President Obama couldn't find anyone to replace Michele Leonhart, the current deputy administrator of the DEA, so he promotes her to the top position of the anti-drug agency? Really!?! California NORML's Dale Gieringer calls the nomination "a profound disappointment to all of us who hoped that Obama would bring meaningful change to Washington."

Leonhart worked her way up from lowly agent in 1980 to Deputy Administrator under Karen Tandy in 2004. When Tandy resigned in 2007, Leonhart was promoted again. But no one thought Obama would retain her.

“The skill and dedication of these individuals will make them valued additions to my administration, and I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years," Obama stated about nominees Leonhart and Elisabeth Hagen (undersecretary of Agriculture).

Leonhart oversaw the DEA's recent efforts to shut down medical-marijuana dispensaries in California. Since Obama took over in 2009, the DEA has been reined in.

Writes Reason's Jacob Sullum: "For those hoping that Barack Obama would wage the war on drugs less aggressively than his predecessor, this is not a good sign. It certainly seems implausible that the hard-line drug warrior who was all for circumventing state medical marijuana laws when she was only the acting DEA administrator will have a change of heart now that her position is more secure."


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