DEA Claims Inaccurate Media Reporting Makes Cannabis Prosecution More Challenging

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released its latest annual survey, the 2016 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary. The report includes details about transnational criminal organizations in addition to reports on various drugs of abuse. In the report on “Marijuana,” the DEA reiterates that cannabis is an illicit drug in 22 pages of its Drug Threat Assessment.

The DEA only dedicated 16 pages to prescription pain killers in its report, although cannabis has been responsible for zero deaths in comparison to the 14,000 deaths related to prescription opioid overdoses in 2014, in a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the report, the DEA claims that inaccurate media coverage of cannabis is to blame for the department’s and law enforcement’s decreasing ability to prosecute for cannabis-related charges. The administration also claims that prosecution is most difficult in states that have legalized cannabis.

“Many states have passed laws allowing the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana within their respective states. Due to these varying state laws, as well as an abundance of medical attention surrounding claims of possible medical benefits, the general public has been introduced to contradictory and often inaccurate information regarding the legality and benefits of marijuana use,” the report states. “This has made enforcement and prosecution for marijuana-related offenses more difficult, especially in states that have approved marijuana legalization.”

While some media outlets have been responsible for circulating false information about cannabis, much of the fake news is against cannabis and not in support of it. Further, the DEA and its employees are also responsible in spreading misinformation about cannabis. For instance, last year Chuck Rosenberg, the Acting Chief of the DEA, said medical cannabis was “a joke.” “What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal—because it’s not,” Rosenberg said to reporters, according to CBS News. “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.”

The November 2016 report from the DEA is a harsh reminder of how much work is still ahead of cannabis activists, especially those who are fighting for the recognition of cannabis for its medical benefits. With over 100 documented scientific studies that cannabis cures cancer, in addition to the countless patient stories that prove non-psychoactive cannabidiol helps to stop seizures, it’s only a matter of time before we can end the denial of cannabis’ medical benefits once and for all.