This article in today’s Boston Herald the author portrays the glee of the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) over the statements made by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) head Michelle Leonhart, statements such as these:
“She said she felt the administration didn’t understand the science enough to make those statements. She was particularly frustrated with the fact that, according to her, the White House participated in a softball game with a pro-legalization group. … But she said her lowest point in 33 years in the DEA was when she learned they’d flown a hemp flag over the Capitol on July 4.”
There are many things wrong with both Leonhart’s unprofessional conduct and her statements at this meeting. First and foremost is her deliberate disrespect for the office of the President of the United States. As someone who served in law enforcement I was trained to respect the chain-of-command. Private disagreements and discussions about policy were valued and warranted. But a childish outburst such as this demonstrates that Leonhart lacks the leadership skills or capabilities to effectively run an agency commensurate with the responsibilities of the DEA.
What is particularly churlish is that she resents a White House softball team playing against a team of drug-policy reformers. Maybe she realizes the government losing 25-3 last year to the reformers somewhat weakens her argument that marijuana is harmful to the health.
As for her outrage at the display of a hemp flag over the capital, I would remind her that industrial hemp products are legal in America and are not a sign of disrespect for law enforcement. What I find disrespectful is that she protects a system that endangers law enforcement by continuing to advocate for a policing system that does not work, while contributing to death, disease and addiction in our communities.
But what’s shocking is her disconnect from not just science, but the real world where she ignores published research, and even statistics from the Center for Disease Control that points out that, yes, marijuana IS safer than alcohol. An example is this study conducted by Professor Robert Gable where he measured the toxicity levels of multiple drugs that included alcohol and marijuana. His published findings reflected that “marijuana is about 100 times safer than alcohol or cocaine.”
So maybe it’s time to take Ms. Leonhart down memory lane and remind her about her own “not understanding science” with a link to her embarrassing testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2012. Her inability or refusal to answer the question of whether marijuana is less harmful than heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine, despite evidence from even her own agency, is at best disingenuous at worst a sign of her incompetence. These examples reflect Ms. Leonhart’s leadership of the DEA is becoming increasingly obsolete as the American public recognizes the lies perpetuated by her personally, as well as our government, when it comes to the discussion surrounding the harms not just of drugs, but our drug policy.
UPDATE: If you agree, sign this petition.
This woman should resign or be asked to step down prior to being fired. No one should be allowed to stay after blasting the POTUS in such a dis-respectful manner.
I agree with Mr Lucas. This woman is about as competent in her position at DEA as “Brownie” was at FEMA.
Heh heh heh … you said BROWNIE
Thanks for the plug! Minor correction, we beat the White House 5-2 last year, it was two years ago that we beat them 25-3.
Nobody’s mentioning how it went this year. I’m assuming less well?
And (sings) How – long — has this been going on?
Genius, you don’t play softball in DC in January.
Shows how much you know: Vern doesn’t do anything in DC in January.
While I agree with this editorial I think we need to go further. Someone needs to be investigating DEA cooperation with the Sinaloa cartel, and high-ranking DEA administrators should be looking at prison time. The reefer madness BS is a distraction from the real issue – corruption at the highest levels.
Fuckin A bubba.
Jonathan, your post should go to the President. But the problem is, who can he trust to investigate this? Most of them have under-the-table pockets. It is like asking the mafia to investigate slot machines. Our country has a few problems.
Agreed! My criminal harassment by Orange County, CA law enforcement began around the time that I was working on law enforcement engineering projects in Bogota, Colombia for an American company in Stanton and with the cooperation of the Bogota Metropolitan police department.
And people / agencies like Loretta Sanchez, DA Tony Rackauckas and the Los Angeles division of the FBI continue to have their heads firmly planted up their asses as I continue to seek justice.
If I were to find out one day that there is a cocaine trafficking network within OC law enforcement – it would explain everything and I’ll be the least surprised person in Orange County.
“I had learned not to care. I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it.”
“Junkie. Pothead. That’s where I’d been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. Except the highs hadn’t been about that, me trying to prove what a down brother I was. Not by then, anyway. I got high for just the opposite effect, something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory.”
“I had discovered that it didn’t make any difference whether you smoked reefer in the white classmate’s sparkling new van, or in the dorm room of some brother you’d met down at the gym, or on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids who had dropped out of school and now spent most of their time looking for an excuse to brawl. And if the high didn’t solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world’s ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism…”
BHO –
Yeah, generally not good for most people to make a habit of it. Most of us are more productive without it.
Hypocrite Obama needs to reschedule cannabis to the level of OTC’s. There is no justification for the damage done to individuals and society as a whole to continue this regime. Countless lives have been ruined by the sheer ignorance and greed of the power elite. The war on cannabis must end and end NOW.
Harry Anslingers racist quotes that helped instill reefer madness and criminalize the cannabis rudalis at the link below.
http://www.marijuana.com/threads/harry-j-anslinger-quotes.258792/
Harry J. Anslinger quotes:
…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.
Harry J. Anslinger quotes:
Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing.
Harry J. Anslinger quotes:
There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.
Harry J. Anslinger quotes:
Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.
Harry J. Anslinger quotes
Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.
Harry J. Anslinger quotes:
You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.
Harry J. Anslinger quotes:
Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the clarification but the One-Hitters continue to prove that marijuana policy reform is a just cause!
A hemp flag? Seriously? George Washington grew hemp on his plantation.
Well said, Ms. Goldstein…
Particularly in taking “…Ms. Leonhart down memory lane…” re her testimony before the Senate Committee.
The first time I watched that video of her ‘in action,’ I felt badly for the young lady. Never has a lack of knowledge on a topic been better demonstrated. After that performance, she should have voluntarily resigned her position.
The fact that she still heads the DEA is pathetic.
It speaks loudly for the entire agency.
I am in total agreement. Are the DEA employees so arrogant as to not be embarrassed by their own ignorance. She’s even worse than Pennsylvania’s Governor Corbett and most of the PA legislature, and believe me that’s saying something. The suffering caused by this mentality is criminal in my opinion.