Congressman Slams DEA Head for Medical Marijuana Comments
One of Congress’s leading proponents of marijuana legalization has weighed in on a petition demanding that the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) be fired for calling medical cannabis a “joke.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said it is “outrageous” for acting DEA head Chuck Rosenberg to “trivialize” the experiences of medical cannabis patients. The comments “are out of step with growing scientific evidence and the experience and opinion of the American people,” he said.
In the petition response filed Monday, Blumenauer also called the DEA’s policies “deeply hypocritical,” pointing to how the agency simultaneously claims there’s not enough evidence for cannabis’s medical value while blocking research that could provide more concrete proof.
“While there are important questions that still need to be answered about medical marijuana, the research that would provide those answers is often blocked by federal policy barriers – supported by the DEA,” he said.
To date, more than 140,000 people have signed the Change.org petition calling for Rosenberg’s ouster, physical copies of which were recently delivered to DEA headquarters.
The petition was uploaded by the organization Marijuana Majority last month and its signature count is already more than double that of an earlier one that helped lead to the resignation of previous DEA administrator Michele Leonhart, who also opposed medical marijuana.
(Full disclosure: The author of this article is the founder of Marijuana Majority.)
Blumenauer said in a separate speech on the House floor that Rosenberg is “an example of an inept, misinformed zealot who has mismanaged America’s failed policy of marijuana prohibition.”
He also joined with a bipartisan group of six House colleagues in sending a letter to President Obama saying Rosenberg is “not the right person to lead the DEA” and urging the administration to “find new leadership that can work to develop the right tools to properly rationalize our treatment of marijuana.”
In the new petition response, Blumenauer sent a motivational message to the signers.
“It is because of your efforts and the incredible shifts in public opinion that we have made so much progress in reforming the treatment of marijuana in the states,” he said. “I will continue pressing federal agencies and Congress to follow that leadership.”
Filed under: General Problems
[…] Rosenberg is “an example of an inept, misinformed zealot who has mismanaged America’s failed pol… […]
That’s right!!! The legalization of Marijuana across the board just might be the biggest battle to win in the so called War on Drugs. Having total legal access to cannabis without threat of prosecution should put a big dent in addiction to more powerful and addictive drugs because it will keep people who smoke from experimenting with these drugs when they can’t find pot. This may be my personal opinion but I have seen this exact thing happen with a friend of mine. As a matter of fact, one of my very best friends in the whole world died 12 years ago from Sorocis and Hepatitis c due to the use of dirty needles. He was an avid pot smoker who was busted and prosecuted for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance with pot. While in prison of all places, he became addicted to heroin. After he got out we all tried to help him and thought he really was doing great, that is until he was diagnosed with Hep C and that’s when he went down hill. He found a supplier for heroin and kept his habit fed while slowly killing himself.
So yes I believe that Marijuana should be legalized and every person serving time for Marijuana related crimes be released. I also believe that the only reason why the federal government hasn’t legalized Marijuana is because they haven’t figured out how to tax it and they are making so much money by seizing property from people who possess Marijuana. It’s all about money, not about morals.
Rosenberg’s comments bring to mind the tragedy of Peter McWilliams, an AIDS patient whose medical cannabis, that he used to control extreme nausea, was confiscated. He died soon afterward, from drowning in his own vomit.
The McWilliams case alone, is solid proof that the therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis, are real.
It’s Mr Rosenberg’s attitude, that would be a joke.
Except for the fact that it isn’t funny.
Truly.