chuck rosenberg is acting administrator for the d.e.a. >> it's not aut danger. stuff in schedule one can be and effective medicine. >> thi decision keeps marijuana classified as a schedule 1 drug, like heroin and l.s.d., which means the federal government only approves of its use under ncns.tly limited research in violation of federal law, new jersey ione o 42 states and the district of columbia that allow the use of various forms of marijuana for medical use. dr. thomas bellavia of hasbrouck heights, new jersey, has been prescribing it years. >> m.s. patients have a better quality of life. people with glaucoma do much better, especially for people who have been in auto accidents great job for them.in, it does a >> reporter: and yet there is still such a stigma this patient didn't want to be identified. >> medil marijuana has helped me in so many ways. i no longer take percocet for back pain like candy ion't use them hardly ever. >> reporter: a recent cbs news poll shows 87% of americans >> they really have their head in the sand. so i thinks is an agency th it

chuck rosenberg runs the dea. sometimes we overuse words like unprecedented, this is an epidemic, were going to lose weight so thousand people thi year to a drug overdose death i some ways that number is people who overdose but don't dieiend. and the small town of euclid, the fire departmentm administered the heroin antidote, the locks ontoni one and 45 people las year.l >> wish that this was just a temper thing.. wild thing driving the increases prescription pills, one of five started on description pills mostlys legitimately elyse at some point.. >> estee lauder from the nation top drug enforcement official delightto expect other positive the were careful to prescribe fewer obvious to manage pain bu the opposite is true, federal policy puts financial pressure on doctors to prescribe more opiates heroin epidemic.t we know that physicians across ohio this trolley that there be an pressured the college tell me that the pressure is intense and often these patients have been on these prescriptions for years.. they sa

chuck rosenberg is acting >> it's not about danger. stuff in schedule-1 can be really dangerous or not as dangerous. it's whether or not it's a safe and effective medicine. >> reporter: in violation of federal law, new jersey is one of 42 states and the district of columbia that allow the use of various forms of marijuana for medical use. dr. thomas bellavia of hasbrouck heights, new jersey, has been prescribing it for over three years. >> m.s. patients have a better quality of life. people with glaucoma do much better. especially for people who have been in auto accidents and have chronic pain, it does a really great job for them. >> reporter: and yet there is still such a stigma, this patient didn't want to be identified. >> medical marijuana has helped me in so many ways. i no longer take percocets for back pain, like candy. i don't use them hardly ever. >> reporter: a recent cbs news poll shows 87% of americans approve of medical marijuana. michael collins is with the drug policy alliance: >> they really have their head and so, i t

chuck rosenberg has served of acting dea since may 2015 and began his career service this public service as an assistant u.s. attorney from virginia from 94 until the year 2000. after a few years of private sector he served in a series of senior positions in law-enforcement. and chief of staff to then deputy. he was confirmed by the senate and it's a position he would've held since 2008. he was a drug undergraduate from tufts law degree university of virginia and masters degree harvard. final witness is doctor douglas, and center for drug evaluation and research at the u.s. food and drug administration. he joined in 97 after working in the medical college of georgia and the veterans ministration hospital, augusta georgia. he earned his his md from the university of nebraska medical school and completed his residency at the western reserve and his fellowship at yale university. we start out with mr. botticelli thank you for inviting me back to discuss issues of synthetic drugs. they're all a tremendous concern of the administration. i focused my opening remarks on new psychoactive substan

. >> reporter: chuck rosenberg said most thin sinn synthetic drugs come from how says easy is it for someone in america to buy these chemicals? >> too easy, extremely easy. somebody sits down at theirers it over the package. >> reporter: they're then transformed into many forms, liquids. and the drugs are a lot more dangerous than they look. in fact, the chemicals are so potent, they have to handle them with gloves. >> the reason t i are wearing gloves is if you touch it, you can absorb that and become -- the drug just by absorption. >> reporter: if i pick up that piece of paper, i could get it through my skin. >> for sure. yeah.w. >> that was kate snow reporting there. you can see more of her report 6:00 central here on nbc.next, our sunday story from the fashion designer who dresses celebs like beyonce and friends, together once again. then, harry smith taking us behind the scenes in one of broadway's newest shows. does the smell of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboardfamily members? is your success due to a filing to your wireless

. >> chuck rosenberg is the administrator in charge of the dea. >> you're talking about an industry that'sur kids. >> the dea says the synthetic drug problem in the u.s. originates far outside our borders. >> the chemicals come from abroad. often it's processed or assembled and packaged here. but the chemicals are coming from overseas. >> are most of these chemicals coming from china? is that fair to say? >> most of it's coming from china. >> in china, for the most part, it's been perfectly legal to manufacture and sell most synthetic chemicals. in fact, over the last seven years, the china pipeline, as it's called, has made so many of these chemical compounds, it's created a whole new world of drug dealing. a world where drugmakers and dealers rarely meet and where drug buys take place online. how easy is it for someone here in america to buy these chemicals? >> too easy. extremely easy. somebody sits down at their keyboard, orders it over the internet, and it shows up in a package. they're reasonably savvy in the way they package it and you can only imagine how many packages are transiti

. >> chuck rosenberg says he believes agencies are doing a good job combatting synthetic drugs but it is a major challenge in the country right now. in april the d.c. council passed one of the nation's toughest laws on synthetic drugs. >>> east coast getting pounded with rain from tropical storm colin. strong winds and crashing waves doing a lot of destruction. a lot of trees and power lines reported down in florida. the storm dumped up to 9 inches of rain in some areas. flood waters have washed out roads and entire yards. florida's governor has issued a state of emergency and authorized as many as 6,000 national guard soldiers. now a check on our weather with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. >> good morning everybody. what's left of what was tropical storm colin now just a post tropical cyclone, a big fancy word for area of storminess off the coastline here moving out to sea. the low itself is just offshore from wilmington, north carolina, and it's moving to the northeast here at 36 miles per hour forward speed with 60-mile-per-hour winds inside the center. the future of what w

. >> reporter: chuck rosenberg said most thin sinnsynthetic drugs come from china. how s sseasy is it for someone in america to buy these chemicals? >> too easy, extremely easy. somebody sits down at their keyboard, orders it over the internet and it shows up in a package. >> reporter: they're then transformed into many forms, pills, even liquids. and the drugs are a lot more dangerous than they look.. in factct thehemicals are so potent, they haha toandle them with gloves. >> the reason that detective and i are wearing gloves is if you touch it, you can absorb that and become -- the drug can affect you just by absorption. >> reporter: if i pick up that piece of paper, i could get it through my skin. >> for sure. yeah.. >> reporter: wow. >> that was kate snow reporting there. you can see more of her report on "dateline" tonight at 7:00, >>> up next, our sunday story from the fashion designer who dresses celebs like beyonce and rihanna to the cast of frieies, together once again. then, harry smith taking us behind the scenes in one of broadway's newest shows. it is a