The article “Vaping, Coffee, Tea, and Marijuana” in the August issue of the New Era magazine clears up a few questions that young people today may have about the Word of Wisdom.

Here’s a quick summary from the article:

Vaping and E-Cigarettes: Electronic vaporizers or e-cigarettes are used to inhale mist, usually with various flavors. Most vaping pods contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, and all of them contain harmful chemicals. Vaping is clearly against the Word of Wisdom.

Mocha, Latte, Macchiato, Espresso: The word coffee isn’t always in the name of coffee drinks. So, before you try some new drink, here are a couple of rules of thumb: (1) If you’re in a coffee shop, the drink you’re ordering probably has coffee in it, so always ask if there’s coffee in it. (2) Drinks with names that include café or caffé, mocha, latte, espresso, or anything ending in -ccino usually have coffee in them and are against the Word of Wisdom.

Green Tea and Iced Tea: Green tea, black tea, and iced tea are against the Word of Wisdom. Some other drinks have tea in them but don’t advertise that fact, so always check the ingredients.

Marijuana and Opioids: Although marijuana is now legal in some places for medicinal or even recreational use, that doesn’t mean that any use is suddenly not against the Word of Wisdom. Medical uses are being studied, but just like many pain medications such as opioids, marijuana is an addictive substance. Such habit-forming substances should be avoided except under the care of a competent physician, and then used only as prescribed.

Read the article “Vaping, Coffee, Tea, and Marijuana.”

An official statement on the Church’s Newsroom site verifies that this New Era article is a clarification by Church leaders of substances that are prohibited by the Word of Wisdom.

The August issues of the Ensign, New Era, and Friend magazines focus on the amazing gift of the body.