Pubdate: Sat, 20 Aug 2016
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2016 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Griffin Suber
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n554/a01.html

THE DEA'S CRUSADE AGAINST POT

The Aug. 16 editorial "Don't reclassify marijuana yet - research it" 
would have benefited from more research itself. The Drug Enforcement 
Administration's refusal to reschedule cannabis has nothing to do 
with health, for if it cared about safety, it would need look no 
further than itself. You're more likely to be shot by a DEA agent 
than you are to die from an overdose of pot because the latter has 
never happened. The burden of proof has unjustly fallen on 
legalization advocates; initially convicted by racism and xenophobia, 
cannabis has been proclaimed guilty until proved innocent.

The Food and Drug Administration and the DEA maintain that the 
medical benefits of cannabis don't outweigh the risks, unlike with 
cocaine and methamphetamine, both of which are Schedule II and 
regarded as safer than smoking a joint. The only known risk of 
cannabis is that its legalization would destroy the DEA's absurd budget.

Griffin Suber

Washington
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