Every knows the DEA sucks and is in the pocket of big Pharma
Sanders joins Democrats criticizing DEA for marijuana decision
By David Weigel
August 11 at 3:42 PM ?
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 25. (Paul Sancya/AP)
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont led a chorus of critics after the Drug Enforcement Administration declined to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes — the latest example of fast-changing politics in the war on drugs.
"People can argue about the pluses and minuses of marijuana, but everyone knows it's not a killer drug like heroin," Sanders wrote in a tweet, after the DEA announced that marijuana would remain a Schedule I drug with "no currently accepted medical use in the United States."
He was echoed by Democrats from mostly blue states and districts, who criticized the DEA for not going further to remove marijuana from the legal blacklist.
"The DEA should be spending its limited resources on targeting high priority narcotics rather than erecting roadblocks to medical marijuana," Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
"The Drug Enforcement Administration’s decision to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug is frustrating, unscientific and, frankly, out of touch," said Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) "It is ridiculous to classify marijuana alongside other Schedule I drugs like heroin. This is further evidence that it is past time that Congress legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol, using Colorado as an example."
On Twitter, several Democrats made the point more succinctly.
