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House Judiciary Chair Questions DEA Tactics
We are pleased to announce that US House Judiciary Committee
Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has sent a letter to DEA Acting Administrator
Michele Leonhart challenging the DEA's actions.
Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has sent a letter to DEA Acting Administrator
Michele Leonhart challenging the DEA's actions.
***House Judiciary Chair Questions DEA Tactics***
***Rep. Conyers Next Step Toward Congressional Hearings***
Dear ASA Supporter,
ASA’s ongoing campaign to hold the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
accountable for its continued efforts to undermine state medical marijuana laws
is working. We are pleased to announce that US House Judiciary Committee
Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has sent a letter to DEA Acting Administrator
Michele Leonhart challenging the DEA's actions.
ASA staff together with grassroots activists helped make it possible for
Chairman Conyers to issue this letter. Please donate now to support our
important work in Washington, D.C.!
http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate
As a follow-up to a public statement he made in December, Chairman Conyers’
letter questions DEA directly about its heightened raid activity across
California and its intimidation of property owners owners with threats of
prosecution and asset forfeiture because they rent to medical cannabis
dispensaries. Chairman Conyers is the highest ranking elected official to
question the DEA’s tactics since medical cannabis raids in California
escalated dramatically in 2007. This letter is an important and necessary step
towards Congressional hearings by the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees
the actions of the DEA.
Over the past several months, ASA and advocates all over the country have
lobbied Chairman Conyers to convene hearings. Dozens of legal, tax-paying
dispensaries have been shut down or evicted by their landlords, and many more
face the same fate if Congress does not intervene. ASA Director of Government
Affairs Caren Woodson has been lobbying the offices of Chairman Conyers and
Subcommittee Chairman Scott about this issue for months, and her persistence is
paying off!
Caren’s work with the House Judiciary Committee was bolstered by a statewide
effort to get California’s elected officials to call for an end to the
harmful tactics of the DEA. ASA and its allies were successful in garnering
strong letters of support from several elected officials, urging Chairman
Conyers to hold hearings. Among those who spoke up were Orange County
Supervisor Chris Norby, Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine, and the
mayors of Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and West Hollywood.
I urge you to make a special commitment to support the kind of persistent,
strategic, and effective organizing that ASA demonstrated in moving Chairman
Conyers forward on this issue by making a monthly pledge of support or a one
time contribution to ASA. http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate
Please visit http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate>and make a
contribution today!
Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access
P.S. Please visit http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/ConyersLetter to read
the letter from Chairman Conyers.
Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients,
medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and
legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
***Rep. Conyers Next Step Toward Congressional Hearings***
Dear ASA Supporter,
ASA’s ongoing campaign to hold the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
accountable for its continued efforts to undermine state medical marijuana laws
is working. We are pleased to announce that US House Judiciary Committee
Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has sent a letter to DEA Acting Administrator
Michele Leonhart challenging the DEA's actions.
ASA staff together with grassroots activists helped make it possible for
Chairman Conyers to issue this letter. Please donate now to support our
important work in Washington, D.C.!
http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate
As a follow-up to a public statement he made in December, Chairman Conyers’
letter questions DEA directly about its heightened raid activity across
California and its intimidation of property owners owners with threats of
prosecution and asset forfeiture because they rent to medical cannabis
dispensaries. Chairman Conyers is the highest ranking elected official to
question the DEA’s tactics since medical cannabis raids in California
escalated dramatically in 2007. This letter is an important and necessary step
towards Congressional hearings by the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees
the actions of the DEA.
Over the past several months, ASA and advocates all over the country have
lobbied Chairman Conyers to convene hearings. Dozens of legal, tax-paying
dispensaries have been shut down or evicted by their landlords, and many more
face the same fate if Congress does not intervene. ASA Director of Government
Affairs Caren Woodson has been lobbying the offices of Chairman Conyers and
Subcommittee Chairman Scott about this issue for months, and her persistence is
paying off!
Caren’s work with the House Judiciary Committee was bolstered by a statewide
effort to get California’s elected officials to call for an end to the
harmful tactics of the DEA. ASA and its allies were successful in garnering
strong letters of support from several elected officials, urging Chairman
Conyers to hold hearings. Among those who spoke up were Orange County
Supervisor Chris Norby, Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine, and the
mayors of Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and West Hollywood.
