OBAMA SHOULD DUMP DEA NOMINEE

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings today on what is
surely one of the most curious almost inexplicable Obama
administration appointees. Michele Leonhart, a Bush administration
holdover who has been acting head of the Drug Enforcement
Administration for the past two years, has been nominated to head the
agency for the duration.

It is genuinely puzzling that President Barack Obama would nominate
Ms. Leonhart, as she seems to be diametrically opposed to the
administration's stated policies, especially on medical marijuana. The
Department of Justice issued a memo in November 2009 stating that the
federal government would not raid dispensaries in states with medical
marijuana laws, so long as those facilities were complying with
relevant state law. Since then, however, the DEA has conducted
numerous raids in apparent violation of that policy.

Perhaps the worst instance came in July, after Mendocino County
promulgated an ordinance regulating medical marijuana growing and
invited local growers to register with the sheriff. The very first
person to register, Joy Greenfield, 68, whose garden had been
inspected and approved by the local sheriff, was almost immediately
raided by the DEA. Informed that the local sheriff had approved the
garden, the DEA agent in charge responded, "I don't care what the
sheriff says."

Ms. Leonhart should be questioned about how the DEA plans to engage
with local law enforcement in the growing number of states with valid
medical marijuana laws. She should also be questioned about her
relationship with Andrew Chambers, a longtime DEA informant branded a
perjurer by federal appellate courts. And, questioned about
allegations that she was involved with the firing of a whistle-blower
who exposed a "house of death" used by the Juarez drug cartel to
murder people.

The Obama administration has emphasized its disagreement with Bush-era
policies on almost every front. Sticking with a Bush appointee at the
DEA is profoundly puzzling. The president should rescind her
appointment and seek someone more in line with the administration's
stated policies.