Vox - The new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chuck Rosenberg, on Tuesday said marijuana is "probably" less dangerous than heroin. "If you want me to say that marijuana's not dangerous, I'm not going to say that because I think it is," Rosenberg said, according to US News's Steven Nelson. "Do I think it's as dangerous as heroin? Probably not. I'm not an expert."
The answer is akin to politicians saying they're not scientists when asked if global warming is real. You may not be a scientist or an expert, but there is plenty of data and research out there to let you — a smart, thinking human being — decide what the facts are.
In the case of marijuana versus heroin, the DEA chief didn't need a "probably" in his statement: Marijuana is absolutely safer than heroin. Marijuana's biggest risk is the possibility of dependency, which can cause the drug to take over someone's life to the point that he or she is constantly impaired. Heroin can not only take over someone's life (and at much higher rates than marijuana), but it poses a high risk of overdose death that marijuana does not. Both drugs can also cause accidents, although the research suggests heroin is slightly worse on this front as well.
BTW, this guy went to the John F Kennedy School at Harvard and University of Virginia Law School.
1 comment:
Professional ignorance leaves latitude for accepting bribes from any source.
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