Punk Ass DEA Wusses Out, Announces Marijuana Will Stay A Schedule I Drug That Has No Medicinal Value


For weeks now, there were rumblings about a major DEA announcement regarding marijuana.

Everyone was speculating. Were they going to change pot to a Schedule II drug, which says the government recognizes it has legitimate medical purposes? Probably. Shit, even cocaine is a Schedule II drug. Cocaine.

Some people even went so far as guessing the DEA was going to decriminalize it entirely. What with three states and D.C. allowing people to puff all they want, why wouldn’t the federal government would get with the times?

Nope.

Instead, they bitched the fuck out. Punk ass DEA. From NPR:

Drug Enforcement Administration chief Chuck Rosenberg says the decision is rooted in science. Rosenberg gave “enormous weight” to conclusions by the Food and Drug Administration that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and by some measures, it remains highly vulnerable to abuse as the most commonly used illicit drug across the nation.

“This decision isn’t based on danger. This decision is based on whether marijuana, as determined by the FDA, is a safe and effective medicine,” he said, “and it’s not.”

Sure, except that 42 states currently recognize medicinal marijuana in some form or another.

That said, the DEA is open to eventually being proved wrong.

The DEA said it has “never denied” an application from a researcher to use lawfully produced marijuana in a rigorous medical study, and Rosenberg pointed out that research continues on a variety of subjects, including the effects of smoking marijuana in human subjects.

“As long as folks abide by the rules, and we’re going to regulate that, we want to expand the availability, the variety, the type of marijuana available to legitimate researchers,” Rosenberg said. “If our understanding of the science changes, that could very well drive a new decision.”

Many more states are expected to look into marijuana declassification and legalization in the coming years, so we’ll see what the DEA says when it’s legal in 50 fucking states.

Maybe then they’ll change their mind.

Nah. Probably not.

[H/T Brando]