Obama's nomination of Michele Leonhart to head the DEA is generating a lot of discussion about how horrible she is. In particular, this exchange from yesterday's Senate hearing is raising disturbing questions about what she'll do with the vast, unchecked drug war powers the President seeks to bestow upon her:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 16, 2010
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or [email protected]
Pro-Legalization Police Group Asks Senate to Vote Against Obama's DEA Nominee
Judiciary Committee to Hold Confirmation Hearing on Wednesday
WASHINGTON, DC -- A group of police officers, judges and prosecutors who support legalizing and regulating marijuana and other drugs has sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opposing President Obama's nominee to head the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The nominee, Michele Leonhart, has overseen numerous DEA raids of medical marijuana clinics operating in accordance with state laws during her tenure as acting DEA administrator. This is in direction violation of President Obama's campaign pledges and a Justice Department directive urging the DEA not to waste scarce law enforcement resources undermining the will of voters who have made medical marijuana legal in their states.
"As a police officer, I made arrests of drug users because I was held accountable for enforcing the law whether I agreed with it or not," wrote Neill Franklin, a former Baltimore narcotics cop, in his testimony on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), which he leads as executive director. "Ms. Leonhart should be held similarly accountable for her actions which were inconsistent with guidance from the Department of Justice, as well as President Obama’s clear intentions based on his popular campaign pledges."
The criminal justice professionals of LEAP are also concerned with Leonhart's apparent disregard for the value of human life, having once called the gruesome violence in Mexico's illegal drug market a sign of "success" for U.S. drug policy.
"The tens of thousands of civilian deaths, which have continued to skyrocket since Ms. Leonhart’s statement, should not be measured as a sign of success," Franklin wrote. "Former Mexican president Vicente Fox and at least three additional former Latin American presidents have pointed out the failure of the US-led war on drugs and called for drastic change. The situation is Mexico is grave and escalating rapidly, putting US citizens in danger. Before the spillover violence gets any worse, the DEA needs a director who can engage world leaders in this debate and come to a solution."
Leonhart has served as acting administrator of the DEA for two years. The hearing to confirm her as administrator takes place before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 2:30 PM in 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
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Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Statement of Major Neill Franklin on behalf of LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) in opposition to the nomination of Ms. Michele Leonhart
Mr. Chairman and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to present the views of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) in opposition to the nomination of Michele Leonhart for the position of Director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
After a 33-year career as a police officer, I became the executive director of LEAP, an association of current and former law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and criminal justice professionals at every level of government who are speaking out about the failure of our drug policy.
Our members are deeply concerned about drug abuse and illicit drug market violence, and we have spent our careers fighting the drug war. Several of our members, including Russ Jones of Texas, Matthew Fogg of Washington, D.C., and Richard Amos of Florida, served as DEA agents or on DEA task forces. And as a police officer with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department, I too made my share of drug arrests in addition to commanding multi-jurisdictional drug task forces.
We oppose Ms. Leonhart’s nomination because her statements and actions demonstrate questionable judgment. Ms. Leonhart held a press conference regarding Mexican drug prohibition violence last year. Since 2006, more than 28,000 people have died in Mexico as a result of the illegal drug market violence. At the press conference, Ms. Leonhart indicated that such violence was a good sign. “Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having,” she said. “The cartels are acting out like caged animals, because they are caged animals.”
The tens of thousands of civilian deaths, which have continued to skyrocket since Ms. Leonhart’s statement, should not be measured as a sign of success. Former Mexican president Vicente Fox and at least three additional former Latin American presidents have pointed out the failure of the US-led war on drugs and called for drastic change. The situation is Mexico is grave and escalating rapidly, putting US citizens in danger. Before the spillover violence gets any worse, the DEA needs a director who can engage world leaders in this debate and come to a solution.
