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Operation Pipe Dreams and Headhunter

In late February, surrounded by veterans of the Bush Administration’s War on Drugs, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the indictment of 50 people on charges of trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. A DEA News Release titled "Operations Pipe Dreams And Headhunter — Put Illegal Drug Paraphernalia Sellers Out Of Business: National Sweep Shuts Down Retailers, Distributors and Internet Sites," read: "The charges are the culmination of two nationwide investigations code-named Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Headhunter and include indictments against national distributors of drug paraphernalia and businesses nationwide."

"With the advent of the Internet, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has exploded," Ashcroft said. "The drug paraphernalia business is now accessible in anyone’s home with a computer and Internet access. And in homes across America we know that children and young adults are the fastest growing Internet users. Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge. This illegal billion-dollar industry will no longer be ignored by law enforcement."

Attorney General Ashcroft singled out the work of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, led by Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson and Associate Deputy Attorney General Karen Tandy, "which has taken decisive steps to dismantle the illegal drug paraphernalia industry by attacking their physical, financial and Internet infrastructures."

The nomination

In March, 2003, less than one month after "Operation Pipe Dreams and Headhunter," President George W. Bush announced the nomination of Karen P. Tandy as chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to a report in the Washington Times, Tandy, a veteran prosecutor, would replace acting administrator John B. Brown III, a longtime drug agent who had filled the position since January when former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson left the agency to become undersecretary for border and transportation security at the new Department of Homeland Security.

The hearing?

In late May 2003, the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) launched DontConfirm.org, "a campaign aimed at pressuring Karen Tandy, President Bush’s… nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, to put an end to federal raids on medical marijuana providers and patients." For more on her career, see: http://www.dontconfirm.org/

In June, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a pro forma hearing on Tandy’s nomination. The highlight of the day came not in the Dirksen Senate Office Building committee room. It was the attempt Tandy made trying to avoid receiving Suzanne Pfiel’s letter. According to a press release by the Marijuana Policy Project, Pfeil "was in bed last September when the DEA raided the hospice — like Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) [in California]. Agents pointed automatic rifles at her, demanding that she get out of bed. When she couldn’t, they handcuffed her and left her while they destroyed WAMM’s medical marijuana garden and took founders Valerie and Mike Corral into custody."

After a short chase down the hallway, Pfeil was finally able to hand Tandy the letter. "I think it was getting embarrassing, running away from a person in a wheelchair," Pfeil said. "I just hope she reads my letter and shows some compassion."

The questionnaire

Here are a few of Karen Tandy’s responses to questions submitted by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), as compiled by the Marijuana Policy Project:

On marijuana’s medicinal benefits:

"The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been accepted as having medicinal value when processed into Marinol. Marijuana itself, however, has not been shown to have medicinal benefits; accordingly, I have no basis for believing that marijuana, and specifically smoking marijuana, has any such benefits."

On two authoritative government reports re marijuana’s medical benefits:*

* These are the 1999 Institute of Medicine report "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," commissioned by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the 1988 ruling of the DEA’s chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, both of which conclude that marijuana has medicinal benefits and should be made available to patients who can benefit from it.

"I am not personally familiar with the sources you cite discussing the putative ‘medicinal benefits of marijuana.’"

On enforcing federal laws against state-approved medical marijuana providers:

"DEA’s priorities should reflect the need to encourage adherance [sic] to the law. … [I]t is not improper for the government to prosecute individuals who make a point of disobeying the law, and encouraging others to disobey it, even if the disobedience is said to be for reasons of conscience."

On DEA raids on state-approved medical marijuana patients and providers:

"If I am confirmed as Administrator of the DEA, it will be my duty to see to the uniform enforcement of federal law. I do not believe it would be consistent with that duty for me to support a moratorium on enforcement of this law, or any law, in selected areas of the country."

The confirmation

On July 10, the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed Karen Tandy to head the DEA. "Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) went on record as opposing Tandy’s nomination, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also raised questions about Tandy’s response to written questions about medical marijuana," the Marijuana Policy Project reported.

Having passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee without a hitch, Krissy Oechslin, MPP’s assistant director of communications doesn’t expect opposition when Tandy’s nomination comes up for a vote in the full Senate. "The most significant thing to come out of this process is that the Senate Judiciary Committee talked about medical marijuana for the first time," Oechslin said. "And it was really important that Senator Durbin had the opportunity to enter literature about the benefits of medical marijuana into the record." For more please see the Bill Berkowitz archive.

Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the conservative movement. His WorkingForChange column Conservative Watch documents the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats of the American Right.

Sidebar: Tandy has pledged to relentlessly prosecute the war on drugs and pursue medical marijuana users and providers.

Note: Veteran drug warrior nominated by Bush to heading the DEA.

Web Link: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=15309

Source: WorkingForChange
Author: Bill Berkowitz – WorkingForChange
Published: July 16, 2003
Copyright: 2003 WorkingForChange.com
Website: http://www.workingforchange.com/
Contact: http://www.workingforchange.com/help/contact.cfm

Related Articles & Web Site:

WAMM
http://www.wamm.org/

Marijuana Policy Project
http://www.mpp.org/

A New Hard-Liner At The DEA
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