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

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Unbreakable

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During a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Drug Enforcement Administrator Michele Leonhart repeatedly refused to admit that anything was more addictive or harmful than marijuana.

Democratic Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado pressed Leonhart on whether illegal drugs like methamphetamine and crack, as well as legal prescription drugs, caused greater harm to public health compared to marijuana. But within a three minute time-span, Leonhart dodged his questions eleven times.

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

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

“Is methamphetamine worse for somebody’s health than marijuana?” Polis continued. “Is heroin worse for somebody’s health than marijuana?”

“Again, all drugs,” Leonhart began to say, only to be cut off by Polis.

“Yes, no, or I don’t know?” Polis said. “If you don’t know this, you can look this up. As the chief administrator for the Drug Enforcement Agency, I’m asking a very straightforward question.”......

Source: lol What a Cunt, She Was Totally Owned!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/20/top-dea-agent-wont-admit-heroin-more-harmful-than-marijuana/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFgrB2Wmh5s&feature=player_embedded
 
This borders on psychosis on her part...is she really so ignorant that she cannot accept that various drugs have different levels of risk associated with their usage?

This woman is a nut. Why is it that these big politicians can't answer a fucking straightforward question?

Obama does the same shit.
 
If they claim marijuana is more harmful, it would seem like they are trying to push the use of hard drugs.

If they claim marijuana to be less dangerous than they have in the past, they wouldn't seemingly have a reason to have it placed in Schedule I.

Coming off ignorant as fuck: priceless.
 
i know she was just being ignorant but really pure heroin wouldn't be all that harmful compared to cannabis. Sure there are risks but it is less harmful to the body than say methamphetamine. I think it's a stupid comparison. Opiates are also much easier on me mentally than cannabis.
 
Source: lol What a Cunt, She Was Totally Owned!
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hahah... What an idiot. If i used heroin like i did pot in the last 20 years I imagine I may be dead by now. Some pot can be pretty damn strong, but the worst that happened to me is i spewed or passed out and went to sleep. The worst that happened to some of heroin users when they got a very strong dose was they died. Has pot actually killed anyone before?
 
when they got a very strong dose was they died
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oh? They got a more pure product than they were used to and took a lethal dose. Of course they're going to die. If you take a lethal dose of anything, even marijuana, you die. This should be obvious. If users knew the purity accidental overdoses would not be an issue (aside from the obvious. Idiots can kill themselves no matter the conditions).

If i used heroin like i did pot in the last 20 years I imagine I may be dead by now
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If you used heroin responsibly, and with a reasonable amount of caution, I imagine you would be fine even after 50 or more years.

Has pot actually killed anyone before?
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I can think of many reports of people doing stupid things while high and dying. Is pot responsible for their deaths? More so than heroin is responsible for someone accidentally overdosing on it I would think.
 
poledriver said:
hahah... What an idiot. If i used heroin like i did pot in the last 20 years I imagine I may be dead by now. Some pot can be pretty damn strong, but the worst that happened to me is i spewed or passed out and went to sleep. The worst that happened to some of heroin users when they got a very strong dose was they died. Has pot actually killed anyone before?
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I have read that brain scans of the corpses of lifetime heroin addicts revealed nothing to hint that they were drug users.
If heroin were legal, quality would be assured, and accidental overdose would be much, much more limited than it is now.
In fact, it might be approximately as common as lethal overdose of alcohol.
 
I can think of many reports of people doing stupid things while high and dying (on pot)
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That's kind of not the same. The effect of the drug on the individual didn't cause them to OD and die. They may have done some stupid stuff and got killed, or made the wrong decisions, but administering the drug itself didn't kill them, their actions after it did.

I can accept that heroin can be used safely and responsibly, and in a different society where drug use wasn't so frowned upon by so many that they sometimes have to doit alone and do not know the purity or strength of the product that alot of deaths may have been preventable, but isn't it still a more dangerous drug? Don't you think? The risks of OD'ing and dying are I thought anyway, much higher, than say with pot. People seem to be able to use pot and not OD and die as far as i had heard anyway.

Maybe i'm wrong, maybe they are both as safe a drug, I've never used it personally, but I thought I had heard of quite alot more deaths from accidental OD's on heroin than with pot (which I dont think i have heard of any).

If you take a lethal dose of anything, even marijuana, you die.
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So there has been many cases of people OD'ing on (strong) pot and dying? Ok then I stand corrected. Learn new stuff everyday I guess.

If you used heroin responsibly, and with a reasonable amount of caution, I imagine you would be fine even after 50 or more years.
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Even if i stopped for a while then tried some really strong stuff and took too much accidentally?
 
