There has been a lot of the bravado coming out of the Drug Enforcement Agency on cannabis lately, including a statement from interim DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg in which he scoffs at the use of cannabis as medicine, but thanks to a new report from the administration, it’s clear that the nation’s law enforcement have a difference of opinion.
The 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary asked a sample of 1,100 law enforcement officers what they perceived to be the nation’s biggest drug threat. Officers responded and once again, for the fifth time in a row, cannabis was considered the least of law enforcement concerns, with just six percent of respondents reporting marijuana as the largest threat — the lowest that cannabis has ever ranked.
Unsurprisingly, heroin tops the list, with 38 percent reporting that heroin is the nation’s biggest concern. Heroin use has increased in the past five years, although abuse of prescription pills has tapered off since 2013 and has become less of a concern for law enforcement.
The latest poll from Gallup shows that a clear majority of 58 percent of Americans now support the legalization of marijuana, and yet the Drug Enforcement Administration clings to outdated concepts and inaccurate facts. It was recently discovered that the DEA has been using their own interpretation of an amendment to continue using federal funds for raids on marijuana businesses operating in legal states. Luckily, a judge ruled that the organization must keep their hands off legitimate cannabis businesses, but the act in itself shows a blatant disregard for the public's interest.
The DEA reported that legalization and widespread decriminalization “will allow small-scale domestic criminal organizations to cultivate and traffic marijuana with more freedom than in the past.”
Sigh. Even legitimate, state-licensed, federal-tax-paying medical and/or recreational cannabis companies are still considered to be “criminal.”
The DEA report also found that cannabis potency has increased in recent years and that they consider cannabis concentrates to be a “growing concern,” but despite a reported 46,000 American deaths from drug overdose, not a single death was attributed to cannabis, high-potency or otherwise.
The numbers speak for themselves. Does the DEA speak for America, though? #JustSayKnow
Catch up on the DEA chief calling medical marijuana a "joke," with five medical studies proving otherwise:
