Top DEA agent won’t admit heroin more harmful than marijuana

June 22, 2012 7:31 PM

Top DEA agent won’t admit heroin more harmful than marijuana. Meanwhile, cannabinoids shown to have anti alzheimer's effects and also protect against heart damage following decreased oxygen flow to the heart muscle. Did I mention schizophrenia?
posted by sensi63 (9 comments total)

In her defence, this is kind of like asking a parent which of their children they love the most.
posted by running order squabble fest at 7:35 PM on June 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm actually kind of heartened that the top DEA agent is apparently a complete moron. If I'm going to pick a federal law enforcement agency to put the idiots in, it's the DEA, the War on Drugs being the sisyphean task it always was.

I suppose we could stop putting complete morons in charge of anything, but come on, this is the American government we're talking about.
posted by axiom at 7:42 PM on June 22, 2012

Also in her defense, she's a mid level official who is not going to take any stance other than the one she did. If you want to blame anyone at this moment for our country's illogical stand regarding pot, you need to point at the top, not the middle.
posted by HuronBob at 7:44 PM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

The cartels she mentions in one of the clips have killed over 50,000 people over the past six years.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:44 PM on June 22, 2012

“Is crack worse for a person than marijuana?” Polis, who has called for an end to marijuana prohibition, asked.

“I believe all illegal drugs are bad,” Leonhart responded.

"M'kay?"
posted by Sys Rq at 7:45 PM on June 22, 2012

you need to point at the top, not the middle.

Too busy -- eating cake
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 7:47 PM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd argue that she simply refused to answer the question, and should be held in contempt just as surely as if she'd said "nyah nyah nyah" instead.
posted by tyllwin at 7:48 PM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

He knew what answer he was going to get, and if the roles were reversed it would have gone exactly the same. It's all theater. His job is to look tough, hers is not to say anything that can be turned into a damaging sound bite, no matter how dumb it makes her sound at the hearing (which nobody's watching anyway).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:53 PM on June 22, 2012

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a Gun to an 11-Year-Old's Head Is Not OK
posted by homunculus at 7:53 PM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]