--- description: Obama deploys special troops to Iraq, House reins in NSA spying, the Pope condemns legal dope, and a hilarious life-sized science experiment title: Pope vs. Pot: The Holy Father Says 'No' to Marijuana Legalization image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3bb3aac02139bd0/698698a23bc999fac21a4307/pope-francis3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [The Brief](/tag/the-brief/) ## The Brief Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pope vs. Pot: The Holy Father Says 'No' to Marijuana Legalization by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2014 4:20 PM CUT  Pope Francis celebrates a mass to mark the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ at St. John at the Lateran Basilica in Rome on June 19, 2014. Pope Francis celebrates a mass to mark the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ at St. John at the Lateran Basilica in Rome on June 19, 2014.Gregorio Borgia—AP by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2014 4:20 PM CUT Here are the stories TIME is watching this Friday, June 20. President Barack Obama announced the U.S. will be [deploying special troops](http://time.com/2901449/obama-iraq-isis-troops/ "undefined") to Iraq to advise Iraqis on fighting against militants. The House of Representatives approved an amendment that would curb NSA [‘backdoor’ spying](http://time.com/2903953/nsa-surveillance-fiscal-year-2015-department-of-defense-appropriations-act/ "undefined") on Americans, primarily regarding Internet search histories, emails and chats. Supporters of marijuana legalization now have a powerful opponent: [the Pope](http://time.com/2905077/pope-francis-marijuana-legalization-pot/ "undefined"). And finally, what happens when you put a man covered in Mentos and drop him in a tub of Coke? Thanks to [these guys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlN2C5ExQqs "undefined"), now we know. The Brief is published daily on weekdays. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2905615/pope-pot/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2905615/pope-pot/"},"headline":"Pope vs. Pot: The Holy Father Says 'No' to Marijuana Legalization","datePublished":"2014-06-20T16:20:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:32:38.631Z","description":"Welcome to #theBrief, the four stories to know about right now—from the editors of TIME","url":"https://time.com/2905615/pope-pot/","keywords":["The Brief","NSA","coke","house","Iraq","Pope Francis topic","ISIS","Weed","President Obama","pope","Legalization"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3bb3aac02139bd0/698698a23bc999fac21a4307/pope-francis3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3bb3aac02139bd0/698698a23bc999fac21a4307/pope-francis3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis Dope","caption":"Pope Francis Dope","creditText":"Gregorio Borgia—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/the-brief/","name":"The Brief"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2905615/pope-pot/","name":"Pope vs. Pot: The Holy Father Says 'No' to Marijuana Legalization"}}]}] ```