Jeff Sessions Says Marijuana Is Only 'Slightly Less Awful' Than Heroin. Science Says He's Wrong

Jeff Sessions Says Marijuana Is Only 'Slightly Less Awful' Than Heroin. Science Says He's Wrong

Published on 3/16/17

The amount of people holding onto outdated and inaccurate information about marijuana has been gradually falling for years now, but unfortunately some old dogs just cant learn new information. Most people are likely aware that marijuana is clearly less dangerous than heroin and opioids, but Attorney General Jess Sessions is stuck in the ill-informed drug war of the 1970's. In a statement he prepared for this week, Sessions cites marijuana as "only slightly less awful" than heroin, but almost any professional in a medical or research field would disagree. From the years 2000-2015, over 500,000 people have died from drug overdoses. While there are still no recorded deaths from a cannabis overdose, nearly 91 people die everyday from opioid overdose. Despite marijuana's medicinal benefits that have been shown to curb opioid overdoses in MMJ legal states, Attorney General Session's negative statements on marijuana are grossly ill-informed and not in line with modern science or research. 

"The statement flies in the face of the science," said Dr. Donald Abrams, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California San Francisco, who has studied the health effects of marijuana. "No one has died from an overdose of cannabis. There's abundant evidence that it is a useful intervention for chronic pain, and we may see it’s useful in harm reduction."

"I've been a physician for almost 40 years and I’ve never admitted a patient for complications from cannabis use," Abrams said. "The number of patients we see with problems with use of alcohol, heroin, and methamphetamine is enormous. [Sessions'] statement is unfortunate and uninformed."

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