Just days after Chuck Rosenberg’s resignation as the leader of the DEA, the U.S. Justice Department has announced that it will temporarily fill his shoes with Robert Patterson, according to Reuters.
Patterson is no stranger to the inner workings of the DEA. In 2016, he was appointed as principal deputy administrator, a role that made him responsible for a wide range of duties throughout the agency. He is said to have landed that position after serving a year as the DEA’s chief inspector.
It was revealed last week that Chuck Rosenberg, former, acting head of the DEA, was stepping down from his post due to his concern for President Trump’s inability to respect the law.
Some reports anticipated that Rosenberg was on the verge of calling it quits after the president gave a speech over the summer urging police to be violent with criminal suspects. Others suggested that Rosenberg was on his way out because the Justice Deparment was preventing the agency from making promised advancements, like expanding the number of marijuana production sites beyond the University of Mississippi.
“This will be the third time I’ve left the Department of Justice,” Rosenberg said last week before a group of students at Yale Law School. “I love the Department of Justice. We are far from perfect, but we try really, really hard to get stuff right.”
Although Patterson will take the reins at the DEA, no one has any clue how long he will remain in that position.
The White House has not yet released any kind of statement naming the potential candidates it may be considering on a more permanent basis. For now, Patterson is in charge of operations.
What will this mean for marijuana?
Nothing is expected to change. Patterson, much like his predecessor, Chuck Rosenberg, will simply hold down the fort with respect to the policies dictated by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
