DEA Chief: ‘Marijuana Is Not Medicine,’ Despite Evidence Suggesting It Is

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

DEA Acting chief Chuck Rosenberg said Thursday that “marijuana is not medicine,” despite new evidence that suggests that cannabis has medicinal benefits.

“If it turns out that there is something in smoked marijuana that helps people, that’s awesome,” he said, speaking at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “I will be the last person to stand in the way of that. … But let’s run it through the Food and Drug Administration process, and let’s stick to the science on it.”

Although many states have approved the use of medicinal marijuana, the drug remains illegal federally because it’s classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substance Act.

Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said the country needs to research the medicinal benefits of marijuana.

“Should we be reducing the administrative and other barriers to researching that in the government? 100 percent,” he said. “But what we should not do is make policies based on guesswork. When we do that, what we do is put people at risk.”