Obama’S Pick To Head Dea Needs To Answer Some Tough Questions

[Michael Komorn]

Obama’s pick to head DEA needs to answer some tough questions

 

By Paul Armentano - 11/15/10 02:46 PM ET

Deputy Director

NORML | NORML Foundation

 

 

Colleagues,

 

My commentary below re: Michele Leonhart’s upcoming confirmation hearings and demand that Senators ask her tough questions regarding her past record and her intentions moving forward. Please feel free to disseminate widely and ask folks to chime in to The Hill with polite comments.

 

Best,

--

Paul Armentano

Deputy Director

NORML | NORML Foundation

paul@norml.org

 

 

<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/129219-obamas-pick-to-head-dea-needs-to-answer-some-tough-questions>

 

Obama’s pick to head DEA needs to answer some tough questions

 

By Paul Armentano - 11/15/10 02:46 PM ET

 

This Wednesday, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will be considering Michele Leonhart for the position of director of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Several organizations that lobby on drug policy issues have voiced serious concerns regarding Ms. Leonhart’s nomination.

 

As Interim DEA director, Ms. Leonhart has overseen dozens of federal raids on medical marijuana providers, producers, and laboratory facilities that engage in the testing of cannabis potency and quality. These actions took place in states that have enacted laws allowing for the production and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes, and they are inconsistent with an October 19, 2009 Department of Justice memo recommending federal officials no longer “focus ... resources ... on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”

 

It is now 14 years since California voters recognized the medical value of marijuana by amending state law; fifteen other states and the District of Columbia have since acted likewise. Yet under Ms. Leonhart’s leadership the DEA has failed to take a single step toward revising its practices in accordance with these changes to state law and administrative policy.

 

Furthermore, Ms. Leonhart has actively blocked scientific research that seeks to better identify and quantify marijuana’s medicinal properties and efficacy. These actions contradict this administration's pledge to let science rather than ideology guide public policy.

 

In particular, Ms. Leonhart has neglected to reply to an eight-year-old petition that calls for administrative hearings regarding the rescheduling marijuana for medical use. Such hearings were called for in 2009 by the American Medical Association, which resolved “that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines.” Moreover, in January 2009, Ms. Leonhart refused to issue a license to the University of Massachusetts for the purpose of cultivating marijuana for FDA-approved research, despite a DEA administrative law judge’s ruling that it would be “in the public interest” to grant this request. This single act has prohibited any privately funded medical marijuana research from taking place in the United States.

 

Finally, Ms. Leonhart has exhibited questionable judgment when speaking to the subject of escalating drug war violence in Mexico. In 2009, she described this border violence — which is responsible for over 31,000 deaths since December 2006 — as a sign of the “success” of her agency’s anti-drug strategies.

 

“Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having,” Leonhart said. The cartels are acting out like caged animals, because they are caged animals.” This view is out of step with the reality and the gravity of the growing problem on our southern border.

 

In short, Ms. Leonhart’s actions and ambitions are incompatible with state law, public opinion, and with the policies of this administration. At a minimum, Senators should ask Ms. Leonhart specific questions regarding her past record and her intentions moving forward. These questions ought to include:

 

* What are your plans for bridging the growing divide between state and federal law concerning the use of marijuana for medical purposes?

 

* How has the DEA changed its policies and practices to ensure compliance with the 2009 Department of Justice memo calling on federal law enforcement to no longer target individuals who are in compliance with the medical marijuana laws of their states?

 

* When will the DEA respond to a 2002 petition to hold hearings on the rescheduling of marijuana, as were called for by the American Medical Association?

 

Failure of the Senate to engage in a probing dialogue with Ms. Leonhart regarding these matters will continue to give the appearance that Congress and this administration are willing to place politics above science. This administration has specifically pledged to end this practice. It can begin doing so by demanding careful consideration be given to Michele Leonhart’s nomination.

 

Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

 

Michael A. Komorn

Attorney and Counselor

Law Office of Michael A. Komorn

3000 Town Center, Suite, 1800

Southfield, MI 48075

800-656-3557 (Toll Free)

248-351-2200 (Office)

248-357-2550 (Phone)

248-351-2211 (Fax)

Email: michael@komornlaw.com

Website: www.komornlaw.com

Check out our Radio show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/planetgreentrees

NEW CALL IN NUMBER: (347) 326-9626

Live Every Wednesday 8-9:30 p.m.

PLANET GREENTREES

w/ Attorney Michael Komorn

 

The most relevant radio talk show for the Michigan Medical Marijuana Community. PERIOD.

 

If you have a medical marihuana question or comment, please email them to me, or leave them on the forum for the MMMA, and I will try to answer them live on the air.

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/planetgreentrees

PLANET GREENTREES Call-in Number: (347) 326-9626

Call-in Number: (347) 326-9626

[solabeirtan]

When is this rumored event supposed to transpire?

