Marijuana Advocates Call On White House To Fire DEA Chief - HuffPo [View all]

[WillyT]

Marijuana Advocates Call On White House To Fire DEA Chief
Matt Sledge - HuffPo
Posted: 01/27/2014 12:11 pm EST | Updated: 01/27/2014 4:46 pm EST

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A leading marijuana reform group is calling on the White House to fire the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration over a speech last week in which she reportedly criticized President Barack Obama for comparing marijuana's dangers to alcohol.

Two sheriffs told the Boston Herald that DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart called out the president's remarks in a speech at a Major Counties Sheriffs' Association meeting last Tuesday.

The Marijuana Policy Project pointed on Monday to that speech, as well as a congressional hearing in which Leonhart refused to say whether marijuana is more harmful than crack or heroin, in arguing that it is time for her to go.

"Whether Ms. Leonhart is ignorant of the facts or intentionally disregarding them, she is clearly unfit for her current position," Dan Riffle, the group's director of federal policies, said in a statement.

“The DEA administrator’s continued refusal to recognize marijuana’s relative safety compared to alcohol and other drugs flies in the face of the president’s commitment to prioritizing science over ideology and politics," the statement continued. "She is neglecting the basic obligations of her job and fundamentally undermining her employer’s mission. This would be grounds for termination in the private sector, and the consequences for Ms. Leonhart should be no different.”

Leonhart was apparently incensed that...

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Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/27/michele-leonhart-speech_n_4674181.html