T<\/span>uesday\u2019s announcement that DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg would quit his post by Friday \u2014 and all because of Donald Trump, who, the drug cop says, has \u201clittle respect\u201d for civil rights and the rule of law \u2014 was notable for its abruptness and for its candor.<\/p>\n But the biggest question now is who Trump will select to replace him \u2014 and what they<\/em> think about the country\u2019s widening experiment with marijuana legalization, and whether they\u2019ll share the view of Attorney General Jeff Sessions<\/a> that allowing adults to use cannabis legally is an affront to western values. (Spoiler: Probably!)<\/p>\n Rosenberg, appointed to the post on an interim basis in May 2015 to replace scandal-plagued Michele Leonhart, told DEA staff that his last day would be Oct. 1.<\/p>\n There was no immediate reaction from the White House, either to Rosenberg\u2019s scathing assessment of the president or any indication on who Trump would select to replace him, though there was some blind praise from Trump fans.<\/p>\n The Obama holdover DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg has just announced he is resigning. DRAIN THE SWAMP! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Trump Train (@The_Trump_Train) September 26, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \nThere\u2019s nothing to guarantee that Trump will do anything right away. Nine months into Trump\u2019s first term, numerous key positions around the federal government remain unfulfilled, notably in the State Department. Other vital jobs have gone to Trump associates \u2014 including donors and campaign hacks.<\/p>\n Rosenberg is close to former FBI director James Comey. Rosenberg twice served as a chief of staff to Comey, whom Trump fired in May in the midst of the FBI\u2019s probe into the Trump organization\u2019s ties with Russia. So you can count out anyone close to current DEA leadership \u2014 and anyone who\u2019s ever mentioned the words \u201cTrump\u201d or \u201cRussia\u201d too close together.<\/p>\n You can also count out anyone remotely progressive on drug policy.<\/p>\n In addition to dismissing Comey \u2014 after<\/em> allegedly pressuring him to lay off the Russia investigation, a possible instance of obstruction of government \u2014 the president and his appointees have pushed back on scrutiny of law-enforcement practices and limits on what police can do.<\/p>\n In July, Trump told law-enforcement officers, \u201cPlease don\u2019t be too nice\u201d to criminal suspects. In an internal email sent to all DEA employees, Rosenberg hit back. \u201cWe must earn and keep the public trust and continue to hold ourselves to the very highest standards,\u201d he wrote, according to the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cOurs is an honorable profession and, so, we will always act honorably.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Trump, progress made in the wake of highly-publicized fatal shootings of unarmed black men at the hands of police could be undone. In April, Sessions announced that several overhauls of local police departments, including Baltimore\u2019s, would be reviewed<\/a>, delayed and possibly canceled, and that further federal investigations of big-city police forces may be suspended.<\/p>\n Trump has indicated his opposition to modest controls on property police are able to seize from citizens not convicted of a crime \u2014 asset-forfeiture reform \u2014 and Sessions has urged federal law-enforcement to pursue crimes that can be most easily and quickly prosecuted, which includes nonviolent drug offenses.<\/p>\n Already, American police arrest more people for drugs than any other crime<\/a>. In 2016, drug arrests increased by almost 6 percent across the country. While detailed drug-by-drug data is not available for 2016, 43 percent of all drug arrests in 2015 were for marijuana.<\/p>\n Trump has been erratic on drug policy. A planned move by the White House to gut the position of drug czar and the Office of National Drug Control Policy was abandoned. Instead, to lead the organization, Trump appointed Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, an early Trump supporter (like Sessions) and avowed opponent of marijuana legalization (same). And like Health Secretary Tom Price, Marino is also a favorite of the pharmaceutical industry, which has rewarded him with campaign cash for pushing policies that may have contributed to the opiate crisis.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how heavily Trump will lean on Sessions to suggest a replacement for Rosenberg, who as DEA chief will answer to the attorney general. Trump and Sessions have been on the outs over the past few months. Trump has publicly berated his attorney general, who called the \u201cApprentice\u201d-level browbeating \u201cone of the most humiliating\u201d moments of his political career, and several times indicated that he wanted his attorney general to quit. Sessions has tried to quit at least once, but aides convinced Trump to ultimately refuse his resignation, the New York Times reported.<\/a><\/p>\n There are a few Trump loyalists who might be in need of work. There are reality stars with vague roles in the Trump White House. There are Trump loyalists still without political plums, like former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. There are Freedom Caucus congressmen, there are Russia apologists, there are Wall Street friends.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the possibility Trump could ask new friends Chuck (Schumer) and Nancy (Pelosi) who they want as a DEA head.<\/p>\n Plus, there are also would-be Trump confidantes, who claim (despite all outward appearances) <\/a>that they have the president\u2019s ear, who are marijuana-friendly.<\/p>\n Who knows? You can almost guarantee Donald Trump certainly doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/strong> what should the president look for in the next DEA administrator?<\/p>\n The post DEA Chief Quits in Protest of Trump. Who Will Replace Him?<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s disregard for the law is too flagrant \u2014 even for the DEA. We speculate on who Trump could pick as his next top drug cop. Tuesday\u2019s announcement that DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg would quit his post by Friday \u2014 and all because of Donald Trump, who, the drugContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,1803,80,848,95,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19777"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19778,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19777\/revisions\/19778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: DEA Chief Quits in Protest of Trump. Who Will Replace Him?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"