 

Congressional Hearing for Approval DEA Chief -Tomorrow Wednsday Nov 17, 2010

 

 

GW appointed her and it Never happened on his watch.

Even though he had major commitments for their deployment throughout the planet.

Not to mention their overbearing interference in questionable affairs in this country...

 

Wonder if he covers any of this in his book? Surely not ...

... probably be in BHs, you think?

 

How about some answers as to the charges against her predessor also appointed by GW

resigned under scrutiny for DEA activities concerning Medical Cannabis Patients back in 2005....

[solabeirtan]

:bump: to let you know :

 

Found out about the date above there,

dont think it was in your article Michael ...

 

wonder if it might be on c-span?

[mizerman]

:bump: to let you know :

 

Found out about the date above there,

dont think it was in your article Michael ...

 

wonder if it might be on c-span?

If it's on C-Span I'll try and watch it tomorrow - or, at least DVR it.

 

Feeling very ill - so is wife. IF I feel better in the morning I will call the offices of all the senators who will have the ability to ask her questions.

 

 

Mizerman

 

p.s. have one hell of bad cold/flu

[solabeirtan]

Thanks MMan, hope You & Mrs are feeling better soon. Eat some Oranges, Lots of Vitamin C !

[+RevThad]

From NORML.ORG:

 

Senate Scheduled To Vote This Week -- Obama's Drug Warrior Nominee, Michele Leonhart

 

The National Journal reports that the United States Senate Judiciary will decide this week on the nomination of Michele Leonhart to head the Drug Enforcement Administration. NORML, along with numerous other groups, have opposed this nomination -- and we continue to urge the Senate to reject Ms. Leonhart for this high ranking federal position.

 

DEA Nomination on Track in the Senate Despite Opposition

via The National Journal

 

[excerpt] After a seven-month wait, the Senate Judiciary Committee has set a November 17 hearing on the nomination of Michele Leonhart as Drug Enforcement Administration chief.

 

Groups advocating for medicinal marijuana have waged a spirited campaign to derail Leonhart's confirmation. In a July letter to President Obama, several pro-marijuana groups and liberal organizations, such as FireDogLake and the 10th Amendment Center, accused Leonhart, a Bush administration holdover who is serving as DEA's acting administrator, of ignoring an October 2009 Justice Department directive urging federal authorities not to waste government time and resources "on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws."

 

President Obama offered a similar view while campaigning in 2008.

 

Though the number of DEA raids on medicinal marijuana growers has dropped, the agency has carried out dozens since the directive was issued. [Author's Note: Read about one of the federal government's most recent prosecutions here.] The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and other groups accuse Leonhart of continuing a policy she helped oversee while a top DEA deputy under Bush.

 

Leonhart has also irked marijuana advocates by overruling a DEA law judge's ruling giving a University of Massachusetts professor, Lyle Craker, a license to grow marijuana for FDA-approved research. Critics noted that the ruling leaves intact a decades-old monopoly by the University of Mississippi as the country's only legal producer of marijuana for medical research. Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Thad Cochran, R-Miss., has funneled millions of dollars in earmarks to the center, housed in a building that bears his name.

 

Citing such concerns, groups opposed to Leonhart's confirmation have launched letter-writing campaigns and online petitions calling for her nomination to be withdrawn or rejected, and they have won support in a series of sympathetic editorials this year.

 

What the groups have not been able to do, however, is get the attention of the White House or the Senate.

 

In addition to the actions above, Ms. Leonhart has steadfastly neglected to reply to an eight-year old petition to reschedule marijuana for medical use, which was supported by NORML and was called for by the American Medical Association and a growing number of states and federal judges.

 

Further, Ms. Leonhart has publicly called the increasing level of drug prohibition-related violence on the U.S/Mexican border -- violence that is now attributed to over 31,000 deaths since December 2006 -- as a sign of the "success" of America's drug war strategies.

 

"Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having," Leonhart told the publication Government Executive in 2009. "The cartels are acting out like caged animals, because they are caged animals."

 

Is this really the sort of person we want running the top anti-drug enforcement group in the land?!

 

Ms. Leonhart's actions and ambitions are incompatible with common sense marijuana law reform and the stated policies of this administration. Please urge the Senate to reject this nomination. For your convenience, a pre-written letter will be e-mailed to your member of the U.S. Senate when you visit NORML's 'Take Action' Center here:

 

http://www.capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=15006066

 

You can also call your U.S. Senate office here:

 

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 

You can also check out this latest post from our allies at Just Say Now: Senate Likely to Approve Obama's Pot-Hating, Insubordinate DEA Head Next Week.

 

Thank you for supporting NORML's marijuana law reform efforts.

 

Sincerely,

The NORML Team

 

edited to include links from the original email