The new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration sure knows his drugs, saying this week that marijuana is "probably" not as dangerous as heroin.
In fairness, Acting Administrator's remark came as a qualification for an initial reluctance to endorse the relaxing of cannabis laws, but was a little confused nonetheless.
"If you want me to say that marijuana’s not dangerous, I’m not going to say that because I think it is," Rosenberg said. "Do I think it's as dangerous as heroin? Probably not. I'm not an expert."
He followed up with a curious analogy, likening smoking weed to being in a 30 mph car crash.
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"Let me say it this way: I’d rather be in a car accident going 30 miles an hour than 60 miles an hour, but I’d prefer not to be in a car accident at all."
Guarded though Rosenberg's stance is, it's more encouraging than that of his predecessor who describe weed as an "insidious" drug.
"This is not a matter of opinion," Dan Riffle, director of federal policies at the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project, told US News. "It's far less harmful than heroin and it's encouraging that the DEA is finally willing to recognize that."
Earlier in the year, President Obama said that we must "follow the science not the ideology" with regards to marijuana legislation.
