January 26 – President Obama signaled more of the same in drug policy by nominating Bush appointee Michele Leonhart as DEA administrator. Leonhart is unfondly regarded by medical marijuana advocates for having denied a cultivation permit to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, further impeding research into the medical uses of cannabis. Her nomination indicates that the administration has no interest in overruling the present indefensible policy.
Californians should make their views known to Sen. Feinstein, who sits on the Judiciary Committee that will oversee Leonhart’s nomination. There’s little chance of getting them to block the nomination, but we might inspire them to ask questions about DEA’s obstruction of research and foot-dragging on the rescheduling petition.
– Dale Gieringer, California NORML
See: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts
Sign Change.org’s petition to Block Leonhart’s nomination
Position on pot is a bit hazy
LA Times
February 22
Also:
An ominous development: the DEA proclaims that Colorado’s dispensaries are illegal and
threatens to bust them. Of course, it’s no news that dispensaries are illegal under federal law.
What is new is agent Sweetin’s claim that Obama’s new policy doesn’t apply to commercial providers, only patients and small-scale growers.
– D. Gieringer
DEA: Colorado marijuana dispensaries are illegal
The Associated Press
Aspen, CO Colorado
Saturday, February 13, 2010 http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100213/NEWS/100219890/1077&ParentProfile=1058
Denver patient Chris Bartkowicz’s medical marijuana garden was raided by the DEA the day after he was interviewed on a local television station. Bartkowicz, who allegedly had 120-224 plants, was charged in federal court on Feb. 16. Read more.
