New DEA Chief to Focus Less on Cannabis, May Improve Methods to Reclassify and Declassify Cannabis
The incoming head of the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly will focus less on marijuana and instead put more resources toward harder drugs such as heroin, which could relieve some pressure on cannabis businesses in states without strong regulations on the industry.
Chuck Rosenberg – who served as chief of staff to the director of the FBI – was named to the DEA’s top spot on an interim basis by newly appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Rosenberg is expected to remain in the position while President Barack Obama is in office, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The new DEA chief will likely improve procedures on how to classify, declassify or reclassify marijuana, and he’ll also place less emphasis on cannabis in general, the Times reported.
The former DEA director, Michele Leonhart, resigned last month, much to the delight of marijuana advocates who called her tenure “shameful.”
Leonhart had butted heads with former Attorney General Eric Holder and Pres. Barack Obama over marijuana enforcement.
Tom Angell, the chairman of the Marijuana Majority, said Leonhart had wrongfully interfered with state marijuana laws and was unable to manage the agency. He said earlier this month that her resignation allowed the Obama Administration to pick a DEA head who realized the fight against marijuana is effectively over.