DEA may be losing the war on marijuana politics

[bemildred]

For narcotics agents, who often confront hostile situations, Capitol Hill has been a refuge where lawmakers stand ready to salute efforts in the nation's war on drugs.

Lately, however, the Drug Enforcement Administration has found itself under attack in Congress as it holds its ground against marijuana legalization while the resolve of longtime political allies — and the White House and Justice Department to which it reports — rapidly fades.

"For 13 of the 14 years I have worked on this issue, when the DEA came to a hearing, committee members jumped over themselves to cheerlead," said Bill Piper, a lobbyist with the Drug Policy Alliance, a pro-legalization group. "Now the lawmakers are not just asking tough questions, but also getting aggressive with their arguments."

So far this year, the DEA's role in the seizure of industrial hemp seeds bound for research facilities in Kentucky drew angry rebukes from the Senate's most powerful Republican. The GOP-controlled House recently voted to prohibit federal agents from busting medical marijuana operations that are legal under state laws. And that measure, which demonstrated a shared distaste for the DEA's approach to marijuana, brought one of the Senate's most conservative members together with one of its most liberal in a rare bipartisan alliance.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0713-dea-20140712-story.html#navtype=outfit

[Vincardog]

1. Bout Damned Time

[Uncle Joe]

2. This is interesting.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0713-dea-20140712-story.html#page=1

Hemp, the fiber of a non-psychoactive cannabis plant, can be manufactured into clothing and numerous other products. One thing it can't do is make a person high. Nonetheless, the DEA deemed the seeds a controlled substance.

(snip)

"It is an unnecessary fight," said Robert Stutman, a retired director of the agency's New York division. "It doesn't affect the drug issue one way or another."

(snip)

As the DEA has struggled with the politics of marijuana, it also has faced a spate of incidents requiring administration officials to clean up after agents.

The Justice Department last year agreed to a $4.1-million settlement with a man whom DEA agents left handcuffed in a San Diego holding cell without food or water for five days. And federal investigators are looking into charges that the agency has been improperly collecting phone company data and concealing from defendants how the information was used against them.

How can the DEA expect anyone to believe their arguments when they simply don't respect the rule of law, civil rights, common sense or logic?

The DEA is a radical institution and has become its own worst enemy.

Thanks for the thread, bemildred.

[Billy Budd]

3. Head of the DEA is a Bush Holdover

For months Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart has openly rebuked the drug policy reform policies of Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama with one embarrassing statement after another. Now she is picking a fight with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Y) and other members of Congress over hemp. Meanwhile the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General has launched an investigation into multiple scandals plaguing the agency. It is clear that Leonhart lacks the ability to lead and should resign. Activists are using the Twitter hashtag #FireLeonhart.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-piper/michele-leonhart-should-resign_b_5332922.html

[bemildred]

4. The DEA is screwed, and they know it, this is just stalling as long as possible.

Not very good at it either.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Great article

I had missed the Kentucky hemp seed fiasco. The more I learn about it, the faster I am becoming an industrial hemp enthusiast.

Here is another example. Deputy Director of Drug Policy being called out by a House Rep (Oregon) for causing the problem they claim to want to fix. Awesome stuff.

K&R

[JNelson6563]

6. Great thread!

Thanks for posting all the info everyone!

Julie