Obama appoints Leonhart to head DEA

capwiz.com...

President Barack Obama recently nominated Michele Leonhart to direct the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. NORML is asking you to contact your Senator today and urge him or her to reject this nomination.

As interim director, Ms. Leonhart has obstructed efforts to end the destructive conflict between federal and state medical marijuana laws while overseeing federal raids and arrests in disregard of state law - contrary to the present policy of this administration.

Furthermore, Ms. Leonhart has blocked scientific research on medical marijuana, in disregard of 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 to reschedule marijuana for medical use, which was supported by NORML and was called for by the AMA and a growing number of states and federal judges.

She has further denied the application of the University of Massachusetts to establish a research facility for FDA development of marijuana, overruling the recommendation of the DEA's own administrative law judge that this was not in the public interest.

Ms. Leonhart has incomprehensibly called the rising death toll civilians attributable to the U.S./Mexican drug war "a signpost of the success" of her agency's policies.

Ms. Leonhart's actions and ambitions are incompatible with common sense marijuana law reform and the stated policies of this administration. Please urge Congress to reject this nomination. For your convenience, a prewritten letter will be e-mailed to your member of the U.S. Senate when you enter your contact information below.

Thank you for assisting NORML's federal law reform efforts.

I can't believe I voted for this administration.

I am hoping a supporter of this nomination will post to be certain that this material is not engineered to be as damning as it appears.

Politics will destroy this country.

Positions such as these - given the increased power and scope of their control over us - should be elected by the people. Or any jackalope with a 'connection' can get extraordinary power by whimsical fiat.

reply to post by Maxmars


I apologize, this is just the article that came off one of the news services I subscribe too. Hard to imagine but this virtually the only article or press release on the subject (you would think a new head of the DEA would be news... but I guess not) There's only five articles on Google News and three of them are in Spanish. Here's her Wiki

Michele Marie Leonhart is an American career law enforcement officer and the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Since the resignation of Administrator Karen P. Tandy in the fall of 2007, Leonhart has also served as Acting Administrator of the DEA.

President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Leonhart as Deputy Administrator on 31 July 2003,[1] and submitted her nomination to the United States Senate on 3 October 2003.[2] The Senate confirmed her nomination on 8 March 2004.[3] On 15 April 2008, the White House announced that President Bush intended to nominate Leonhart to succeed Tandy as the next Administrator of DEA.[4] Leonhart's nomination was received by the Senate the same day and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.[5] However, the committee did not hold any hearings on Leonhart's nomination, and on 2 January 2009, the nomination was returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate pursuant to sine die adjournment at the end of the 110th Congress. On 2 February 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Leonhart for the position of DEA Administrator;[6] the nomination was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration (nomination no. PN1430-111).

reply to post by PatesHatriots


No need to apologize. I just can't believe someone with her record would appear to be an attractive candidate for such a post.