DEA head doesn't like what Obama said about marijuana

[NightWatcher]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/25/michele-leonhart-obama_n_4666606.html

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration slammed President Barack Obama this week for saying marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol, according to a report Saturday in the Boston Herald.

DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart reportedly told a group of sheriffs at a closed-door conference in Washington that she was frustrated by the administration's recent openness toward state legalization. Although Leonhart's remarks were not made publicly, her pointed references to the president could put her job in jeopardy.

<snip>

The administration so far has shown itself willing to let Colorado's and Washington's experiments with marijuana legalization move ahead. But those baby steps toward respecting state legislation appear to have sewn dissension at the DEA.

Leonhart, a former Baltimore cop and long-time DEA agent before ascending to the agency's top role, staunchly opposes mainstreaming marijuana use. In 2012 House Judiciary testimony, she refused to answer a question from Colorado Rep. Jared Polis (D) about whether she thought crack or heroin were worse for a person's health than marijuana. She said in December that legalization sends "mixed messages" to high-schoolers, and this month, one of her top deputies told Congress that legalization is "reckless and irresponsible."

Time to cut this long time drug warrior loose

[arely staircase]

1. she needs to spend more time with her family nt

[Matariki]

16. +1

[arcane1]

2. What a coward. 'Legalization sends "mixed messages" to high-schoolers' indeed.

How many beer commercials do high-schoolers see every week?

[Major Nikon]

49. The "mixed message" is lying to them about the dangers of drugs

Then when they inevitably find out the truth they never believe anything else you say.

[ohheckyeah]

3. Of coure she opposes legalization...

DEA jobs aren't as secure with no marijuana busts to make or as financially well-to-do with no seizures of money to be made.

Legalizing marijuana use for adults isn't sending mixed messages to high-schoolers....hell, many of them smoke it now, and it won't be made legal for teenagers.

[spin]

10. Exactly! She loves her job security. (n/t)

[WhiteTara]

15. well, they could turn their attention to meth.

Now there is a killer. And the incoming zombie drug.

[Politicalboi]

31. But those people are crazy

And dangerous compared to pot heads. Someone could get hurt, and it could be a DEA agent instead of grandma being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her own home.

[WhiteTara]

42. I almost said that

and you are so right. They are crazy.

I think that meth is the drug of the hopeless. While cannabis is the herb of the seeker as it has the tendency to turn your gaze inward, meth takes you completely out of your body and your mind. The bath salts thing is so horrific that the user loses all touch with humanity and is no longer a sentient being. Meth is so close to that.

What a terrible way to die; your skin turning into pustules of stinking ooze or having your skin fall off your body with your only thought wanting more of the drug.

If we could have something more than the horrible present/future the 1% has laid out for us, I don't think meth could get a foothold.

[Dawson Leery]

4. DEA agents have served with great dishonor.

DEA agents are parasites.

[defacto7]

28. and of course

she met with a group of sheriffs behind closed-doors. Sheriffs and DEA agents can't ever be seen talking their talk in a public forum. It would be too.... public. The public should never be confused by their more advanced drug ideology, because then the DEA would have to face the facts. Nope, can't do that.

[Dawson Leery]

50. I have never voted for a sheriff and am glad we in Connecticut voted

2:1 to rid ourselves of that corrupt system back in 2000.

[liberal_at_heart]

5. Obama won't do a damn thing about it. He has stated that marijuana possession would be

lowest priority. Instead more people have been arrested under the Obama administration than under Bush. He says one thing and then hires people that do the exact opposite of what he says.

[1000words]

6. What else would she say to a roomful of sheriffs?

No one is taking a courageous stand, just trying to please everyone.

[arely staircase]

7. "reiterated the agency's opposition to legalization"

Say what?

"A DEA spokeswoman contacted by the Herald did not comment on Leonhart's remarks, but reiterated the agency's opposition to legalization. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost."

Since when is an agency allowed to set its own or have a policy independent of the Chief Executive.