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I guess I thought that the use of certain drugs, like for example pot and lsd were far more less likely to have the chance of over dose causing death, than say heroin or cocaine or alcohol. Just from what I have seen growing up and read about in the media. I'm happy to be wrong tho. That to me shows that certain drugs are more harmful than others or have the capacity to be deadly, more so than others.

Yes if all use was supervised and certain doses were always given or known then it may be safer and less deaths may have been caused from accidental heroin OD's, but that's not the way it is. People buy ounces of pot and sometimes smoke through it all themselves and nothing bad really happens, but some people can buy a small amount of really strong heroin and OD and die. I dont hear about too many buying a gram of strong hydro pot and OD'ing and dying, do you?
 
The effect of the drug on the individual didn't cause them to OD and die
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Ah, I see. I did not realize that the effect of heroin was to become animate and hold a gun to peoples heads forcing them to overdose. Sarcasm aside, I do not see that it is a drugs fault if someone overdoses on it. The drug had no effect on what dose they took. Nor did it decide what it's purity would be. To say that heroin is at fault for people overdosing on it while maintaining that pot is entirely innocent in the case of people dying while doing stupid shit under it's influence is foolish. It is precisely the kind of idiocy you would deride this government clown for.

So there has been many cases of people OD'ing on (strong) pot and dying?
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No. Because pot has a far larger margin of safety. It would be highly difficult if not impossible to smoke a lethal amount. My point was not that you should be worried about that when smoking pot. It was that it is ridiculous to say "if people take lethal doses of heroin they die! heroin must be so dangerous!". That people OD from heroin does not mean it is dangerous or evil. It means that there is a smaller margin of safety when dosing. It means that care must be taken when dosing it out. Either by knowing the purity and measuring your doses, or, by working your way up from a small dose until you reach the desired effects.

Even if i stopped for a while then tried some really strong stuff and took too much accidentally?
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Then you would not have been using very responsibly. You would have no one but yourself to blame. Least of all an inanimate powder.

so are guys saying you think heroin is no more addictive or harmful than pot?
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More addictive? Yes. Harmful? That is a difficult question. If people use them ignorantly, without caution or knowledge then heroin would certainly cause a greater amount of harm than pot. But, is that heroins fault? Does that make it dangerous in and of itself? It only speaks of the way people decided to use it. Nothing more than that.
 
fair enough, I appreciate your replies. I may have sounded ignorant or biased towards pot, but it's always nice to hear other sides, ideas and view points on topics. I'm always just trying to be honest to what I have seen in life and heard through the media, but it's not always right. I'm a very strong supporter of heroin injecting rooms that are monitored, like the one we have in Sydney, even if I have never been in there and probably wont. I'm pretty sure it's a good thing to have supervision, some people cant use at home and to do it around trained staff and with clean equipment means alot in harm reduction in my books.
 
^ I appreciate your good attitude and openness, poledriver.
It makes for an interesting discussion, for one thing.
I also always try to be open to new viewpoints and learning, and often have great need of it!

I think that we have to be careful to differentiate "harmful" and "dangerous".
Heroin is certainly more dangerous, as the chance of ODing lethally is much higher (infinitely higher) than with cannabis. This chance would be greatly reduced with legalization.
But if used responsibly, heroin is apparently not very harmful.
 
RobotRipping said:
i know she was just being ignorant but really pure heroin wouldn't be all that harmful compared to cannabis. Sure there are risks but it is less harmful to the body than say methamphetamine. I think it's a stupid comparison. Opiates are also much easier on me mentally than cannabis.
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"greater harm to public health"

not your body. when potheads start stealing car stereos Ill be more inclined to believe that
 
take pure THC, chemically alter it so that it reaches the brain more readily and inject a large dose of it into a vein. Let me know how it feels.

What would she have said if they asked her if weed is more harmful than alcohol? Than cigarettes? I know she wouldn't've said no, but I would want to hear her explanation of why weed is more harmful than alcohol.

The drug czar, in a moment of accidental candor, said marijuana is harmful because it leads to criminal charges.

Is wouldn't've a word?

Is it possible to make a quadruple contraction? Quintuple?
 
I dont agree with her Im just saying you took that specific quote the wrong way.

and if I chemcially altered marijuana for injection (if that is even possible, no idea) wouldnt that be considered a seperate drug?

I mean, if crack and powdered cocaine are looked at differently, wouldnt natural and "IV ready" pot be considered different as well?
 
^I actually have no idea what point I was trying to make. I'm already celebrating the Heat championship and I'm pretty fucked up.
 
will it be Bron Bron's first ring?

or his biggest collapse?

we shall see
 
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