Eight former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration want the Feds to step in and nullify weed laws in states that have legalized the drug for recreational use. The DEA leaders announced today, that the government must act fast, or risk missing an opportunity to take aim at the likes of Colorado and Washington state.
In joint statements sent to President Obama and viewed by the Associated Press, the one-time DEA heads accused the administration of not moving fast enough, believing that they should sue to bring an end to the drug legislation. “My fear is that the Justice Department will do what they are doing now: do nothing and say nothing,” said onetime DEA head, Peter Bensinger, who lives in Chicago. Bensinger fears that other states will move to approve similar drug legislation, and believes that the clock is ticking. “If they don’t act now, these laws will be fully implemented in a matter of months.”
Ethan Nadelmann of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance– an organization supporting lighter drug laws–completely disagrees with Bensinger. In his view, the attempt is more selfish than selfless. “The former DEA chiefs’ statement can best be seen as a self-interested plea to validate the costly and failed policies they championed but that Americans are now rejecting at the ballot box,” Nadelman said in a statement.”They obviously find it hard to admit that – at least with respect to marijuana – their legacy will be much the same as a previous generation of agents who once worked for the federal Bureau of Prohibition enforcing the nation’s alcohol prohibition laws.”
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is said to be still reviewing the state laws, but offered no new commentary in response to statements from the ex-DEA collective.
Colorado and Washington are the only two states in the U.S. that have fully legalized weed.
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Photo: WP-TV