[1000words]

8. According to some, the NSA has been doing it for some time.

[spin]

12. And you could add the NSA will continue to do so no matter what regulations are passed. ...

That will change if and when a few NSA executives end up in prison.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. She serves at the pleasure...Monday at 9:00 am would be a good time to get her letter on his desk

You don't bad mouth your boss to outsiders (and get caught). Period.

[rurallib]

11. marijuana is her meal ticket - no time for common sense here

locking up high school and college kids - that pays her mortgage.

[Cha]

13. Ha! I'm glad he said.. and too bad for

those who whine otherwise.

[hunter]

14. The price support team for approved drug gangsters has a sad.

This could harm their funding.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

17. "Sewn" dissension, eh?

And I'm not even high. Unfortunately!

[Fumesucker]

18. Part of a team of rivals no doubt n/t

[defacto7]

29. lol...

[mike_c]

19. fire her...

BTW, it's time to step away from the computer and fire one up.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

21. Take a tablet to the garage, and no need to step away.

But yes, and more importantly, fire her now and do it publicly.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

20. Michele Leonhart: collect your belongings and get the fuck out.

We can no longer justify your existence.

[Shampoobra]

22. Michele Leonhart, you are a drug lord

You are fighting to keep drugs illegal. The illegality of drugs is a benefit to organized crime. You're working for them, and you're a major contributor to America's drug problem.

[farmbo]

23. With Civil Forfeitures running amok, the DEA has a virtual license to steal

And they give their CF table scraps to local law enforcement to make them happy drug warriors too.

No one in law enforcement wants to derail that gravy train.

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. Less harmful than alcohol, if anything

and this is why people don't take the "war on drugs" seriously, when you have the nation's top drug warrior denying all the evidence to say "no, weed is worse than booze, and maybe even as bad as smack!", why would anyone take her seriously?

[Harmony Blue]

25. Drug War is a failure

the denial stage is in full gear. Next they will fight but then we as citizens we win.

[Blue_In_AK]

26. Of course she opposes legalization.

It's her livelihood, after all.

[frylock]

27. marijuana is the DEA's sacred cash cow

[Ed Suspicious]

30. The DEA are public servants who enforce laws. They don't fucking make them. Their opinion cannot

be unbiased. They have an inherent conflict of interest when speaking on matters of drug legality. I for one wish they, in their professional capacity, would shut the fuck up.

[bananas]

32. They flew a hemp flag over the Capitol last July 4th?

I didn't know that!
Wow!

[spanone]

33. he's protecting his phony baloney job

there's HUGE money in the drug war, they will not go away quietly

[RainDog]

34. She wouldn't admit heroin or meth is worse than marijuana

She's a worthless, evasive, lying pos Bush appointee. I hope she resigns soon. Then she can join Andrea Barthwell, former Deputy Drug Czar, lobbying for big pharma marijuana and trying to keep the same illegal for everyone else.

LOL. 3rd time this week I've posted the wrong link in the wrong place. proofread is my friend.

[loudsue]

35. Michele must be making some money on the side.

I don't trust 90% of the DEA officers anymore, since I've known too many people who have known too many officers.

[Nevernose]

45. There was a government report in the early 90s

That claimed two out of three DEA agents were corrupt, and that was a DOJ report.

The nature of that job is, on and of itself, corrupt. How do they prevent people from buying, selling, and consuming substances they don't agree with? By buying, selling, and consuming those substances (undercovers), or by getting other people to buy, sell, and consume said substances (informants).

We could end the expensive, destructive, fruitless drug war tomorrow by simply not directing our resources to finding drugs. Heroin would still be illegal if the police found it; they just wouldn't go looking for it. Way less destruction in our communities.

[loudsue]

55. Copy that.

++++1,000,000. It's time we put the drug war in the rear view mirror.

[unhappycamper]

36. If you compare the number of highway deaths caused by alcohol or pot

I'm sure booze has killed MANY more people than pot.

AFAIK, nobody has ODed on pot.

(The Boston Herald is a right-wing rag.)