I urge you to make a special commitment to support the kind of persistent,
strategic, and effective organizing that ASA demonstrated in moving Chairman
Conyers forward on this issue by making a monthly pledge of support or a one
time contribution to ASA. http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate
Please visit http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate>and make a
contribution today!
Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access
P.S. Please visit http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/ConyersLetter to read
the letter from Chairman Conyers.
Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients,
medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and
legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
The Chronicle's Bob Egelko covers Conyers' letter to Acting DEA Administrator
Michele Leonhart:
Conyers asks DEA why it's going after medical marijuana
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
(05-07) 17:40 PDT WASHINGTON -- A congressional leader, citing complaints from Bay
Area mayors and lawmakers, wants the Drug Enforcement Administration to explain its
increased use of "paramilitary-style enforcements raid" and property forfeiture
orders against medical marijuana patients and suppliers in California.
With drug trafficking and violence from international cartels on the rise, "do you
think the DEA's limited resources are best utilized conducting enforcement raids on
individuals and their caregivers who are conducting themselves legally under
California law?" House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a
letter to the agency.
He also noted the DEA's recent tactic of sending letters to hundreds of property
owners who rent to medical marijuana dispensaries, advising them that they could be
prosecuted and lose their property under federal law.
Property forfeitures, Conyers said, have typically been reserved for "the worst drug
traffickers and kingpins" and might have the unintended effect of driving medical
marijuana distribution underground. Medical marijuana advocacy groups say the
letters have led to evictions and closures of dozens of supply shops that had been
operating with state and local approval.
The congressman also asked how much the DEA was spending on the raids.
The letter, dated April 29, was addressed to the DEA's acting administrator, Michele
Lenonart. Agency spokeswoman Rogene Waite declined to comment on the questions
Wednesday, saying only that "the federal government does not recognize medical
marijuana. ... The DEA, of course, would be part of the federal government."
Conyers attached a copy of a resolution approved by San Francisco supervisors in
February, attacking the DEA for "its irrational policy and hysteria" and calling on
the city attorney to support property owners facing prosecution or forfeiture for
renting to medical marijuana dispensaries. The Los Angeles City Council has also
condemned the federal agency's actions.
Conyers also cited statements by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor
Ron Dellums criticizing the DEA, and a resolution introduced by state Sen. Carole
Migden, D-San Francisco, urging that Congress pass a law ending federal raids and
prosecutions in states that have legalized medical marijuana.
E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko [at] sfchronicle.com.
Michele Leonhart:
Conyers asks DEA why it's going after medical marijuana
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
(05-07) 17:40 PDT WASHINGTON -- A congressional leader, citing complaints from Bay
Area mayors and lawmakers, wants the Drug Enforcement Administration to explain its
increased use of "paramilitary-style enforcements raid" and property forfeiture
orders against medical marijuana patients and suppliers in California.
With drug trafficking and violence from international cartels on the rise, "do you
think the DEA's limited resources are best utilized conducting enforcement raids on
individuals and their caregivers who are conducting themselves legally under
California law?" House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a
letter to the agency.
He also noted the DEA's recent tactic of sending letters to hundreds of property
owners who rent to medical marijuana dispensaries, advising them that they could be
prosecuted and lose their property under federal law.
Property forfeitures, Conyers said, have typically been reserved for "the worst drug
traffickers and kingpins" and might have the unintended effect of driving medical
marijuana distribution underground. Medical marijuana advocacy groups say the
letters have led to evictions and closures of dozens of supply shops that had been
operating with state and local approval.
The congressman also asked how much the DEA was spending on the raids.
The letter, dated April 29, was addressed to the DEA's acting administrator, Michele
Lenonart. Agency spokeswoman Rogene Waite declined to comment on the questions
Wednesday, saying only that "the federal government does not recognize medical
marijuana. ... The DEA, of course, would be part of the federal government."
Conyers attached a copy of a resolution approved by San Francisco supervisors in
February, attacking the DEA for "its irrational policy and hysteria" and calling on
the city attorney to support property owners facing prosecution or forfeiture for
renting to medical marijuana dispensaries. The Los Angeles City Council has also
condemned the federal agency's actions.
Conyers also cited statements by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor
Ron Dellums criticizing the DEA, and a resolution introduced by state Sen. Carole
Migden, D-San Francisco, urging that Congress pass a law ending federal raids and
prosecutions in states that have legalized medical marijuana.
E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko [at] sfchronicle.com.
For more information:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...
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