DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg just rejected the notion that smoking marijuana is "medicine." He actually referred to the idea as a "joke" earlier on Wednesday.
In a briefing to reporters, Rosenberg said "What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal -- because it's not." He continued, "We can have an intellectually honest debate about whether we should legalize something that is bad and dangerous, but don't call it medicine -- that is a joke."
Amid experiments by many states which are loosening marijuana laws, Rosenberg said that people should not mix the matter of legalizing recreational marijuana with that of medicinal marijuana, Time reported.
According to CBS News, Rosenberg pointed out that there could be constituents or extracts that show great promise in medicine but when smoking the whole leaf, which is what people are talking about for medical marijuana, is considered, then there is no prove of a safe or effective medicine.
Rosenberg's comments on medical marijuana come just as DEA's 2015 National Drug Assessment Summary releases results that show that drug use is up amongst most illicit drugs excluding cocaine. It is speculated that each day, the United States loses 120 people to drug overdose.
The report also says that marijuana concentration poses a growing concern drawing attention to the fact that, marijuana remains illegal under federal law even as states approve the use of the drug.
So far, 23 states together with the District of Columbia have already passed medical marijuana legislation. Additionally, 17 more states have approved legislation which regard "CBD only" marijuana. (CBD represents a cannaboid/chemical compound marijuana).
These statistics clearly shows that 80 percent of the states have approved some form of use of marijuana. However, Rosenberg says that voters should have an intellectually "honest" debate about legalizing marijuana.