[Scuba]

37. Then she should resign, and if she won't, she should be axed.

[Savannahmann]

38. Is this the same DEA that said that reducing access to Psudophed would reduce Crystal Meth?

I'm not sure of the current numbers, but according to this report from the DEA their plan to reduce Crystal Meth by making it ten times harder for the cold and allergy sufferers to find relief and prosecute people for buying two boxes at once (horrors) because their husband and daughter were sick at the same time (how dare they) hasn't really done anything to reduce the production of the hated drug.

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/dea/product/meth/threat.htm

In fact, according to that report, Meth production has increased 518%. That may be one of the few statistics that is growing faster than CEO paychecks.

[B Calm]

39. She profits by keeping it illegal.

You fall in two different groups if you want to keep it illegal, one who profits or just fucking ignorant!

[ProSense]

40. She "slammed" his comments? What

"DEA head doesn't like what Obama said about marijuana"

...does she have to say about the policy shift announced by Holder?

National Cannabis Industry Association Applauds Attorney General for Committing to a Banking Fix for Marijuana Businesses ‘Very Soon’

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Obama administration will issue guidance allowing banks to serve state-legal marijuana businesses. The legal cannabis industry is projected to produce $2.7B in revenue in 2014, but is currently forced to operate almost entirely in cash.

The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) today applauded remarks from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, announcing imminent guidance from the Obama Administration to allow financial institutions to serve state-legal marijuana businesses. ["Holder: Feds to let banks handle pot money." Politico, 1/23/2014]

“For the legal, regulated cannabis industry, this is very welcome news,” said NCIA executive director Aaron Smith. “We have been anxiously awaiting clarity on the banking issue from the Justice and Treasury Departments for many months. To hear that guidance will be issued 'very soon' is encouraging. It’s critical that we fix this issue before February 20, when our Colorado members must pay their first round of state taxes, or the Colorado Department of Revenue may be forced to accept more than $1 million in cash payments.

“We’re grateful to Attorney General Holder and other federal officials who have been working to resolve this crisis. The safety of our members is threatened by the current lack of banking access and this resolution cannot come soon enough."

In the absence of guidance from federal enforcers, most financial institutions have been unwilling to provide even the most basic banking services, such as checking and savings accounts, to medical or adult-use marijuana businesses. This forces state-authorized cannabis businesses to handle their financial transactions, including sales, payroll, taxes, and licensing fees, entirely in cash. The latest projections from industry analysis firm Arcview Market Research indicate that the legal cannabis industry will add $2.7 billion to the American economy in 2014.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/01/prweb11519014.htm

[ananda]

41. Actually, pot is less harmful than alcohol.

..

[Lex]

43. of course drug enforcement people are for as many drugs as possible being illegal

it's job security

[tabasco]

44. Then she's part of the problem and should be fired

She is clearly unqualified for such an important post.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

47. Don't call her the DEA "head" ...

... she'll have to investigate herself.

[HarryAnslinger]

48. Time to remove marijuana from the DEA's schedule of drugs

Please sign the petition asking President Obama to remove marijuana from the DEA's schedule of drugs:

http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-if-marijuana-is-safer-than-alcohol-remove-it-from-the-dea-s-schedule-of-drugs

The DEA is entrenched in their position against marijuana. Time to remove their authority over marijuana entirely.

[RainDog]

51. Harry! Glad you've seen the light! :)

Thanks for posting that petition. Hope all here who agree will sign.

I agree with Polis and Bluemenaur that cannabis should be overseen by AFT, not the DEA.

[Warpy]

53. Better late than never, Harry

but don't expect us to thank you for the last, hideous century of misplaced prohibition.

You'd have done far better to restrict the use of antibiotics.

[Warpy]

52. Her job depends in a large part on lies about drugs in general and pot in particular

Of course she'd be upset. The spectre of being declared superfluous and unemployed looms large. She'd rather insult the boss, however obliquely, than admit the drug war is based on a pack of lies, pushed forward a century ago by vicious racism.

[ThomThom]

54. Why is it always about the kids?

No one I ever heard is advocating us by teens, in fact really controlling it like cigarettes and alcohol makes much more sense then the black market sell to anyone.