’s the most ridiculous decision,” Holder says. “I know without question that recreational usage is what took me into that world. It started in 1968 for me with alcohol, then marijuana, and it went into much harder and deeper drug use for many years.

“It’s a lie we’ve been fed that when you legalize things and take the criminal aspect out of it, that’s going to make it better. There is no question that marijuana is a gateway drug into deeper drug addiction. Plus, today the THC content [the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis] is much higher than ever before in the marijuana being grown for the streets.

“It certainly did not reduce alcoholism in any way when they legalized alcohol. It promoted it, as a matter of fact.”