--- title: Marijuana: DEA Says Pot is Safer Than Heroin description: The head of the country's Drug Enforcement Administration has admitted marijuana is "clearly" safer than heroin. canonical: https://time.com/3987552/dea-marijuana-heroin/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-06T17:01:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:15.461Z article:section: Health og:title: DEA Finally Admits Marijuana Is 'Clearly' Safer Than Heroin og:description: But it's still a Schedule I drug og:url: https://time.com/3987552/dea-marijuana-heroin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63750e86747acf2/698854bae53aba30464de317/gettyimages-98049962.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: An Initiative To Legalize Marijuana In California To Appear On Nov. Ballot og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: DEA Finally Admits Marijuana Is 'Clearly' Safer Than Heroin twitter:description: But it's still a Schedule I drug twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63750e86747acf2/698854bae53aba30464de317/gettyimages-98049962.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The DEA Finally Admits Marijuana Is 'Clearly' Safer Than Heroin > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=f98c6474-7151-4fcb-a008-a7857cede645&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: More Kids Exposed to Marijuana [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: More Kids Exposed to Marijuana](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NgXDaOt5.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-06-09. A new study saw a rise in exposure ot marijuana for children under six. Watch Know Right Now to find out more._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 6, 2015 5:01 PM UTC  One-ounce bags of medicinal marijuana are displayed at the Berkeley Patients Group March 25, 2010 in Berkeley, California. One-ounce bags of medicinal marijuana are displayed at the Berkeley Patients Group March 25, 2010 in Berkeley, California. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 6, 2015 5:01 PM UTC The head of the country’s Drug Enforcement Administration has acknowledged that marijuana is safer than heroin. On Wednesday, DEA acting chief Chuck Rosenberg admitted “heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana,” [the Huffington Post reports](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dea-chief-marijuana-heroin-danger%5F55c25079e4b0f7f0bebb4ef5). Last week, Rosenberg had said marijuana is “probably not” as dangerous as heroin, but added that he was “not an expert.” Marijuana is still classified by the DEA as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. The category is for drugs with the highest potential of abuse and no medical value. Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, and 23 states have legalized it for medical purposes. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3987552/dea-marijuana-heroin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3987552/dea-marijuana-heroin/"},"headline":"The DEA Finally Admits Marijuana Is 'Clearly' Safer Than Heroin","datePublished":"2015-08-06T17:01:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:15.461Z","description":"The DEA chief had said pot is \"probably not\" as bad as heroin, but that he was \"not an expert\"","url":"https://time.com/3987552/dea-marijuana-heroin/","keywords":["Drugs","Marijuana"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63750e86747acf2/698854bae53aba30464de317/gettyimages-98049962.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63750e86747acf2/698854bae53aba30464de317/gettyimages-98049962.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"An Initiative To Legalize Marijuana In California To Appear On Nov. 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