AACM Calls for Withdrawal of Michele Leonhart Nomination

The American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine (AACM) calls upon President Obama to withdraw his nomination of Michele Leonhart as Head of the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA.) The nomination of a known prohibitionist is inconsistent with President Obama’s stated policy on medicinal cannabis: that the federal government would stop wasting time, money, and staff on medical marijuana raids in states where medicinal cannabis use is legal. Not only is Leonhart out of touch with the policies of the president of the United States, but she is also out of step with science and organized medicine.

The American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, and American College of Physicians endorse the medicinal use of cannabis. In November 2009, the American Medical Association called for the rescheduling of cannabis to enable additional research by the medical community. The DEA, under Leonhart’s direction, continues to raid dispensaries and arrest patients in clear violation of state law, the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution, and current federal policy.

Not only has Leonhart actively discouraged the use of medical cannabis, but she continues to halt progress in valuable clinical research. In January 2009 Leonhart blocked privately funded medical marijuana research in the U.S. She denied University of Massachusetts botany professor Dr. Lyle Craker, an expert in botanical medicine, a license to study cannabis like any other botanical medicinal, despite a DEA administrative law judge’s recommendation to grant the license because the research would be “in the public interest.”