DEA Chief in Hot Water After Calling Medical Pot a 'Joke'
7 LAWMAKERS AND 100K SIGNATURES CALL FOR HIS REMOVAL
By Michael Harthorne, Newser Staff
newser.com
Posted Nov 20, 2015 4:17 PM CST
(NEWSER) – Medical marijuana supporters aren't joking; they want new DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg replaced now, Extract reports. Rosenberg has been in hot water with cannabis fans since calling medical marijuana a "joke" earlier this month. He also hedged on whether pot is safer than heroin. On Friday, Marijuana Majority delivered approximately 100,000 signatures to the DEA asking Obama to fire Rosenberg. “Calling medical marijuana a ‘joke’ runs counter to science showing that cannabis has medical value, and it is out of step with the vast majority of Americans," the Marijuana Majority's chairman says. Rosenberg's predecessor was also critical of medical marijuana and stepped down after only 50,000 signatures on a similar petition.
But it's not just the public calling for Rosenberg's ouster, the Hill reports. Seven lawmakers sent a letter to Obama asking for him to be removed Thursday. “He is an example of an inept, misinformed zealot, who has mismanaged America’s failed policy of marijuana prohibition," Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Thursday on the House floor. Lawmakers call Rosenberg a hypocrite for blocking research while claiming the science is out on medical marijuana, according to Extract. But Vox notes there is increasing evidence that pot does have medical value. The Journal of the American Medical Association found it can effectively treat chronic pain and muscle spasms. That's important with 100 million Americans suffering from chronic pain and deaths from opioid painkiller overdoses climbing northward of 15,000 every year. |
