Weed safer than heroin, the DEA says. Who already knew? Everybody. Weed also safer than the DEA

[marble falls]

Weed safer than heroin, the DEA says. Who already knew? Everybody. Weed also safer than the DEA

by
Meteor Blades
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/08/1410019/-Weed-safer-than-heroin-the-DEA-says-Who-already-knew-Everybody-Weed-also-safer-than-the-DEA

marijuana
Not as bad as heroin. Not as bad as the DEA.

Wonders never cease:

It’s finally happened – the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has admitted that marijuana is “clearly” safer than heroin. Though this isn’t news to science, it represents a small but significant shift in the DEA who had previously refused to acknowledge that marijuana is less dangerous than heroin.

The science has been clear on the matter for a while. Not only is marijuana safer than heroin, but drug experts broadly agree that it’s also safer than alcohol. Yet, both drugs continue to be Schedule I controlled substances. According to the DEA, marijuana and heroin “have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.”

The DEA’s acknowledgment follows a recent study released earlier this week that has challenged previous research linking teenage marijuana use with physical and mental health issues. Research on marijuana has been widely conflicted for the last few decades due to different methodologies and various factors that are difficult to control for.

The DEA's budget soared from $75 million in 1973 to $3 billion in 2014.

Throughout its lifespan, the DEA has killed innocent people, including teenagers. Corrupt agents have made millions, on occasion stealing bundles of cash during drug busts. The list of DEA violence and corruption goes on and on.

The agency also has spent years rejecting the scientific evidence that marijuana should be taken off the Schedule I list of proscribed substances. Which has meant millions of people—that's not hyperbole—have had their lives ruined by being jailed or imprisoned or otherwise sanctioned for possession or sale of the weed. Student loans and other government aid continues to be denied for people convicted of marijuana-related crimes.

So, hip, hip, hurray that after more than four decades of reckless, murderous, ruinous policies backed up by lies of commission and omission, a tiny bit of sanity has appeared at DEA HQ.

Perhaps we'll see some sanity appear elsewhere in the federal government soon and this corrupt and obsolete agency will be dismantled and Americans whose lives have been upended from sentencing for drug crimes that shouldn't be crimes will have their terms commuted and the stigma of criminality expunged from their records.

But I won't be making any wagers on such an outcome.

[CBGLuthier]

1. I think it is a safe bet that DEA agents have killed more people than cannabis.

[marble falls]

2. Who we gonna find to cover that bet?

[RussBLib]

3. I guess this is progress

to state something that anyone with even the tiniest bit of experience knows quickly

we must have had some real stone cold idiots in that position before this

[potone]

4. Not necessarily.

Just people who are too ideologically opposed to marijuana to be able to look at the evidence objectively. What enrages me is all the years when research could have been done on the therapeutic uses of marijuana but wasn't because it was a schedule 1 drug. Fortunately some research was done in Europe, so there is work that can be built on.

Another thing that pisses me off (as long as I am on the topic) is the fact that even in states where medical marijuana is legal, anyone wanting it has to jump through expensive hoops to get it, which is not the case for any other drug. In Oregon, where I live, you first have to get a referral from a physician whose practice is dedicated to that. I checked into it, and the least expensive one I found charged $150, which is not covered by insurance. Then you have to submit paperwork to the state and pay $200 for the card allowing the patient to purchase it. Of course neither the card nor the drug is covered by insurance. I am hoping that this is temporary, and that eventually it will be treated the same as any other prescription drug. But we are nowhere near that yet.

[jomin41]

5. Three billion fucking dollars... EVERY YEAR!

What if that was used for something good, or useful, or necessary, or moral, something more in line with American values, something a little less irredeemingly evil, something ethical, maybe. Just dreaming.

[marble falls]

6. Imagine the number of scholarships in state collages it would pay for.