Ms. Leonhart’s judgment in allocating resources is questionable. Since her appointment by President Bush, she has overseen more than 200 federal raids in California and other medical marijuana states. When Ms. Leonhart became interim director, these raids continued even after the issuance of the October 19, 2009 Department of Justice memo which recommended federal officials shift resources away from targeting those individuals and organizations operating in compliance with state laws related to medical marijuana.
As a police officer, I made arrests of drug users because I was held accountable for enforcing the law whether I agreed with it or not. Ms. Leonhart should be held similarly accountable for her actions which were inconsistent with guidance from the Department of Justice, as well as President Obama’s clear intentions based on his popular campaign pledges. Under her supervision, a DEA agent raiding a marijuana grower who was operating with the support of the sheriff in Mendocino County, CA, said, “I don’t care what the sheriff says.” This attitude is counterproductive. Given the grave problems associated with illegal drug market violence, we feel that conducting raids on individuals and caretakers acting in compliance with state and local law may not be the best use of the DEA’s limited resources.
The DEA needs a director whose decisions are guided by the best interests of our citizens. Despite calls by the American Medical Association, Ms. Leonhart has failed to respond to a petition calling for hearings to review the scheduling of marijuana. Despite the DEA’s own administrative law judge’s ruling that the University of Massachusetts should be able to cultivate marijuana for FDA-approved research, Ms. Leonhart has blocked such research. We encourage the nomination of a director who supports engaging in dialogue and the use of research to shape the best possible policies.
Ultimately, we feel Ms. Leonhart is not ready for the job of DEA director and qualified candidates are available. In your confirmation hearings, the members of the Judiciary Committee should ask the difficult questions which will determine how she would intend to handle the changing nature of US drug laws. Voters across the country have created a gap between federal policy and state law that is steadily widening. In fifteen states, plus Washington D.C., the medical use of marijuana has been recognized. Several other states may choose to legalize marijuana in the next few years. The director of the DEA must be able to appropriately bridge this divide without wasting resources or causing unnecessary harm.
In the meantime, the criminal justice professionals of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition urge a no vote on Ms. Leonhart’s confirmation as DEA director.
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We lost on Tuesday, but we're
determined to celebrate next time.
And we can't do it without you.
Tell us what you think: how did we do, and where do we go from here to legalize marijuana?
Dear friends,
Prop 19 was defeated at the polls, 54% to 46%. Medical marijuana initiatives in Oregon and South Dakota lost as well, with votes still being counted in Arizona.
It’s fine to say “we’ll do better next time,” but if “next time” is just more of the same, we’re destined to repeat the same mistakes and suffer the same outcome. And when people are putting their hearts and their money and their time toward ending prohibition, that’s just not good enough.
If we learned one thing during this election, it’s that the marijuana reform movement needs to embrace the grassroots, to stop preaching, and to start listening. The top-down strategy of the marijuana reform movement up until now has failed, and must not be repeated.
So we want to hear from you. We want to know how we did in this election, and where you think the marijuana reform movement should go. Can you tell us what you think?
Tell us what you think: how did we do, and what can we do better next time? Click here to let us know.
http://action.firedoglake.com/justsaynowsurvey
We promise to read every word you write, and to report back on what we hear. Because one thing we know for sure: we can’t do this without you.
Your efforts to help Prop 19 and other initiatives were incredible, and unmatched. The Just Say Now campaign was launched less than 90 days before the election, and accomplished some amazing things during that time:
The successes of the Just Say Now campaign were your successes.
But we can do better. We want to do better. We want to be worthy of working with you to build a movement that finally brings about an end to marijuana prohibition in this country once and for all. And we never want to write another one of those “well, we fought the good fight” letters again.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the time and energy you put into this election. But next time around, we determined to be celebrating the day after.
http://action.firedoglake.com/justsaynowsurvey
Thank you for everything you did for Prop 19 and other marijuana initiatives, and for taking the time to let us know how we can do better next time.
Best,
Michael
JustSayNow.com
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In January 2000, 18-year-old Marisa Garcia received a ticket for marijuana possession that nearly cost her a college education.