Following recent raids, medical marijuana advocacy groups have called on President Barack Obama to withdraw nomination of Michele Leonhart to be DEA administrator. The following organizations have called on President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Leonhart if she does not end the attacks on individuals acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws and commit to making decisions related to medical marijuana based on science, not a personal anti-marijuana bias: California NORML; Drug Policy Alliance (DPA); Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; Marijuana Policy Project; National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML); and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP).
The coalition claims that Leonhart, who is currently the DEA’s acting-administrator, has not demonstrated that she is capable of leading the agency in a thoughtful manner at a time when 14 states have enacted medical marijuana laws, and science is increasingly confirming the therapeutic benefits of the substance.
“It is clearly time for President Obama to insist that his appointees adhere to current Justice Department guidelines regarding state laws regulating the medical use of marijuana, and that marijuana be fairly evaluated by all federal agencies, based on science, not ideology,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the nation’s oldest marijuana legalization lobby. “The Obama administration should be working with us to eliminate criminal penalties for the responsible use of marijuana by adults, regardless of whether it is medical use or otherwise.”
Under Leonhart’s leadership, the coalition points out that the DEA has staged medical marijuana raids in apparent disregard of Attorney General Eric Holder’s directive to respect state medical marijuana laws. Most recently, DEA agents flouted a pioneering Mendocino County ordinance to regulate medical marijuana cultivation by raiding the very first grower to register with the sheriff. Joy Greenfield, 69, had paid more than $1,000 for a permit to cultivate 99 plants in a collective garden that had been inspected and approved by the local sheriff.
Informed that Greenfield had the support of the sheriff, the DEA agent in charge allegedly responded by saying, “I don’t care what the sheriff says.”
The DEA’s conduct is inconsistent with an October 2009 Department of Justice memo directing officials not to arrest individuals “whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”
Leonhart, opponents say, has also demonstrated that she is unable to be objective in carrying out the duties of the administrator as it relates to medical marijuana research. In January 2009, she refused to issue a license to the University of Massachusetts to grow marijuana for FDA-approved research, despite a DEA administrative law judge’s ruling that it would be “in the public interest” to issue the license. This single act has blocked privately-funded medical marijuana research in this country. The next DEA administrator will likely influence the outcome of a marijuana rescheduling petition currently before the agency. It is critical, the coalition emphasizes, that an administrator with an open mind toward science and research is at the helm.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
Author: Dennis McMillan
Contact: SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
Copyright: 2010 SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
Website: Medical Marijuana Groups Oppose Michele Leonhart for DEA
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
The coalition claims that Leonhart, who is currently the DEA’s acting-administrator, has not demonstrated that she is capable of leading the agency in a thoughtful manner at a time when 14 states have enacted medical marijuana laws, and science is increasingly confirming the therapeutic benefits of the substance.
“It is clearly time for President Obama to insist that his appointees adhere to current Justice Department guidelines regarding state laws regulating the medical use of marijuana, and that marijuana be fairly evaluated by all federal agencies, based on science, not ideology,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the nation’s oldest marijuana legalization lobby. “The Obama administration should be working with us to eliminate criminal penalties for the responsible use of marijuana by adults, regardless of whether it is medical use or otherwise.”
Under Leonhart’s leadership, the coalition points out that the DEA has staged medical marijuana raids in apparent disregard of Attorney General Eric Holder’s directive to respect state medical marijuana laws. Most recently, DEA agents flouted a pioneering Mendocino County ordinance to regulate medical marijuana cultivation by raiding the very first grower to register with the sheriff. Joy Greenfield, 69, had paid more than $1,000 for a permit to cultivate 99 plants in a collective garden that had been inspected and approved by the local sheriff.
Informed that Greenfield had the support of the sheriff, the DEA agent in charge allegedly responded by saying, “I don’t care what the sheriff says.”
The DEA’s conduct is inconsistent with an October 2009 Department of Justice memo directing officials not to arrest individuals “whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”
Leonhart, opponents say, has also demonstrated that she is unable to be objective in carrying out the duties of the administrator as it relates to medical marijuana research. In January 2009, she refused to issue a license to the University of Massachusetts to grow marijuana for FDA-approved research, despite a DEA administrative law judge’s ruling that it would be “in the public interest” to issue the license. This single act has blocked privately-funded medical marijuana research in this country. The next DEA administrator will likely influence the outcome of a marijuana rescheduling petition currently before the agency. It is critical, the coalition emphasizes, that an administrator with an open mind toward science and research is at the helm.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
Author: Dennis McMillan
Contact: SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
Copyright: 2010 SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
Website: Medical Marijuana Groups Oppose Michele Leonhart for DEA
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
