In the midst of all of the noise surrounding who President Trump believes should sit, stand and kneel at sporting events, Chuck Rosenberg, acting chief of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, announced, earlier this week, plans to quit his job at the end of the month.
It was revealed on Tuesday afternoon that Rosenberg, who has been in charge of the DEA since 2015, was officially resigning from his post because, according to documents obtained by the New York Times and the Washington Post, he has become convinced that President Trump has absolutely no respect for the law.
Some believe the news of Rosenberg’s resignation has been on the verge of breaking ever since Trump told a group of law enforcement officers over the summer not to be “too nice” when dealing with criminal suspects. The president’s comments didn’t exactly settle well with Rosenberg, who sent a letter to all DEA agents shortly thereafter, saying “we must earn and keep the public trust and continue to hold ourselves to the very highest standards.”
Rosenberg discounted Trump’s statements, which seemed to condone police brutality, by informing everyone in his agency that, “we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong.”
While Rosenberg obviously did his job with dignity, he has not exactly been a friend to the cannabis community. Since taking the reins from former DEA head Michelle Leonhart, he has had plenty of opportunities to make some changes to the way marijuana is viewed by the federal government. Instead, he has maintained that “marijuana is not medicine” and even gone as far as to say that medical marijuana is a “joke.”
“What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal — because it’s not,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner. “We can have an intellectually honest debate about whether we should legalize something that is bad and dangerous, but don’t call it medicine — that is a joke.”
Although it is not yet known who will take the place of Rosenberg, the Huffington Post reports that Col. Joseph Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, is one of the leading candidates.
On Tuesday, Rosenberg sent a message to all DEA employees, saying, “The neighborhoods in which we live are better for your commitment to the rule of law, dedication to the cause of justice and perseverance in the face of adversity.”
“You will continue to do great things,” he continued. “I will continue to root for you, now from the sidelines.”
