The current pope is known as a bit of a radical. He has eschewed traditions that he predecessors have has, such as moving into the papal palace, sitting on the ‘Throne of Peter’ and wearing the regal clothes one would usually associate with a pope.

So perhaps that’s why people are petitioning him to ‘baptise’ cannabis.

Yep, that’s a thing that a pope can do. A similar baptism was done for coffee about 400 years ago by Pope Clement VIII. The church at the time thought of coffee as a particularly brutal drink and as it was used by muslims instead of wine, they didn’t have the highest opinion of it.

Pope Francis criticized the global War on Drugs in his address to the United Nations on Friday. While the Catholic Church’s Vicar of Christ did not prescribe specific solutions, he spoke plainly the shortcomings of efforts to combat drug trafficking and the effects on everyday citizens.

When Pope Francis visits the United States next week, he is expected to meet with prisoners in Philadelphia and to address the criminal justice system in a speech to members of Congress.

Unfortunately, Francis’s past comments in support of the drug war suggest that he will refuse to acknowledge one of the biggest contributors to Americaninjustice and a primary reason why so many people end up in American prisons in the first place: drug prohibition.